NORCO x ADIDAS RACE DIVISION A SEASON BUILT ON PROVING A POINT

 Norco x Adidas Race Division

Some seasons are about survival. Some are about redemption. The 2026 season for Norco x Adidas Race Division has been about something bigger than both  it's been about arriving.

Coming off a big off-season move landing Adidas as a title sponsor in one of the most significant partnership announcements in Canadian downhill history the team walked into 2026 with something to prove. And round by round, they have been proving it.

Gracey Hemstreet: Consistently Dangerous

If there's one rider who has defined Norco's season, it's 21-year-old Canadian Gracey Hemstreet. She came into 2026 hungry, and the results have backed it up. A second-place finish at the Loudenvielle World Cup in France, another silver medal at Andorra in Round 6  Hemstreet has made a habit of finishing inches from the top step. In between, she claimed the Canadian National Championships title and won Red Bull Hardline Tasmania, one of the most demanding freeride-to-race crossover events on the calendar.

At Andorra, despite crashing at the same venue a year prior, she showed up and sent it  posting the fastest women's time before Valentina Höll's final run. That's the kind of fearless riding that doesn't just win races. It earns respect.

Lina Frener: The Teenage Revelation

If Hemstreet has been the team's spine this season, Lina Frener has been its electric shock. The 17-year-old Austrian didn't come quietly — she won the Austrian National Championships and then backed it up by taking victory at Lenzerheide in the UCI World Cup. At 17. Against the entire Elite Women's field.

Frener is the kind of talent that makes people stop mid-sentence when her name comes up. She's raw, she's fast, and she's only just getting started.

The Bigger Picture

Across the full roster  Hemstreet, Frener, Bodhi Kuhn, Danny Hart, Erice van Leuven  the team has accumulated 5 wins and 12 podiums from 54 race starts in 2026. The season isn't finished. World Champs is still on the calendar. But the story is already clear.

Norco x Adidas Race Division isn't a team that's building toward something. They're already here.

Albek is proud to ride alongside them.

FitForPurpose #DesignedForLife