Trek Factory Racing’s 2023 photos of the year!

We’ll let you in on a little secret: Good photos are a really important part of our racing programs. Bike racing lends itself to incredible imagery, which helps fans connect with our teams and riders, and also showcases the incredible bikes they ride and how they handle the most intense riding conditions imaginable.

Having our own talented photographers means they can document every moment of a World Cup weekend, from the tense calm before every race, to the action itself, to outbursts of exhaustion-amplified joy and frustration immediately after riders cross the finish line.

2023 was a particularly action-packed year for the Trek Factory Racing XC, Downhill and Enduro squads. New riders shined. Veteran riders battled for podiums. And everyone fought valiantly for every inch and fraction of a second to be gained in fields that are getting more intense by the year.

Below are the best images captured by our primary photographer Ross Bell (XC and DH) and Boris Beyer (Enduro) throughout the year, from the first round of the Enduro World Cup in Maydena, Tasmania, on March 26, to the XC/DH World Cup finale in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, on Oct. 8. We narrowed down the selection to 83 photos out of thousands captured at team lodgings, inside the pits, and alongside race courses.

Enjoy this trip down memory lane.

The TFR XC squad is one of the most tight knit teams you’ll ever meet. Period. And that’s a good thing, because when seven riders are sharing pits and living spaces, camaraderie is crucial.

Having a close relationship with your teammates also comes in handy on race day. Teamwork on the bike may not matter to the extent that it does in a road cycling peloton, but teamwork off the bike makes racing much more enjoyable. TFR XC riders practice every World Cup course together, sharing lines and tips, as well as keeping each other loose before the biggest starts of the year.

The team got stronger as the year progressed, which is a testament to their resiliency. Evie Richards finished third on the women’s elite short track podium, while Riley Amos took third and second on the men’s U23 short track and XCO podiums, respectively.

Amos had three wins in the team’s final four World Cup races, while Madigan Munro and Jolanda Neff earned their first podiums of the year. Richards, Neff and Gwendalyn Gibson finished ninth, 11th and 14th in the women’s elite XCO overall, and were named the best women’s team on the circuit for their efforts.

All of the riders battled fierce conditions, from the altitude of Andorra, to the heat of Snowshoe, to a brutally tough course at World Championships in Glentress, to muddy condition in Mont-Sainte-Anne.

Enjoy the full gallery filled with a season’s worth of highlights below.

Downhill racing is one of the most unpredictable sports in the world, and it bit the TFR DH team at times. Reece Wilson was primed for a big year, but a preseason injury held him out of competition for most of the season. Bodhi Kuhn, too, was in the mix for the top of the men’s junior overall podium after winning in Val di Sole, but injuries forced him to miss Loudenvielle, Les Gets and Mont-Sainte-Anne.

But despite the setbacks, Kuhn still managed to finish third overall. And then there was Kade Edwards and Loris Vergier, who were perhaps the two most consistent presences at every track. Edwards simply brought a level of stoke unknown to man, while Vergier took top 10 in 19 of his 21 World Cup race runs to finish third on the elite men’s overall podium.

Check out the best scenes from one of the rowdiest teams in the world. (Be sure to scroll to the end for a cameo from Daniel Bladon, the best DH mechanic in the world.

The TFR Enduro season started in unfamiliar territory, way off in the Apple Isle — a.k.a., Tasmania. The island off the Southeast coast of Australia produced some of the most beautiful images you’ll ever see.

We also saw Hattie Harnden take on Downhill World Cup racing for the first time in addition to enduro. She won the British women’s DH national title then capped the year with her first ever DH World Cup podium in Mont-Sainte-Anne. All while racking up six top five enduro finishes on her way to finishing third on the overall podium for the second straight year.

There may be no sport that produces as many beautiful vistas as enduro racing. Enjoy the view.