Former WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series star and 2023 UCI Cross-country Marathon World Champion joins Factor Racing. The Brazilian cross-country mountain biking icon Henrique Avancini has announced he is coming out of retirement to try his hand at racing on the road.

The 35-year-old Brazilian called time on his mountain biking career at the end of 2023, bowing out as the reigning UCI Cross-country Marathon (XCM) World Champion. But after a year sat on the sidelines, Avancini is returning on the road and is joining Factor Racing – the new UCI Continental-level factory team of the UK-based bike manufacturer.

Speaking about his decision, he said in a press release: “In 2024, I started thinking seriously about racing on the road. As a child, I used to dream about racing the Tour, the Giro, the Vuelta. When I felt refreshed mentally and physically, I really started to be able to enjoy what I’d achieved as a mountain biker, and think seriously about giving this gift to myself, this goal of trying to achieve my childhood dream. When I first met with Factor, for some reason, they were really excited about the project. I felt from the very first meetings that this was the right group of people to try this with. And win or lose, it still feels like something great to do.”

Avancini raced for more than a decade at the pinnacle of mountain biking, winning another UCI XCM World Championship (2018), a UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Cup and two UCI Cross-country Short Track (XCC) World Cups during his 11 elite seasons. He also helped raise the sport’s profile in his home country, which is evidenced with two UCI World Cups kicking off the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series in Araxá-Minas Gerais.

The Brazilian is set to line up for his new team at the UMAG Classic in Croatia on Wednesday, March 5, but it won’t be his first time racing on the road – Avancini first competing at the 2007 UCI Road Cycling World Championships in the Junior category, where his best finish was 36th in the individual time trial.

We wish Henrique all the best for his new chapter.