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Waterford native Ros O’Keeffe will wear an Irish jersey for the first time. The first year junior finished second in the U16 category at last year’s Downhill National Championships, and already has experience racing abroad, including a strong outing at the IXS Cup in Fort William two weeks ago.
Last year’s U16 National Champion Kyle Murray will also feature in an Ireland jersey. The GAP rider, again in his first year as a Junior, has two races abroad under his belt already in 2025, having ridden at the IXS Cup rounds in Portugal and Scotland.
Second year Junior rider Felim Coffey comes into the World Series also having ridden in the first two IXS rounds. After taking fifth place in last year’s Junior National Championship, Coffey put in a solid performance at the IXS Rookies Championship in his first time racing abroad in 2024.
Ben Fitzsimon rounds out the quartet and is no stranger to racing in green. The second year Junior rider represented Ireland at last year's UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Andorra, and followed a strong performance there with a third place overall in his class at the IXS Downhill Series.
Due to changes in regulations brought in for UCI Mountain Bike World Series events, national federations are eligible to select representatives that currently cannot enter on a trade team. These riders will compete in national team colours and are selected based on performance and potential further development.
Alongside these Juniors, Ireland will also be represented by several riders on trade teams in this year’s Series.
Darragh Ryan signed for Orbea FMD Racing in the off-season, and has settled into the team immediately. Hard work throughout the winter testing with his new team has left the former National Champion and Biking.ie rider in good stead for this season.
On the Elite front, former World Cup winner Ronan Dunne, riding with Mondraker Factory Racing will look to bounce back after an early season injury at RedBull Hardline in Tazmania.
Another World Cup winner and former Junior World Champion Oisin O’Callaghan will line out again for YT Mob, and will start the year wearing the National Champions sleeve. O’Callaghan has already found success in 2025 with back to back wins on the continent to open the year.
Second placed rider in last year's National Championship Jacob Dickson will be back on the World Cup circuit for 2025 with MS Racing.
Henry Kerr will line out for Aon Racing, as the team makes their debut in 2025. Kerr will look to make an instant impact with the new team led by former World Champion Reece Wilson, on board a belt-driven Gamux.
On the Enduro front, Kelan Grant and Greg Callaghan will be Ireland’s representatives at this level again this year. Again, due to changes in UCI regulations, athletes riding in the Enduro events at World Series level will have to be endorsed by their national federation.
Greg Callaghan ran his own programme for the first time in 2024, and saw his effort come to fruition with his first World Cup podium in a seven years and eighth overall in the Series.
Kelan Grant will again take to the trails on board an e-bike, riding for Rotwild Schwalbe Gravity Team. Grant took home a top 20 finish in all but one World Cup event last year along with second in the National Championships at Ravensdale.
The same changes placing additional onus on the national federation to endorse non-trade team riders and enduro riders also extends to cross-country. Although Chris Dawson automatically qualifies for a berth in XC World Cup events as National Champion, the federation remains involved in endorsing Dawson for events. Dawson spent his time over the off-season juggling training and expanding his team, Dawson Racing, and has seen his hard work paying off early in 2025 already with podiums at the British Cycling National Points Series events and a solid showing at the Serbia Epic Series. Dawson also grabbed himself a podium at the Melgaço International race in Portugal on the same course as the 2025 European Championships.
While these riders are being endorsed by the federation for early rounds this year, as the year goes on, some of the berths given to federation riders will be up for competition.
Cycling Ireland sees this as an opportunity to help develop riders in the off-road scene, and given the growth and success of Irish riders at the highest level in recent years, we look forward to pushing the performance and development of Irish riders at all levels, with this being the first step.
Cycling Ireland Head Coach Neill Delahaye said “Cycling Ireland are very proud to endorse & select multiple riders to race across the various MTB disciplines in the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series. It is exciting to see the emerging talent, commitment and increasingly high performance potential amongst the Irish off road community. The World Series offers race exposure at the highest level and its great to see we have riders that have built up to this level, over multiple Seasons, that are now established amongst the best in the World and also younger Pathway athletes gaining the experience and competition stimulus they need for their development as they progress towards successful senior careers. Its set to be a busy and exciting Season with plenty to look forward to from Irish MTB racers at home and abroad.”
To view the UCI Mountain Bike World Series calendar - click here