12 months after offering a huge cash prize, no team has won a World Cup (sort of) on a Gates drive and the bounty rolls over into 2026.
The massive cash bounty did manage to draw in several teams, even if it didn’t produce a World Cup win. Among the squads going unchained in chase of cash were the Atherton, AON and Intense Factory Racing.
The prize has brought a ton of attention to belt drives and, by extension, gear boxes. It also netted Gates a few podiums. But no win.
“This year of racing proved that belt driven bicycles have what it takes to reach the podium, and we are excited to see what the future holds!” Gates said in announcing the prize was still on offer in 2026.
There could be fewer teams chasing the prize this year. Intense put a big effort into chasing the prize, putting out a belt-drive version of its M1 downhill bike. The U.S. brand just stepped back from Axess racing, though. Nukeproof is stepping in in Intense’s place but, while not ruling out the idea in the future, does not have a belt drive bike yet.
Hattie Harnden did win a World Cup on a belt drive in 2025. The AON Racing rider won the Pietre Ligure Enduro World Cup on her belt-driven Nicolai early in the EDR season. With the pedalling involved in an Enduro weekend, this is arguably a harder feat than a DH win. But Gates clarified that the prize only applied to World Cup downhill wins.