Team KMC Ekoi Orbea, one of the mythical teams in cross-country cycling, and our unrivaled challenge for the sport. But we’re hardly the first.

Whether you call it rally, XC or cross-country, it’s been a long journey over many years in this category. We took our first steps in this discipline in the 1980s, when BTT emerged on the world scene. Competition has changed a lot in that time, and we’ve experienced a lot since then.

Orbea’s first Olympic Games took place in the 1990s. The globalization of our bikes and our mountain bike team occurred in the 21st century, with the signing of riders like Julien Absalon and Jean-Christophe Peraud, who would end up winning Olympic gold and silver medals, and Catharine Pendrel who claimed the double rainbow jersey in 2011 and 2014 (the first woman in history to win this jersey on a full suspension bike, the Oiz).

We’ve racked up countless milestones that we can’t begin to summarize in a few short lines, and we’re still at it. In the United States, we're accomplishing our goals with the Clif Pro Team, on which Catharine Pendrel still competes. And now we’re branching into Europe with Team KMC Ekoi Orbea, which is in the middle of a global reach, just like we were doing back in the day.

The team knows what it’s doing. It’s one of the oldest in mountain biking, dating back to 1998, having racked up lots of experience in the competitive world.

They began with victories in France, where the team first got its start. And little by little, the rest came along: an Olympic medal, two world championships, five more relay titles and numerous podiums in World Cup competitions (some of them, thanks to Julie Bresset, Maxime Marotte or Stephen Tempier). There’s a lot we could write about this, but suffice it to say that the team has victory in its DNA. Its awards demonstrate this. The same goes for us.

Team KMC Ekoi Orbea has their sight set on growth. It has opened borders with the team ranks, with the Swiss army and with riders who bring seniority. We’ll contribute our experience with more than 30 years of competition under our belt, and even more with high-performance bikes.

They’re not lacking in tools for modern cross-country biking. They’ve got the Oiz and Alma at their fingertips. And it’s all because, we must confess, we have a goal in mind with this team: to take the Orbea name to the peak of the world’s cross-country category.

It’s also true that this team — or, better yet — the people who compete with these colors, have their own challenges. They tell you this themselves.

FLORIAN VOGEL

“My challenge is to reach some podiums in the World Cup”

36 years old, Switzerland.
5th Championship 2018 World MTB
11th in the World Cross-Country Rankings
2018 Swiss XCO Runner-up
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ANNIE LAST

“I would love to be on the podium at the World Championship.”

27 years old, United Kingdom.
29th in the World Cross-Country Rankings
2nd in the 2017 World MTB XCO
2018 United Kingdom XCO Champion
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VICTOR KORETZKY

“In 2019 I want to take more pleasure on my bike during my training for be strongest on race”

24 years old, France.
20th in the World Cross-Country Rankings
2018 French XCO Runner-up
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MALENE DEGN

“I want to find my spot in my second year on a professional team.”

22 years old, Denmark.
34th in the World Cross-Country Rankings
1st in the 2018 Stellenbosch World Cup
8th in the 2018 World Cross-Country Championship
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THOMAS LITSCHER

“My challenge is to be on the podium in a World Championship.”

28 years old, Switzerland.
29th in the World Cross-Country Rankings
10th in the 2018 World Championship
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MILAN VADER

“I intend to improve and learn a lot on this team.”

22 years old, Netherlands.
3rd in the 2018 European Sub23 Championship
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OIZ

ALMA

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#OrbeaChallenges2019