Team USA
Mountain Bike
World Series Eligibility for XCO, XCC, DHI, and EDR
UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD SERIES ATHLETE ELIGIBILITY, REGISTRATION, AND PETITION PROCESS
XCO, XCC, DHI, EDR
World Series Eligibility for XCO, XCC, DHI, and EDR
Per UCI regulations, the downhill (DHI) and cross-country (XCO) UCI World Cups are competitions limited to athletes meeting one of the following criteria:
Category | One of the below mentioned criteria needs to be fulfilled |
XCO - men elite (aged 23 and over) XCO - women elite (aged 23 and over) | 1. UCI MTB WORLD SERIES TEAM, maximum 4 riders per race and category 2. 8 UCI MTB TEAM wildcards, maximum 4 riders per race and category decided one month prior the event 3. Any rider ranked in the top 100 of the last UCI XCO individual ranking before the event entry closing date (one month prior to the event) 4. The national federations may enter a maximum of 3 supplementary riders per category. These riders must wear national team clothing. 5. Top five riders of any round of a Continental Series, limited to 1 round of the current UCI MTB World Cup (Golden Ticket) 6. Top five riders from the final standings of any of the Continental Series of the previous year, Elite (from 2026) 7. Top five riders from the final standings of any of the Continental Series of the previous year, U23 (if progressing into Elite category) (from 2026) 8. Current Olympic Champion, UCI World Champion, Continental Champion, National Champions |
XCO - men under 23 (ages from 19 to 22) - women under 23 (ages from 19 to 22) | 1. UCI MTB WORLD SERIES, maximum 4 riders per race and category 2. 8 UCI MTB TEAM wildcards, maximum 4 riders per race and category decided one month prior to the event 3. Any rider ranked in the top 200 of the last UCI XCO individual ranking before the event entry closing date (one month prior to the event) 4. The national federations may enter a maximum of 4 supplementary riders per category. These riders must wear national team clothing. 5. Top five riders of any round of a Continental Series, limited to 1 round of the current UCI MTB World Cup (Golden Ticket) 6. Top five riders from the final standings of any of the Continental Series of the previous year, U23 (from 2026) 7. Top five riders from the final standings of any of the Continental Series of the previous year, Junior (if progressing into U23 category) (from 2026) 8. UCI World Champion, Continental Champion, National Champions |
DHI - men elite (aged 19 and over) DHI - women elite (aged 19 and over) | 1. UCI MTB WORLD SERIES TEAM, maximum 4 riders per race and category 2. 8 UCI MTB TEAM wildcard, maximum 4 riders per race and category decided one month prior to the event 3. Any rider ranked in the top 50 of the last UCI DHI individual ranking before the event entry closing date (one month prior to the event) 4. The national federations may enter a maximum of 3 supplementary riders per category. These riders must wear national team clothing. 5. Top five riders of any round of a Continental Series, limited to 1 round of the current UCI MTB World Cup (Golden Ticket) 6. Top five riders from the final standings of any of the Continental Series of the previous year, Elite (from 2026) 7. Top five riders from the final standings of any of the Continental Series of the previous year, Junior (if progressing into Elite category) (from 2026) 8. Current UCI World Champion, Continental Champion, National Champions |
DHI - men juniors (aged 17 and 18) DHI – women juniors (aged 17 and 18) | 1. UCI MTB WORLD SERIES TEAM, maximum 4 riders per race and category 8 UCI MTB TEAM wildcard, maximum 4 riders per race and category decided one month prior the event 3. Any rider ranked in the top 100 of the last UCI DHI individual ranking before the event entry closing date (one month prior the event) 4. The national federations may enter a maximum of 4 supplementary riders per category. These riders must wear national team clothing. 5. Top five riders of any round of a Continental Series, limited to 1 round of the current UCI MTB World Cup (Golden Ticket) 6. Top five riders from the final standings of any of the Continental Series of the previous year, Junior (from 2026) 7. Top five riders from the final standings of any of the Continental Series of the previous year, Cadet (if progressing into Junior category) (from 2026) 8. Current UCI World Champion |
XCC – men elite (aged 23 and over) XCC – women elite (aged 23 and over) | A maximum of 40 riders per gender (40 men elite and 40 women elite) already registered and confirmed for the elite XCO event taking place during the same weekend shall be allowed to start in the XCC event. The riders shall be selected as per article 4.9.015 to reach a total number of 40 riders per gender. No online registration is required for the XCC event. The same bike must be used for XCC and XCO. For XCC, the minimum tyre width must be 45mm. |
(*)The date of such reference rankings is fixed and communicated by the UCI for each event of the UCI mountain bike world cup on the UCI website. (text modified on 1.02.12; 1.07.12; 1.11.13; 4.04.14; 1.01.16; 1.01.17; 1.01.18; 1.01.19; 1.01.20; 1.01.22). All UCI regulations can be found here. | |
All athletes who are members of UCI World Series Teams must go through their team to register for each World Cup event.
