Why Trek-Unbroken's young riders are ready to bust out
Hard to believe we’re two-thirds through the MTB World Cup XC and DH series. But after a furious stretch of racing — four World Cup doubles in five weeks — we now have a (somewhat) clear picture of how the final standings may shake out.
It’s admittedly been an up-and-down season for the Trek-Unbroken XC and DH squads. Untimely crashes and injuries have gotten in the way of some potentially major results. But the perseverance around the setbacks is a good omen for the closing stretch — three more World Cup races for both disciplines (two of them doubles), plus national, European and World championships.
If you feel like you’ve been in a whirlwind … man, same. But now with a long break until the next World Cup XC/DH round in Les Gets from Aug. 20-23 (and World Championships shortly after) now is a good time to get caught up on where things stand for the Trek-Unbroken teams.
Here are three things we’ve learned about the teams since the World Cup opener in Korea last May.
Sacha Earnest celebrating her podium in La Thuile.
Young riders are on the verge of major breakthroughs
Let’s start with downhill, where Sacha Earnest is already in the midst of establishing herself at the head of the field. Heading into the summer World Cup break, she took back-to-back podium finishes in La Thuile and Andorra, continuing the trajectory (and shedding the pressure) she established at the end of the 2025 season when she finished with three straight Top 5s.
READ: Where does Sacha Earnest go from here?
Earnest is now in seventh overall despite having to sit out Leogang due to a crash during her first qualifying run. Outside of the top spot (Val Höll is having an unreal year) the elite women’s podium is up for grabs. If Earnest can continue apace, she has a chance to be standing up on the final podium in Lake Placid.
Riley Amos is a favorite to break out after some rest.
Similar to Earnest, Lachie Stevens-McNab is demonstrating more and more that he has the pace to podium — if not win — on a World Cup level. He took first place in qualifying in Andorra, and second in Lenzerheide. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to finish the weekends off with podiums, instead sliding out during his finals runs. In Lenzerheide, he was in third place through three sectors before going down.
We’re crossing our fingers for some consistency over the back stretch (it didn’t help that he missed the first three World Cup races of the season due to a concussion he suffered from a crash in Korea.) Lachie’s not lacking for motivation or speed. It’s going to be an incredible moment when he finally delivers.
In XC, Riley Amos is rounding into form as a second-year elite. Despite battling a bad back throughout the intense European World Cup block, he’s entering the break with back-to-back Top 10 XCO finishes, including his first career Top 5 in La Thuile. A reset could be exactly the thing he needs to push onto the podium. Don’t think the reigning American national champ isn’t champing at the bit for the final two races on the calendar, both in the U.S.
Evie Richards threw down in La Thuile after missing two races due to a concussion.
Trek-Unbroken XC is persevering through the setbacks
The Trek-Unbroken XC team is in the midst of a quietly impressive season.
No, they haven’t made a ton of noise at the front of races; Evie Richards has the team’s only podium so far, a second-place finish in short track in Korea. But with context, there’s good reason to believe this team could be in for a very strong close to the season.
For one thing, Richards is only just finding her legs again. A bad slam in Nové Město took her out of the XCO event and the next two World Cup rounds entirely due to a concussion. The fact that she came back for La Thuile and finished Top 10 in three of her next four World Cup race starts, despite spending a lot of her recovery time off her bike, suggests that we could find the two-time World Champion back at the front of the pack after she’s able to give herself a proper build.
Riley Amos and Vlad Dascalu meeting up after hard efforts in Leogang.
Richards’ teammates Gwendalyn Gibson and Nina Graf have made themselves consistent presences in the Top 10, and could very easily push into the Top 5 on the right day with the right track. Gibson has come the closest, taking sixth in short track in Korea, seventh in short track in Nové Město, and seventh in XCO in Leogang. After a 2025 season in which she admittedly struggled with the mental side of the sport, it’s been inspiring to see Gibson race with joy and confidence again.
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We touched on Amos’ encouraging trajectory above. Vlad Dascalu, meanwhile, has been far more under the radar during his comeback season, but he’s quietly having one of the most impressive World Cup campaigns in the men’s field. Every World Cup race weekend, he’s been passing seemingly dozens of riders, finishing as high as 20th in La Thuile despite starting near the back of the pack. Don’t be surprised to see him jostling near the front of the field again soon.
Lachie Stevens-McNab getting props after a valiant finals run in Lenzerheide.
The second half of the season could look completely different
It can’t be stressed enough: The long summer break effectively splits the racing season into two. Earnest spoke in the offseason about using the time off to recharge at home and reset her mindset, leading to her strong close to the season.
Time at home means time to rest, heal, reevaluate training and rebuild fitness for the stretch run. Richards is a great example. In 2025, she struggled with various bugs and setbacks, including Covid, that disrupted what began as a banner campaign with back-to-back short track wins in Brazil. She closed the year with five podiums in her final six World Cup starts, locking up the short track overall title.
We have no idea how the rest of the season will unfold — good or bad — even after already witnessing a bounty of racing this year. Toss out your preconceived notions, and enjoy what’s going to be a killer finish.
