Pro mountain bikers are headed to the WorldTour — How will they fare?

One man who has beaten the likes of Tom Pidcock is Alan Hatherly. At the 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Andorra, Hatherly rode to a rainbow jersey, putting 39 seconds into the then-Ineos rider, who earned a bronze medal.

Now, Hatherly is trying his luck in the WorldTour peloton with Team Jayco-AlUla. From Cadel Evans to Puck Pieterse, it’s not uncommon for mountain bikers to switch to the pavement or switch between disciplines —just last week, Mathieu van der Poel announced he’ll skip road worlds this season in favour of trying his luck in cross-country mountain biking again. But a new crop of mountain bikers —Hatherly, in addition to names like Laura Stigger (SD Worx Protime) and Mona Mitterwallner (Human Powered Health)— are targeting the paved pastures this year in addition to the trails. But how will they fare? Are the strengths of mountain bikers comparable to that of a road specialist?

In Hatherly’s case, we already have early-season racing to examine. On Stage 2 of the AlUla Tour, the South African finished third, 7 seconds back from stage winner Pidcock on a hilltop finish. He placed second, again to Pidock, on Stage 4, which featured a significant climb before a downhill finish. However, he slipped back to 6th place in GC following a windy flat final stage.