Norco’s behind-the-scenes Just Getting Started series premiered last year, and now Season 2 is kicking off with more grit, more speed and more race-ready kinship.
After a winter buried in mud and muscle building, the Norco Race Division is charging into the 2025 season like a runaway freight train barely on the rails.
Lately, the landscape of World Cup downhill has shifted a little. The UCI’s overhauled format ditches the semi-finals in favour of a Last Chance Qualifier. Gone are the protected spots, opening the gate wide for a deeper field of hard-charging, ever-hungry riders. The schedule is tighter. The stakes are higher. And Canada’s own Norco has answered with a team boasting more firepower, and a roster that’s as international as it is elite.
This season, the team rolls deeper and farther than ever. Gracey Hemstreet (from Sechelt, BC) and Lucas Cruz (from Pemberton, BC) return, bringing podium experience. They’re joined by newcomers Danny Hart, Bodhi Kuhn, Erice van Leuven, and Lina Frener—each one a force in his/her own right. Behind them is an avid crew of engineers and mechanics, and at the helm, none other than World Cup legend Greg Minnaar, stepping into a new role as Team Director. Expect a distinct kind of wisdom guiding the ship this year.
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This year’s story started in Birmingham, UK, where the squad put rubber to dirt under the expert eye of Norco Team Manager Alan Milway. This wasn’t just a tune-up—it was a full-throttle bonding session and the beginning of a tailored training grind that set the tone for the season.
From there, things got wild in Tasmania. Twenty-year-old Gracey Hemstreet enhanced her rep as one of the toughest riders out there, once again conquering Hardline as the only woman to race the finals. And 18-year-old Kiwi Erice van Leuven went bar-to-bar with the notoriously brutal course. A crash sidelined her before finals, but she’s healed up and coming back swinging.
Next stop: Lousa, Portugal—a no-frills test camp followed by a pre-season showdown against most of the top 15 teams on the circuit. Suspension was tweaked, lines were dissected, systems dialled and re-dialled. The Norco crew isn’t just racing bikes—they’re building a speedy beast of precision and power.
Now, with World Cup Round One under their belts and Round Two (Loudenvielle, France) imminent, Norco Race Division is locked in. They’re sporting new bikes, new kits and the same unstoppable drive. The trail ahead is unknown, but one thing’s for sure—this team is here to race their hearts out. And they’re just getting started.
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