Who’s your Rider of the Year? An all-conquering downhill, enduro or cross-country racer? An adventure rider or a YouTube favourite? Could it be a coach, an event organiser or someone else beavering away behind the scenes? Or even one of your favourite bike journos? (Hint, hint!)

As long as they ride a mountain bike, they can be nominated for our second annual MBUK Rider of the Year awards, presented by Lezyne.

With help from your nominations, we'll draw up shortlists for each of our three categories. The Rider of the Year and Newcomer of the Year will then be put to a public vote, while the recipient of this year's Lifetime Achievement award will be decided by our expert panel.

All three winners will be revealed at an exclusive ceremony at our Bristol HQ in November and in the December issue of the mag.

We’re looking for the mountain biker who’s had the most significant impact or made the biggest difference in 2025, whether through competing (amateur or professional), taking part in an event or adventure, leading a group or community, or any other contribution to the sport we love.

The same criteria apply, but we’re after someone who wasn’t a big name in 2024, and maybe still isn’t. Or perhaps they were well-known within certain circles but have now broken through to the big time. They don’t have to be young or new to the sport, but should have been unfamiliar to most MBUK readers prior to 2025 and must have done something this year that deserves recognition. 

This one’s self-explanatory – the winner will be a veteran of the sport and someone who’s regarded as an absolute legend, either by mountain bikers as a whole or just those in the know.

Thanks for your nominations! Once we've got all the results, we'll use them to help us draw up three shortlists, then put the Rider of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards to a public vote.

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A panel of judges from MBUK will create a shortlist of nominees in two categories – Rider of the Year and Newcomer of the Year – and will also choose an overall Lifetime Achievement Award winner, based on suggestions made via this form, along with their own extensive knowledge and experience of the mountain bike scene in the UK. Nominations will be assessed against a series of criteria, set out below. 

The judges will be: James Costley-White, group editor; Rob Weaver, technical editor-in-chief; Alex Evans, senior technical editor; Tom Marvin, video presenter; Scott Windsor, multimedia content producer; Max Wilman, videographer; Will Soffe, workshop manager and writer; Julia Broussier, creative design lead. The public will be able to vote on the Rider of the Year and Newcomer of the Year shortlists online, from 15 September to 15 October 2025. The winner of the Lifetime Achievement award will be chosen by the expert judging panel.

Winners of all three categories will be announced in issue 455 of MBUK, on sale 30 December 2025; on MBUK’s Instagram and Facebook channels; and at a special live awards ceremony in November 2025. 

The criteria are as follows:

MBUK Rider of the Year – a rider who’s had a significant impact or made a big difference in 2025 to the mountain bike scene. This could be through competing (amateur or professional), taking part in an event or adventure, leading a group or community, or any other contribution to the sport.

MBUK Newcomer of the Year – a rider who’s burst onto the mountain bike scene in the past year and had a significant impact or made a big difference. Nominees can be any age and don’t have to be new to the sport, but most MBUK readers should have been unfamiliar with them prior to 2025, and they must have made a significant achievement or breakthrough this year that deserves recognition. 

Lifetime Achievement Award – a veteran of the sport and someone who’s regarded as an absolute legend, either by mountain bikers as a whole, the mountain biking industry or their riding community.