Wilier-Vittoria ends Marathon commitment and extends with Avondetto

The Wilier-Vittoria MTB Factory Team is withdrawing from marathon racing in order to increase its focus on cross-country. As a result, the collaboration between this season's rising star Simone Avondetto and the Wilier team will continue for at least four more seasons. The talented rider from Piedmont has signed a contract extension that will tie him to the Italian team until the end of the 2028 season. Avondetto has been riding for the team since 2022, where he became U23 World Champion. He rode onto the World Cup podium for the first time in the 2024 season.

The aim is to build on an already impressive number of results. In 2022, Avondetto became Italian cross-country champion, European champion and world champion in the U23 category. In his first two years as an elite rider, despite a long absence due to mononucleosis, he won the Italian short track championship, secured two World Cup podiums and became the first Italian ever to win the elite European cross country title in Cheile Gradistei. He also finished the season in the top 10 of the UCI world rankings.

"For me, Wilier-Vittoria is like a second family, the perfect place to develop step by step, as I have done so far," said Simone Avondetto. "Since joining this wonderful team, I've achieved some great results, but I've also gone through difficult moments, like the seemingly endless battle with mononucleosis in 2023. During this time, the team has always stood by my side and given me everything I needed. This has shown me that I really am in the right place. I can't wait to repay this trust with strong performances."

Focus on cross country

The contract extension with Avondetto already shows where Team Wilier-Vittoria is heading. The Italian team will discontinue its involvement in the marathon, although the two Italians Fabian Rabensteiner and Samuele Porro, as well as the Austrian Daniel Geismayr, have regularly enjoyed great success. Wilier-Vittoria wants to concentrate its energies - and probably also its financial resources - on cross-country racing and the World Cup, which is becoming increasingly expensive for teams.

"The decision to focus all our resources on cross-country for the 2025 season is a strategic decision for Wilier-Triestina. Cross Country is a discipline that offers tremendous global visibility, epitomizes the excellence of off-road racing and aligns perfectly with our vision for growth in the off-road world. This commitment reflects our ambition to become a point of reference on the international stage," said the Gastaldello family, who own the company.

The team will announce its final driver line-up at the beginning of 2025.

wilier.com