{"id":201946,"date":"2025-09-09T05:52:42","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T05:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=201946"},"modified":"2025-09-09T05:57:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T05:57:34","slug":"top-mechanics-secrets-how-to-win-a-world-cup-race-in-the-mud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/09\/09\/top-mechanics-secrets-how-to-win-a-world-cup-race-in-the-mud\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Mechanics\u2019 Secrets: How to Win a World Cup Race in the Mud"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not sure what to do with your bike when the skies open and the trails turn into sludge? In this piece, World Cup cross-country team mechanics Jakub \u0160ulc of Cube Factory Racing and Alejandro Rodriguez of Orbea Fox Factory share their hard-earned secrets for prepping a bike for muddy battles.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Mud. Mud. Mud. It sounds like a mantra, but for riders and mechanics, it\u2019s more like a nightmare. Then again, mud is fair \u2013 it punishes everyone equally. And as in any competition, in the mud, the winner is still the fastest. Or\u2026 the best prepared.<\/p>\n

Reading the weather, planning the race<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Every team has its own way of prepping for mud, based on how used they are to racing in those conditions. The specific race and the evolving weather play a huge role. According to Jakub \u0160ulc \u2013 the mechanic for Ond\u0159ej Cink, this year\u2019s World Cup winner in Leogang \u2013 it\u2019s much easier when the conditions stay the same all weekend: either consistently wet and muddy or consistently dry. \u201cIf the weather flips overnight like it did in Leogang this year, it\u2019s a lot trickier,\u201d laughs the Czech mechanic, who also looks after German elite racer Kira Bohm\u2019s bike. Bohm won the overall U23 World Cup title last year.<\/p>\n

The job starts with watching the forecast, trying to predict how wet the race will be and how much mud is coming. It makes a big difference whether it rains all day or stops halfway through \u2013 that changes whether the mud will stick to the bike or slide off. The mechanics build their strategies around that.<\/p>\n

For Alejandro Rodriguez, who works with Australian star Rebecca Henderson, the first step is getting up early and heading trackside to see the conditions firsthand. \u201cWe walk the course, take photos and videos to show the riders, and check out how the U23 race went \u2013 it\u2019s usually before the elites. Then we make the bike setup call,\u201d explains the Alicante-born mechanic with over a decade of experience.<\/p>\n