Van Rysel, the performance brand best known for its road, gravel, and triathlon bikes, is officially getting into mountain biking, and it’s starting with a 32er. The brand unveiled the RCR-XC cross-country race bike today at the Roc d’Azur festival in Fréjus, France. The Decathlon Ford team will race on the new full-suspension bike on the World Cup circuit beginning in 2027.
And perhaps the bigger news may be who’s riding it. Van Rysel says the RCR-XC will be raced by Luca Martin, Samara Maxwell, and Savilia Blunk. Martin just wrapped up both the 2026 XCO and XCC World Cup overall titles riding for Cannondale Factory Racing, a team that is folding at the end of the year. Van Rysel’s announcement is the first official word we’ve seen that the French rider is joining Decathlon Ford for 2027.
Blunk joined the Decathlon Ford team in 2023.
The Van Rysel RCR-XC has 32-inch wheels and a 130mm fork
Van Rysel didn’t release a full spec sheet or geometry chart, but here’s what we know. The RCR-XC rolls on 32-inch wheels and uses a 130mm fork, according to the brand. Rear travel hasn’t been announced.
The brand says the carbon frame is 230g lighter than the 29er the Decathlon Ford team raced in the 2026 season — the Rockrider Race 940 S, a 120mm XC bike — measured on a size medium. Rockrider, like Van Rysel is owned by Decathlon, based in France, which claims to be the “world’s largest sporting goods retailer.”
Judging by photos provided, the Van Rysel RCR-XC is built with a SRAM XX drivetrain, Zipp carbon wheels, a RockShox (SID?) fork, and Vittoria Mezcal XC Race tires. The cockpit is a one-piece Deda bar and stem and appears to be a new flat bar design with an extreme negative rise built in. The rear shock sits horizontally where the top tube meets the seat tube, and there’s no obvious pivot near the rear axle, which suggests a flex-stay design.
We can also see two sets of water bottle mounts inside the front triangle. One set is on the seat tube, which appears to have extra structure added to reduce interference with seat post insertion.
This is not only Van Rysel’s first 32er; it’s also the brand’s first mountain bike. For now, it’s only available to Decathlon Ford pro racers, with a future sale date “to be announced later.” Pricing has not been established.
Aerodynamics are a consideration
Van Rysel says they applied the same methods they use for road bikes, including race data analysis and wind tunnel testing, to design the new 32er race bike. The brand says engineers analyzed World Cup race data going back to the Paris 2024 Olympic race, focusing on speed, power, and time.
“Wherever the athlete spends the most time in the race is where there is the most time to be gained through design,” said Luis Moro, Van Rysel MTB product manager.
According to Van Rysel, wind tunnel testing shows the RCR-XC saves 15.5 watts at 35 km/h (about 22 mph) compared to the team’s 2026 bike. That’s a fairly high test speed for an XC race bike, and Van Rysel hasn’t said how much of the savings comes from the frame versus the cockpit, wheels, or rider position.
Similarly, Canyon shared a prototype 32er cross-country race bike in June and noted similar aerodynamic considerations. It’s perhaps no coincidence that designers are making use of negative-rise handlebars and stems to compensate for 32-inch-bikes’ taller front ends, which lends itself to a more aerodynamic (and generally less comfortable) rider position.
Van Rysel also claims the bigger wheels made the bike faster downhill during testing, allowing riders to recover in technical sections and save energy for the flats and climbs.
“We didn’t set out to build just another mountain bike, but one of the fastest in the world: the RCR-XC is designed to win the biggest races,” Moro said.
32ers are picking up speed on the MTB race circuit
Van Rysel’s timing lines up with a busy year for 32-inch wheels in XC racing. In June, Thömus Maxon became the first team to race 32ers at a World Cup, and Alessandra Keller took third in the Lenzerheide short track.
In September, Andreas Seewald won the UCI XC Marathon World Championship in Italy aboard a prototype KTM 32er, the first world title won on the wheel size. A week later, Trek debuted its own 32-inch XC prototype at the Soldier Hollow World Cup, where Gwendalyn Gibson finished second in the XCO, the first 32er podium in that race format.
In an Instagram video posted to the official UCI account, Blunk, along with several other pro riders are asked, “32-inch wheels in 2027?” Blunk answers, “Yes,” though her response sounds more like a question than a statement.
A race team with a lot to prove, and a lot already proven
Decathlon Ford launched in 2022 as the Rockrider Racing Team. Samara Maxwell won the 2025 XCO World Cup overall for the team, then took a season-long sabbatical in 2026 after extending her contract through 2028. American Savilia Blunk had a breakout 2026, including a short track win in Lenzerheide.
Adding Martin gives the team the reigning men’s World Cup champion, plus the reigning 2025 women’s champion returning from a year off. That’s a lot of pressure for a brand-new bike platform.
“Developing the fastest machine in the world only makes sense if it’s ridden by the best athletes on the planet,” said Nicolas Pierron, Van Rysel CEO.
Van Rysel road bikes are already available in the USA through REI
Though it’ll likely be a long time before consumers can purchase a Van Rysel mountain bike, the European brand currently sells its EDR 2 AF Claris road bike through REI in the USA. In June, REI and Van Rysel faced criticism over an AI-generated ad the retailer blamed on an Instagram misconfiguration.
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