Oli Clark to Mondraker Factory Racing for 2026: A strategic step for both rider and team
Mondraker has signed New Zealand downhiller Oli Clark for the 2026 season, adding one of junior downhill’s standout performers to its factory program as he graduates to the elite ranks. The move comes as teams finalize rosters ahead of the northern-hemisphere World Cup calendar, where factory setups and governing-body rules on team registration shape who gets protected status and guaranteed start slots at the sport’s biggest events.
A first elite campaign for a fast-rising junior
Clark moves up after a breakout 2025 in the junior category that included his first UCI World Cup race win and multiple podiums. The 2026 season will be his first in elite men’s downhill, a transition that typically requires adapting to deeper fields, higher seeding thresholds, and tighter qualifying margins across World Cup weekends. Stepping into elites also brings greater scrutiny from national federations and selectors, with World Cup points influencing opportunities for future world championship and Olympic-cycle consideration as gravity disciplines evolve within high-performance programs.
How he fits into Mondraker’s downhill structure
Mondraker has expanded its downhill footprint since launching the program in 2024, building a roster with podium potential and proven World Cup experience. The team’s 2025 expansion featured elite additions and a development pipeline designed to feed results at the sport’s top tier-context that frames Clark’s signing as a long-term play as much as an immediate competitive move. As the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) refines team-size limits, protection rules, and ranking-based quotas through the official mountain bike regulations, aligning a promising rookie with a factory structure gives both rider and team a clearer pathway to secure points and maintain their presence within the top-tier grid.
Competitive significance
- Depth and development: Bringing in a first-year elite rider strengthens internal competition for selection through qualifying and finals, while maintaining a development pathway behind established race winners. That balance matters across a global calendar where teams manage rider form, track profiles, and logistics week to week, especially as events cluster into high-intensity blocks that test both athlete resilience and operational planning.
- Roster evolution: With veteran Dakotah Norton no longer on the team for 2026, Mondraker reallocates resources toward a rising talent who has already demonstrated World Cup-winning speed at junior level. That shift can influence equipment testing priorities, track-side support, and start-list strategy during the season, and it signals to sponsors and series organizers that the team is committed to nurturing the next wave of contenders rather than relying solely on established names.
- Series framework: Under the UCI Mountain Bike World Series structure, downhill weekends run through timed sessions and qualifying to reach finals, making consistency and depth vital across varying course styles and conditions. Linking a high-upside rookie to a multi-rider factory setup is a pragmatic way to navigate that format, particularly as any changes to safety standards, course homologation, and team accreditation must be absorbed quickly by riders and staff alike.
A notable technical transition
Clark’s junior World Cup win came aboard a gearbox-driven Zerode downhill bike. Mondraker’s factory program partners with Shimano for drivetrains and brakes, and fields its Summum platform at World Cups. Moving from a gearbox to a derailleur-based setup changes shift feel and service protocols and can influence suspension kinematics and race-day maintenance-an adjustment that teams typically manage during pre-season testing and early rounds. For a rider entering elites, demonstrating that he can adapt to a new technical package while still delivering results is a key part of convincing team managers, sponsors, and national selectors that he is ready for long-term investment.
What success would look like in year one
For a rider stepping into elites, early goals often center on:
- Regular qualification for finals on varied terrain, including high-speed bike-park venues and steeper, more technical tracks
- Building seeding position to reduce exposure to changing weather and track conditions late in the start order
- Converting opportunities on courses that reward his strengths, while limiting damage on tracks that don’t, in order to accumulate ranking points and move toward protected status
Key facts
- Rider: Oli Clark (New Zealand), first elite season in 2026.
- Team: Mondraker Factory Racing DH.
- 2025 highlights: Junior World Cup race win and additional podiums, positioning him among the most closely watched riders graduating to elites.
- Program context: 2025 roster expansion set foundations for added depth; Norton’s exit opens space for fresh investment in emerging speed and aligns with a broader shift toward youth-focused recruitment across top World Cup programs.
The broader picture
Mondraker’s downhill project has grown quickly, underpinned by a modern race platform and a partner list aligned to World Cup demands. Clark arrives at a moment when marginal gains-from tire and suspension choices to data-led setup-can decide entry into finals as much as they decide podiums. At the same time, factory teams operate within an increasingly formalized ecosystem, where series organizers, governing bodies, and host venues work to balance commercial pressures with safety, environmental, and athlete-welfare standards.
For the rider, the move offers the infrastructure, performance support, and race-day repetitions needed to translate junior pace into elite consistency. For the team, it is a calculated bet on talent that can mature into points, protection, and podium contention as the season develops, while reinforcing Mondraker’s status within the elite downhill hierarchy. As the World Cup series continues to evolve its event formats and media footprint, signings like Clark’s are not just about who starts on race day-they are about who shapes the competitive narrative of downhill racing over the next cycle.