Athletes who meet the minimum UCI Individual Ranking point requirements, posted above, but are not members of UCI World Series and/or World Series Wildcard Teams and wish to register for a World Cup event must fill out the respective registration/petition form below.
The USA Cycling athlete petition process for UCI MTB World Cups applies to athletes who are seeking any of the supplementary rider positions as defined by the UCI World Cup entry criteria posted above.
Any athletes who are not members of a UCI World Series Team and wish to be registered by USA Cycling for a World Cup, whether by: (1) meeting minimum UCI Individual Ranking point requirements, (2) earning a golden ticket at a Continental Series (CS) race, or would like to apply for a supplemental USA Cycling rider entry, may submit a petition below:
UCI World Cup Supplemental Athlete Guiding Principles
USA Cycling receives the following entries for supplemental rider registration for World Cups:
XCO Elite: 3 federation entries per category
XCO U23: 4 federation entries per category
DHI Elite: 3 federation entries per category
DHI Junior: 4 federation entries per category
USA Cycling will use the following guiding principles when considering supplemental athlete starting positions: Prior results in Top Level Competitions - a competition that includes participation by many of the best riders in the world (e.g., as indicated by recent World Championship results, World Cup results and/or current UCI rankings), UCI international competitions, UCI Domestic events, USA Cycling’s National Championships, and top-level domestic events.
Athletes selected as supplemental athletes for UCI World Cups are required by the UCI to wear the National Team competition kit in all training and racing sessions. Failure to do so may result in disqualification and a fine levied by the UCI, which will be the responsibility of the offending rider to pay. Athletes who do not have a competition uniform may purchase a competition kit from USA Cycling.
Racers who are not part of a UCI Mountain Bike World Series Gravity Team, or a UCI Mountain Bike Team may apply for selection as part of their National Federations Quota.
There is no mandatory minimum qualification criteria to apply to a federation for selection other than age. Selection & any selection criteria applied is at the discretion of each National Federation.
Federations are encouraged to prioritise applications from Junior racers, those racers with current Global Ranking points but who fall outside the qualifying ranked racers & those yet to score points, rather than racers who have pre-qualified via another route.
Each Federation is allocated a quota of guaranteed entries at each UCI Enduro World Cup event. Quota:
Elite Men – 3
Elite Women – 3
Junior Men – 4
Junior Women - 4
Selected National Federation quota racers must wear the Jersey of their National federation
Racers are eligible to enter the UCI Enduro World Cup if their Global ranking at the time of entry meets the following criteria:
Global Ranking position:
Men – Top 300
Women – Top 75
Those racers who do not have sufficient Global ranking points to meet the ranking criteria should seek entry as part of their respective National Federation quota.
Racers who meet the Global Ranking criteria must apply for entry through their National Federation. All eligible racers will be notified with the date that entries will open. Entries must be made by the published closing date. No late entries are permitted.