Cannondale bolsters enduro team with American gravity talent

Cannondale has signed two gravity-focused riders for 2021 - Mitch Ropelato and Kera Linn. 

Last week, the American brand announced new signings to their World Cup cross-country team, and now the brand is bringing aboard two enduro riders. 

Ropelato has roots racing the World Cup downhill series and has earned consistent results in the Enduro World Series in recent years.  

“I’m super excited to be a part of Cannondale as its heritage runs deep in the mountain bike world, and a lot of great athletes I looked up to rode for Cannondale," Ropelato said. My goal for this year is to suck less than I sucked the year before.”

• Best enduro bikes
• Cannondale Habit 5 review

Linn is an up-and-coming racer who rode to a podium position at a U.S. national downhill series race last year and earned a top-10 result at a Big Mountain Enduro series event. In 2021, she will focus on the Enduro World Series and other enduro events.

“I’m excited to be a part of a brand that makes amazing bikes and has so many of the top athletes, in different disciplines," she said. I look forward to rep’ing Cannondale in 2021 and kitting up to race the global enduro scene.” 

Cannondale does not make a downhill bike, but prototypes have popped up on the World Cup circuit in recent years. Fans and media have constantly speculated whether a full production bike will see the light of day. 

Cannondale's enduro bike is the Jekyll, a 150mm 29er. They also make the Habit, a 130mm 29er trail bike. Both bikes use a traditional fork, rather than a lefty fork found on some of Cannondale's XC bikes. In previous years, the lefty fork could be seen on enduro tracks under former Cannondale enduro racer Marco Osborne. Cannondale's bolstered interest in enduro racing could mean we see some new exciting gravity tech from the American innovators in the future.