Matt Walker: ‘The day you put Trek Factory Racing on your CV is pretty damn cool’

For the first time in 11 years, Matt Walker will be racing on a new factory team. He’ll be on a new bike, with unfamiliar components. At just 25 years old, he’ll be the oldest member on Trek Factory Racing DH, striking up a leadership position. Walker is diving into uncharted waters head first.

“It’s just such a big change for me,” Walker said. “But I think that’s actually going to be a really positive thing to scrape it all back and go from zero and learn new stuff. And I already feel like, even off the back of the team camp, I’ve started riding downhill a little bit more, and I’m just more excited to go and ride a new bike.”

Walker is proven at the highest level of the sport, winning the World Cup overall title in 2020, and a World Cup race in Leogang in 2022. He still has the raw pace to match anyone on the circuit, posting the fastest time in qualifying at Mont-Sainte-Anne, and finishing 10th at Fort William and 11th at World Championships in Andorra.

Moving to TFR will be a fresh start for him, and he’s particularly looking forward to racing alongside Lachie Stevens-McNab and Ollie Davis. The two young, rising talents are just the spur that the relatively grizzled Walker believes can help get him back on World Cup podiums.

“I think having younger riders on the team is gonna get me fired up to race,” Walker said. “I have motivation in abundance. I’m always striving to be at the top. And having been there, I know what that feels like to be chasing that. But to be chasing that with like minded people, I think is a really healthy environment.”

You may not see a hungrier rider racing World Cups this season than Walker. He’s adapting fast to the Session platform, and determined to push himself to new heights. He spoke with the Race Shop about his decision to come to Trek, and how he’s looking forward to collaborating with his teammates in a sport often rife with secrecy and tension. The following conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

What was your first taste of Trek Factory Racing like?

Matt Walker: We did a surf camp in California. It was actually the first time I’ve been to the West Coast of America. I’ve been to the East Coast a couple of times through racing and testing. So that was a pretty cool experience in itself, just to see a bit of a different side of America. 

One evening, when we had the surfboards, we were out on the water and the sun was going down. It was like this golden sunset, and we were just floating around on the surfboards and I thought it is pretty incredible where bikes take you. And it was just one of those moments. We had all the new team and staff, all kind of floating around just having a good time. And I thought, I don’t know, it was just a good moment. It was like a new beginning. 

I think especially for me, having been with Saracen for such a long time, it was like the start of a new chapter.

What was your first impression of the team, and of Trek in general?

Honestly, I couldn’t have hoped to get on with the guys any better than I did. I think we all get on and worked together really well. 

That was a big thing for me moving to Trek. It was really important for me to work with a group of people I wanted to work with, and I knew I’d get along with. And we definitely started on the right foot. Straight away, we’re having a good time, laughing. And I think everyone really knows or understands that balance between having a good time and getting on with each other, and also doing the job well. Everyone’s there for the right reason.

And I think especially with [Andrew] Shandro and RG [Ryan Gaul], I really felt like they did everything for us. The riders really were at the forefront of everyone’s priorities. I noticed that quite early on into the camp, and that was something I’ve experienced at times in my career, but maybe not consistently.

What were some of the biggest differences you noticed on your new squad compared to your old one?

Matt: I feel like I’ve been at the World Cups for a long time, but I’ve only ever been in one environment. And I think for me, it just got a little bit stale. I absolutely love the guys there. I do really see them as good friends as well. But everyone had been doing what they could to the best of their ability for a few years, and ultimately there was nothing else we could offer each other. And it was just time to move on. 

It was a little bit stressful, flying the nest, so to speak. But already, in reflection, I’m really stoked on the decision to come to Trek, and I really feel comfortable here. 

And I was really, really surprised, especially on the bike side. I know Trek have so much infrastructure around the race team and the development of bikes, and that was something that really interested me before I joined. But to get to the first team camp and to have a prototype bike there made in my size for me to ride and test — and to have options with it as well, not just, ‘This is the new bike, just ride it.’ It was more like, ‘Here’s the new bike. What do you think?’ There’s a lot of adjustments that we could make and go in different directions and test what I wanted.

