In terms of disciplines, the team will be one of the few to have riders in both the downhill and cross-country divisions. Up to now, Trek has mainly been represented by the Dutch team Dolphin, which includes Bart Brentjens. However, they never achieved the status appropriate for a manufacturer as large as Trek.

Official press release

Trek Bicycles and 23 Degrees Announce Team Plans

23 Degrees Sports Management announced today that it will be returning to Mountain Bike World Cup racing in 2009 with a brand new team, with Trek Bicycles as a title sponsor.

Previous years have seen 23 Degrees win the many World Cup titles with their teams Global Racing, and most recently Team G Cross Honda, and the new team will have very similar goals.

Through this partnership, 23 Degrees will now be able to create a World Class MTB team with Trek Bicycles, a company which has a proven track record in producing the best racing machines in the world. The team will compete in the World Cup disciplines of downhill and cross country.

Trek's history of world class competition includes an impressive resume: 8 Tour de France wins, countless classics, multiple MTB World Cup wins, and an impressive array of endurance titles - all within the last decade.

23 Degrees Founder and CEO Martin Whiteley commented on the new partnership: "We're extremely excited to be part of Trek's ambitions for top level World Cup racing and results in 2009 onwards, and we're doubly excited to be returning to the race scene, one that has served our company well over the past 8 years".

Further details on the team, sponsors and rider line-up will be released at a later date once they are fully confirmed.