Savilia Blunk will lace up for Decathlon’s Rockrider Racing mountain bike pro team in 2023.
Blunk, 23, competed at the elite level for the first time last season in the UCI mountain bike World Cup with the Orange Seal Off Road team. Blunk’s World Cup results continued to improve throughout the season, and with Rockrider she plans to race in all eight stops on the 2023 World Cup calendar.
“I am very excited,” Blunk said in a news release. “For the first time in my career, I will join a European team with which I will be able to participate in all the World Cup events. I'm going to discover a new environment, new equipment and I can't wait. I am happy with what I have shown during the 2022 season, especially during the last big races. Now I want to continue to progress.”
In her first year of racing in mountain biking’s elite category, the Durango racer took the season by storm. The reigning U23 U.S. national champion secured four top-10 finishes on the UCI cross-country Olympic and short-track cross-country circuit. She topped off her season by winning the U.S. women’s elite cross-country national championship and then placing 13th at the world championships in the cross-country Olympic race. Blunk also won the first stop of the U.S.
The Rockrider Racing team debuted in 2022. The team is made up of six riders from four nations, including Blunk, Emeline Detilleux of Germany, Greta Seiwald of Italy and French riders Olivia Onesti, Joshua Dubau and Mathias Azzaro.
“Our team, launched last year, is getting ready to live its second season, which promises to be exciting,” said team manager Samuel Roces. “We have been working for several weeks, together with all our partners, on our 2023 roster. Emeline Detilleux and Joshua Dubau, already present in the adventure this year, welcome new teammates. We will be able to count on the young Olivia Onesti who, at 19 years old, is among the best athletes in the world in the under 23 age group. Mathis Azzaro, double world medalist in Junior and U23, will also be with us for his debut in elite. I am very happy to welcome Greta Seiwald from Italy. Originally from South Tirol, Greta has shown this year that she has the ability to compete with the top 10 in the world. I am also looking forward to working with Savilia Blunk. The U.S. champion, who came close to the podium at the World Cup last year, will start a new story with us. The team is ready for 2023, thank you to everyone who makes this possible.”
Dubau, 26, and Detilleux, 23, both raced for the team during its inaugural season.
“After a great season in 2002, where I progressed in the international ranking but also won the two national titles (XCC and XCO), I am happy to extend my adventure,” Detilleux said. “The team is growing and becoming more feminine, which will bring everyone up. I want to continue my progression, while being present on the big European and world championships. Of course, I also want to keep my beautiful tri-color jersey.”
Seiwald’s top result was a sixth-place finish at the short-track world championship. She is 25.
Onesti, meanwhile, had a third-place finish at the U23 World Cup race in Leogang, Austria. She’ll race in the U23 division again this season.
“We are very happy to continue the adventure with the Rockrider team,” said leader Clement Doby. “Our core business is product design and the team serves as our laboratory for the development, fine-tuning and validation of pro ducts that will then be found in stores, accessible to the greatest number of people. Today, more than ever, we need to go even further in the development of our products. To do this, we need the best people to design and imagine technical advances for our users. The Rockrider team is not only the addition of high level pilots, it is an ecosystem set up for the success of this project.”