And to have the SRAM support there for a few days, that was really, really worthwhile for me. Obviously, not ever using SRAM products before, it helped to get my head around it. They didn’t need to do that, you know? But they knew that it’d be beneficial for me and Ollie [Davis], who have never ridden SRAM products before. 

I jumped on the prototype bike and did a couple of runs. I came back to the stand, and I was chatting to Joe, my mechanic, giving him a little bit of feedback on the bike, and I looked up and there was a group of five or six people around me — a trek engineer, SRAM engineers, suspension guys, brake guys — and you can see how invested they are in the project, and that’s something I’ve not experienced before. They were all listening to what I had to say and taking notes. They want to get it right. It felt like we’re all trying to achieve the same thing.

Why did you choose to race with Trek, specifically?

Matt: Well, I’ve seen a lot of riders over the years succeed with Trek. So that’s a big thing. I know they’re doing something right. I’ve often talked to riders about different teams, as you do, and I haven’t really heard anyone say anything negative towards the atmosphere, the vibe, the way the brand is set up, the people in it. 

I think it has a presence at the World Cup races. Obviously, it’s been there a long time, but also it’s been very successful over the years. And it’s always been, in my eyes, one of the top teams. 

I didn’t see going to SRAM/Rockshox components as a negative, either. Not because of the level of the products. We all know the products are good. People win races on those products every year. That’s not what I mean. It’s just such a big change for me. But I think that’s actually going to be a really positive thing to scrape it all back and go from zero and learn new stuff. And I already feel like, even off the back of the team camp, I’ve started riding downhill a little bit more, and I’m just more excited to go and ride a new bike, and it’s just cool.

Why is it so important to you to have such a tight knit group of teammates?

Matt: Oh, I mean, it’s really important. It’s an individual sport, but you can’t do it on your own, you need the team around you. And I’m sure there are things they can take from me, just from having a little bit more experience. But also I can learn a lot from them as well, and I’m pretty open to the idea that I can learn a lot from younger guys. 

First of all, you can just see it in them, how determined they are to reach that top level. Both Lachie and Ollie are in a place in their careers where they’re making their way up the ladder and they’re striving to be at the top. And for me, I’ve been there and achieved good things in my career. I know what that feels like, and I can see that dogged determination in them, and that rubs off. 

Sometimes you see riders lose that raw determination, and they’re a lot more level as they get older. And I think having younger riders on the team is gonna get me fired up to race. I have motivation in abundance. I’m always striving to be at the top. And having been there, I know what that feels like to be chasing that. But to be chasing that with like minded people, I think is a really healthy environment.

At the latter end of the year, me and Lachie especially, we were on different teams, but we spent a bit of time with each other at the US Open, and we ended up doing track walk together. And then even going into Mont-Sainte-Anne, I had some misfortune with crashing in the semi-final, but I had really strong pace. I won the qualifier, and I was up at the time in the semi-final. And Lachie reached out to say, ‘I’m super bummed for you today. Can you show me your first sector? Because you smoked me. Can you show me where I’m going wrong?’ So I sent him GoPro footage, and we went back and forth and helped each other. 

And I think if we can continue that type of relationship, I really don’t see there being a problem with that. I think we’ll have a really good year.

You’re brand new to the Session. How are you enjoying the bike, and the proto process?

Matt: It’s been super easy to adapt to, to be honest. I mean, I rode four or five days on the current Session, the one that the guys raced last year. Straight away, I felt really comfortable. I honestly felt like it didn’t really matter if I was a little bit out with damper settings, fork pressure, spring rate. Even if I was a little bit out, it still rode well. The way I explained it to Joe was that it almost feels like the bike is in a window where it just works. So even if the suspension isn’t perfect, you can still ride it, and ride it well. It’s really easy and forgiving. 

