February 08, 2014 – The Union Cycliste Internationale has published the list of UCI Mountain Bike Teams for 2014. A record 31 countries have registered at least one team, compared with 27 last year and 24 in 2012. New Zealand and Lesotho have registered a UCI Mountain Bike team for the first time – for the complete list click here.
In total, 121 teams have been registered. Of these, 15 endurance (cross-country) and 15 gravity (downhill) teams will obtain UCI ELITE Mountain Bike status. This is a higher tier of teams which benefit from various advantages including free entry to races on the UCI Mountain Bike International Calendar. These teams are obliged to enter at least one rider in all rounds of the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano.
Invitations to obtain UCI ELITE Mountain Bike status were issued to the top teams of a special ranking which was established on the basis of the individual UCI points won in 2013 by the best riders of the 2014 teams.
These teams have until March 1st to confirm their “ELITE” status and pay the corresponding fee.