UNVEILED: CANYON'S 2025 XC ROSTER

The Cross Country (XCO/XCC) riders challenging for podium places on Canyon in 2025

For immediate release: After forty years at the heart of racing, Canyon’s podium pulse is stronger than ever. Ever since Canyon founder Roman Arnold’s father started towing a blue trailer ‘shop’ of bike spares to pay for his son’s racing, supporting racers has been at the heart of Canyon’s culture. That’s why Canyon is stoked to announce its strongest ever CLLCTV XC Team roster.

Whether it’s bike design, business innovation or racing, Canyon’s ethos has always been to develop performance, which not only inspires fans but more often than not, leads to product innovation too. That’s why the 2025 CLLCTV XC Team sees a mix of Olympic and Elite category World Cup legends, plus rising U23 and Junior stars.

Jenny Rissveds is a true icon who needs little introduction. The Swedish speed Queen not only enriches the CLLCTV XC Team with Olympic Gold standard experience and standout World Cup winning form from last season. She also brings an incredible legacy of humbling honesty, independent determination and achingly wholesome Scandinavian social media to the Canyon family.

Canyon CLLCTV’s new youngsters have already had stellar career starts most senior riders would die for. Italian MTB and CX prodigy Valentina Corvi placed fourth in the 2024 Elite World Championships and is the Italian National XC and CX Champion. VTT sensation Noa Filippi is already National, European Championship and French Cup title holder at Junior level.

The new 2025 recruits enrich what’s undoubtedly one of the strongest race teams on the circuit:

• After another multiple podium season for CLLCTV XC in 2024, Luca Schwarzbauer will be launching into the 2025 season with his trademark max wattage, heart on sleeve, hole shot approach that’s made him a people’s powerhouse champion.

• Spanish U23 pinner Thibaut Francois broke into the top ten of Elite XCO in the last season and will be aiming to step onto the podium this year.

• Seasoned French racer Thomas Griot will also be charging shoulder to shoulder with Luca and Thibaut again. Keen to translate the lessons he learned last year into the success he clearly deserves in 2025.

Alpecin-Deceuninck:

Despite being just 22, Puck Pieterse is already crushing top level racing. An astonishing haul of World Cup, World Championship and Elite level results in XCC and XCO MTB and Cyclocross was joined by breakout wins in Elite level Road in 2024. Her joyfully open and upbeat approach to riding, including hilarious course previews, characteristically candid interviews and winning grins, have forged an incredible bond with fans everywhere in the process.

Kiwi warrior Sam Gaze will also be racing on and off road again for Alpecin-Deceuninck in 2025, hoping to kick start his season in the same dominant, double-winning form he displayed in South America last year.

And if the rumours are to be believed, we might just see Mathieu van der Poel switching to the mountain bike just in time for the World Championships after stating earlier this year how much he wants to win the title because it "the last piece of the puzzle" that he is missing from his exemplary palmarès.

Trusty steeds

The CLLCTV XC Team and Alpecin-Deceuninck's XC riders race the hyper-efficient Canyon Lux World Cup CFR. It’s ultralight 1535g frame builds into a sub-11kg complete bike that’s even stiffer than its predecessor for pure racing speed.

For the CLLCTV XC Team, Flight Attendant from RockShox suspension delivers perfect digital efficiency and control of the 110mm of travel. Progressive handling keeps riders on track for the podium in the most technical situations and CeramicSpeed bearings throughout complete a true dream specification.

For Alpecin-Deceuninck's XC riders, the Fox 34 Step-Cast fork is designed from the ground up to deliver uncompromising XC race performance with class leading tunability, chassis stiffness and strength. An incredibly light, short travel-specific damper with unparalleled ride feel in its class. Out back the Fox Float DPS Factory shock creates a pedal-friendly shock that soaks up the bumps and delivers pedal power to the ground with utmost efficiency.

And if you’re racing on a tight budget like Roman and his dad once were, be sure to check out the whole Canyon Lux family and their unbeatable maximum speed, minimum cash ratio.

Canyon will bring you all the excitement, emotion and insight from their CLLCTV XC Team’s 2025 season right here. Taking you to every start and finish line with their athletes all year, plus all the tech and personal stories that make XC racing so fascinating, inspiring and fun.

The XC season kicks off at Araxa, Brazil at the beginning of April. Be sure to follow your favourite riders on their social media links below too though, because these guys insta almost as hard as they interval train.