I felt very similar when I moved to the prototype Session. It is a bit of a different feeling. I was more than happy to bring it home and keep progressing with it. And I honestly felt like at the end of the training camp, there were more legs in the new bike. 

I think you can do a little bit more with it, to tune it to your liking. And I think we saw that at camp, where me and Lachie like different feelings from the bike, and the platform allows you to achieve both. I can go in one direction and he can go in another. I think that’s pretty big, because it’s not like one set style is going to achieve much better than something else.

You definitely showed you had strong raw pace last year at races like Mont-Sainte-Anne. What’s the mission this season?

Matt: Last year I tried to surround myself with different people — people I was having a good time with — and it showed on track. And it was good that I could remind myself, and I think remind others, that the speed is there. 

If I’m happy and I’ve got a smile on my face, I’m going to go fast. It’s never been a question of if I work hard or not. I always work hard. I always tick the boxes. If there’s gym work to be done, it’s done. It’s never a question. But it’s just about those final details to make sure I arrive at the race and I’m happy and I’m ready for it mentally, with a good group around me that I trust. And if those boxes are ticked, I really think we can do some damage.

In 2020, although it was a condensed season, I never finished outside the top five in a time training, qualifying, or a race run. So it’s not as if I’ve never been able to achieve that level of consistency to win an overall title. I have all those strengths. They’re in the locker. It’s just about compiling them all together and learning for me what that takes. 

And unfortunately, it’s not a recipe you can just keep going back to. It’s always a bit of guesswork. But I’ve realized in the last couple of months how important that team environment is for me, and I think having a fresh start is going to be really healthy for me.

Who are you off the bike?

Matt: I do feel like bikes are my life. And that sounds a bit cliche to say, being a bike rider, but there isn’t a lot more that goes on in day to day life that doesn’t involve the bike. 

But that doesn’t have to be downhill bikes. I’m a big fan of motorbikes as well. Like my dad raced motorbikes for 10 or 12 years when I was growing up. He raced superbike, so I spent a lot of the time in paddocks and racing with him, and always buzzing around on little BMXs or electric scooters. Two wheels, bikes, have just been my life for forever, really.

And people do ask me what I’d do if I wasn’t racing bikes. And honestly, I haven’t really got an answer for it, because it’s all I really know. I’m really lucky to do what I do for a living. 

I feel like I’m pretty determined. My girlfriend would probably say I’m pretty selfish at times [laughs]. But what I believe is that it’s my life to achieve my goals. So I would say I’m fairly determined in that way. 

I love where I live in the UK as well. I’ve been a lot of places. I’ve been lucky to travel around the world. But I always have this force dragging me back home, and I always love it when I arrive home and I can hang out with my girlfriend, and ride the same trails I’ve ridden for years, and have my family local. I think that’s a big thing for me. I feel grounded here.

And just being a normal dude. One of the biggest things I really love about this sport is you can go to a bike park on a Sunday, and you’re Matt Walker, the athlete, and you’re kind of at a level where people are interested in you. They ask questions, they’re supportive. You have a following online, and people really show their support. 

And then you go to Aldi or Tesco for your food shop, and no one gives a f— who you are. And I love that. I love that there’s not people knocking at the door with cameras all the time. Just get on, you’re just a normal bloke who rides a bike. I think that’s something pretty special we have in our sport.

Is there anything you’d like to add as you reflect on this next big step in your career?

Matt: I’d just like to say that I’m really stoked on the opportunity to move to such a big brand. However it goes — if I stay for two years, if I stay for four years, if I see out the rest of my career — it’s always something I’ll look back on. The day you put Trek Factory Racing on your CV is pretty damn cool. So I’m just stoked to have the opportunity to do it. 

And I think for me personally, especially where I live in the UK, I’ve seen mountain bike growing a lot over the last 10 years, since I’ve been racing, and I think a key message I’d like to share is that there’s lads locally to me who don’t necessarily see that riding for a big brand such as Trek is achievable. I’d like to let them know that I’ve got two arms and two legs just like them. If they want it bad enough, it can happen.