Charlie Aldridge wins the Lake Placid XCO season finale as Cole Punchard and Martin finish fourth and fifth, putting three CFR riders in the top five.

MILL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA – October 5, 2026 – Cannondale Factory Racing (CFR) rider Luca Martin (France) rode WTB's Frequency 7X hubs to both the 2026 UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) and Short Track (XCC) World Cup Men's Elite overall titles this past weekend at Lake Placid, New York, the final round of the 2026 UCI Mountain Bike World Series. Teammate Charlie Aldridge (Great Britain) won Sunday's Elite Men's XCO finale in a sprint. WTB sponsors Cannondale Factory Racing with Frequency 7X hubs and CFR riders have tested and raced the hubs throughout the 2026 season, helping WTB fine-tune them ahead of their commercial launch in CGR i28 gravel wheelsets in September, with WTB mountain wheelsets coming later in October 2026.

In Friday's Elite Men's XCC, Martin finished fourth, 10 seconds behind winner Vidaurre Kossmann, sealing his first overall title of the weekend. Teammate Aldridge won the Elite Men's XCO after a three-way battle with Filippo Colombo and Martin Vidaurre Kossmann over the final lap, launching a long sprint to take the win by centimeters in 1:23:21. CFR’s Cole Punchard (Canada) finished fourth, just seven seconds back, two weeks after his career-first elite World Cup podium at Soldier Hollow. Martin finished fifth to seal his second overall title of the weekend and to close out his XCO title. 

On the women's side, CFR's Jolanda Neff (Switzerland) finished 17th in the Elite Women’s XCC and 20th in Sunday's Elite Women's XCO. Meanwhile CFR teammate Ana Santos finished 30th in XCC and 29th in the XCO. 

“Luca Martin winning both overall titles, and Charlie Aldridge winning the last race of the season, is the best way we could have imagined finishing the year with Cannondale Factory Racing," said WTB CEO Patrick Seidler. "These riders push equipment harder than anyone, and the feedback they have given us across a full season of racing has contributed to making WTB’s  7X hubs dependable, light and high performing when they begin to reach riders everywhere. Congratulations to WTB’s engineers, designers, and riders who designed and proved that WTB’s 7X hubs perform at the highest level in the world. WTB is honored to have been involved in an inordinately exciting season with the great athletes of the CFR team coached by Phil Dixon and supported by CFR”s entire technical support crew. 

WTB Frequency 7X hubs weigh less than 300 grams per pair and are engineered to meet the demands of elite cross-country racing. Large-diameter Enduro bearings provide smooth rolling performance and long-term reliability, while a DLC-coated ratchet-ring drive system delivers responsive and efficient power transfer during accelerations, technical climbs and full-gas race efforts.

All Cannondale Factory Racing riders competed on Frequency 7X hubs laced to Reserve rims throughout the 2026 season. Along with Martin's two overall titles, the hubs carried Martin to Men's Elite XCO World Cup victories in Lenzerheide and La Thuile, Aldridge to the win at Lake Placid, and the team to World Championship medals in Val di Sole, where Aldridge and Punchard took XCO silver and bronze. Testing and feedback from CFR riders have helped WTB fine-tune the hubs while proving their dependability, low weight and performance, now available in WTB CGR i28 gravel wheelsets and coming soon to WTB mountain wheelsets.

About WTB

Founded in 1982, WTB was formed in Marin County, the birthplace of mountain biking, to design better bicycle products. Renowned for saddles, tires, wheels, rims, grips, and accessories, this rider-driven company continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible through an unrelenting spirit of innovation and passion for two-wheeled adventure. See WTB.com. WTB also advocates to “Save the World with Bicycles” through the non-profit WTB-TAM, which focuses on improving mobility with integrated cycling systems that design around people. 

Read about WTB’s Frequency 7X Hubs HERE.