Kate
Courtney
United States
·
MTB
Date of birth | 29 October 1995 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Palo Alto, California |
Age | 30 |
Nationality | United States |
Career start | 2013 |
Disciplines | Mountainbike Cross Country / Road Cycling |
Kate Courtney has spent much of her career redefining what's possible on a mountain bike. Now, the American is taking on a new challenge: road racing with UCI Women’s WorldTeam FDJ UNITED-SUEZ.
Born in 1995 and raised in Marin County, California, Kate grew up at the foot of Mount Tamalpais, one of the historic homes of mountain biking. Her parents, Maggie and Tom, encouraged her to explore a wide range of sports, but cycling is the discipline she developed a passion for.
Taking competition seriously at high school
Kate discovered competitive mountain biking at school. She joined her high-school mountain bike team and began to take racing seriously, setting off on a path of MTB competition at the age of 14, in 2009. In 2010, she won the XC Junior National Championships, the first major result in a rapid rise through the sport. Just two years later, she became the first American woman to win a UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in the junior category. In 2013, she started college at Stanford University and signed her first professional contract.
Racing to the top
While studying at Stanford, Kate established herself as one of the leading riders of her generation, progressing through the U23 ranks before making an immediate impact at elite level. In 2018, she won the UCI Cross-country World Championship in Lenzerheide, becoming the first American woman to claim the elite XCO title in 17 years. A year later, she confirmed her place at the top of the sport by winning the overall UCI Cross-country World Cup title.
After several seasons focused on cross-country racing, Kate began exploring longer and more varied endurance events. In 2025, she won the Leadville Trail 100 MTB and claimed the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championship, earning a second rainbow jersey and marking the beginning of a more multidisciplinary phase of her career.
Transitioning to road racing
In 2026, Kate took her first major steps into road racing and quickly proved she could compete at the highest level. After winning a stage at the Tour de Féminin in her first UCI road race, she went on to claim the US National Road Race Championship title against a field of experienced road specialists.
Kate's rapid success on the road after just two road-racing appearances earned her a mid-season call-up from FDJ UNITED-SUEZ in July 2026. As part of the team, Kate has raced in La Périgord Ladies (finishing 15th overall), La Picto en Nouvelle-Aquitaine (13th) and Lloyds Tour of Britain Women (11th) so far in 2026.
September 26, 2026 sees Kate competing in the Elite Women's Road Race in Montreal at the 2026 UCI Road World Championships.
Joining the Women’s WorldTour
Kate accepted the opportunity as the next step in an increasingly multidisciplinary career, while recognising the scale of the challenge ahead. In her personal newsletter, she reflected that “so often, we shrink our dreams so they demand only a stretch, not a leap. But eventually, if the dream is big enough, we are going to have to leap.” Her decision to take that leap opened a new chapter at the highest level of road racing, bringing the experience, resilience and ambition that defined her mountain bike career into a new discipline.
Outside of her cycling career, Kate’s pursues skiing, surfing, yoga, photography and hiking – all of which provide her with a mental break from cycling and enable her to refresh during the off-season.
Kate Courtney, looking forward to the 11th Lloyds Tour of Britain Women
© Matt McNulty/Getty Image
Kate Courtney raced in the 11th Lloyds Tour of Britain Women in 2026
© Jan Kruger/Getty Images
Kate Courtney at the front of the pack at Lloyds Tour of Britain Women
© Matt McNulty/Getty Images
Kate Courtney continues to compete at the top of the cross-country world
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool