Decathlon just benched its own house brand. Starting in 2027, Rockrider is out as the official bike and apparel supplier for the Decathlon-Ford World Cup team, replaced by Van Rysel — a brand that has only ever built road and gravel bikes and, until this week, had never sold a mountain bike at all. The bike taking over the job is the RCR-XC, unveiled at Roc d’Azur on October 8, 2026: a full-suspension XC race bike built entirely around 32-inch wheels and a 130mm fork, with no 29er version anywhere in the lineup to fall back on. Reigning UCI world No. 1 Luca Martin is signed to race it starting next season — full stop, no backup wheel size written into his program.

Coverage landed fast and lined up on the same two details across six outlets — road.cc, Bike Magazin, Singletracks, Canadian Cycling Magazine, Mountain Bike Action, and MagazineBike — Van Rysel’s own wind tunnel numbers, and a contract that puts a world champion’s season on a wheel size with exactly one World Cup podium to its name.

Quick Take

What it is	Van Rysel’s first-ever mountain bike, a full-suspension XC race bike
Wheels	32-inch only — no 29er version planned
Fork	130mm, RockShox
Claimed weight saving	230g lighter (size M frame) than the 29in Rockrider Race 940 S the team currently races
Claimed aero saving	15.5 watts at 35 km/h vs. the team’s 2025 bike, per Van Rysel’s own wind tunnel testing
Team deal	Replaces Rockrider as Decathlon-Ford’s official bike and apparel supplier, starting 2027
Riders	Luca Martin (UCI world No. 1), Samara Maxwell, Savilia Blunk
Available to buy?	No — team-only at launch, no consumer release date announced
Best for	Anyone tracking whether 32-inch wheels just got their first real manufacturer commitment
Skip if	You want a spec sheet you can actually order from right now

Wait, Didn’t Trek and Scott Already Race 32-Inch Bikes?

Sort of, and the difference is exactly why this launch matters more than those did. We’ve been tracking this format since the UCI cleared 32-inch wheels for XC racing back in January, and most of what’s followed has been prototypes. Ventum showed up at Leadville in August with a full-suspension 32er from a brand that had never built a mountain bike before. Trek and Scott both raced 32-inch prototypes at the Soldier Hollow World Cup in September, running opposite fit theses — Trek scaled the format down for 5’3” Evie Richards, Scott built an XL frame for riders over six feet. Neither bike has a price. Neither has a release date. Both brands have been explicit that production isn’t confirmed.

Van Rysel didn’t race a one-off at a World Cup and call it a tease. It signed a multi-year team supply deal on the condition that the team’s only option is 32-inch. There’s no 29er RCR-XC waiting in the wings as a fallback. That’s a bigger bet than anything the format has seen since Alessandra Keller put a 32-inch bike on a World Cup podium back in June, riding for Thömus-Maxon.

The Numbers: 230 Grams Lighter, 15.5 Watts Faster

Two figures anchor every piece of launch coverage, and both come from Van Rysel, not an independent lab. The RCR-XC’s carbon frame is 230 grams lighter, size medium, than the 29-inch Rockrider Race 940 S the Decathlon-Ford team has raced the past few seasons. In the wind tunnel, Van Rysel found a 15.5-watt saving at 35 km/h against that same bike.

Both figures come from Van Rysel’s own testing rig — nobody outside the brand’s wind tunnel has measured either one independently, which is worth keeping in mind before either number gets repeated as settled fact. Nicolas Pierron, Van Rysel’s CEO, put the thinking behind the testing plainly: “Developing the fastest machine only makes sense when ridden by the best riders on the planet.”

That quote is really the bigger story. Van Rysel didn’t just build a bike and publish a couple of favorable numbers — it handed a reigning world champion a wheel size with one World Cup podium total and told him there’s no other size on offer in his program. The grams and the watts are a sales pitch. The contract is the bet.

What’s Actually Bolted to the RCR-XC?

Reporting has been consistent across outlets on the build, even without a published spec sheet:

1. Wheels — Zipp’s new 32-inch aero wheels, developed as a co-design partner rather than specced off a shelf. This is Zipp’s first 32-inch mountain bike product.
2. Fork — A 130mm RockShox fork, built for the 32-inch standard.
3. Tires — Vittoria Peyote and Mezcal, in 32-inch casings. That matters beyond this one bike: it’s Vittoria’s first 32-inch tire, breaking what had been a one-brand, Maxxis-only format since the Aspen 32 shipped in March.
4. Cockpit — A one-piece aero handlebar and stem.
5. Frame — Carbon, flex-stay rear end, co-developed with the Decathlon-Ford riders racing it next season.

Zipp and Vittoria both showing up as named development partners, not just component suppliers bolted on after the fact, is the detail that separates this from a badge-engineered race bike. Two established component brands committed resources to a wheel size that, three weeks ago, had exactly one World Cup podium to its name.

Replacing Rockrider: What Decathlon-Ford Actually Gets

Rockrider is also a Decathlon house brand, which makes this less a competitive loss and more an internal promotion. Starting in 2027, Van Rysel takes over as Decathlon-Ford’s official bike and apparel supplier, with the RCR-XC raced by three riders who matter: Luca Martin, the reigning UCI world No. 1 who won the 2026 XCO and XCC World Cup titles racing for Cannondale before this move; Samara Maxwell, the 2025 XCO World Cup overall champion; and Savilia Blunk, a short track winner at Lenzerheide this season.

That’s not a development team quietly testing a concept. That’s a brand putting a reigning world No. 1 on a wheel size that, as of Soldier Hollow three weeks ago, had produced one World Cup podium total. Decathlon has the manufacturing scale to absorb a bad bet on wheel diameter. Signing Luca Martin to ride one anyway, full stop, no 29er backup bike in his program, is the strongest signal yet that someone inside the sport thinks 32-inch wheels are going to start winning races rather than just generating tech-gallery photos.

Who Should Actually Care About This

32-inch format watchers. This is the first time the format has a dedicated factory team committing exclusively, not a prototype racing alongside a 29er backup. That’s a different category of bet than anything from Trek, Scott, or Ventum so far.

Anyone tracking the Maxxis tire monopoly. Vittoria’s Peyote and Mezcal breaking into 32-inch casings is arguably the more durable story here. A second tire brand matters more to the format’s long-term viability than any one bike launch.

Riders curious whether Decathlon’s “best gear, fairest price” pitch extends to a race bike like this. It’s too early to know. Van Rysel’s road and gravel lines have leaned hard into value pricing; nothing about the RCR-XC’s development story suggests that’s the target here, at least not for the version racing World Cups in 2027.

Who Should Skip This

Anyone shopping for a 32-inch bike today. Same caveat that applies to Trek’s and Scott’s prototypes: no price, no release date, and the RCR-XC is currently reserved for Decathlon-Ford’s roster. Van Rysel hasn’t said when, or if, a version reaches retail.

Riders who need 32-inch tire or parts support right now. Maxxis is still the format’s only widely available tire option for anyone actually riding a 32er this year. Vittoria’s entry is good news for 2027 and beyond, not for a bike you can buy this week.

Anyone looking for proof 32-inch wheels are faster. A wind tunnel number from the manufacturer and a world No. 1’s signature on a contract are strong signals of confidence. Neither one is a race result. That verdict starts getting written once Luca Martin lines up at a World Cup on this bike, not before.

The Bottom Line

This isn’t a cautious debut. Decathlon pulled its own house brand off a World Cup roster and handed the job to a company that hadn’t built a single mountain bike three months ago, on the condition that the team’s new bike only comes in one wheel size. There’s no 29er RCR-XC waiting as a hedge, and Luca Martin’s 2027 contract doesn’t have one either — a bigger commitment than Trek’s scaled-down prototype or Scott’s XL-frame bet at Soldier Hollow, both still unpriced and unconfirmed for production. The 230g and 15.5-watt figures make for a tidy press release, but they’re not what decides this. What decides it is a reigning world champion lining up on a wheel size that’s gone zero-for-everything at World Cup level except one podium, because his team’s new supplier left him no other option to race. That gets settled on a start line in 2027 — not in a wind tunnel, and not in this post.

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Reporting sourced from road.cc, Bike Magazin, Singletracks, Canadian Cycling Magazine, Mountain Bike Action, and MagazineBike. No test bike has been ridden by our team — it isn’t for sale to anyone outside the Decathlon-Ford roster.