Sam Hill says Nukeproof collapse won’t stop his comeback

When Wiggle/ChainReaction Cycles collapsed over the new year, taking Nukeproof down with it, one of the biggest questions left unanswered was what would happen to Sam Hill. While the Continental Nukeproof team racers quickly found a home with GT. Sam Hill, though, was on his own program.

As far as timing goes, it couldn’t have been worse. Hill was in the midst of a delayed comeback to downhill. After winning a few Enduro World Series (now the Enduro World Cup) titles, the iconic Australian flat pedal-holdout was working towards returning to World Cup downhill in 2023. That was delayed by a broken foot. Just as Hill was getting back up to speed, the news came that Wiggle/CRC and, with that, Nukeproof, were done. While the group and its associated brands were eventually purchased, the new owner is not continuing any of the teams.

“I was basically made redundant effective immediately,” says Hill. For a rider who’d been with the same program for 11 years, it was hard news. “It was definitely not something I had seen coming and was a huge shock to wrap my head around as an athlete. I’ve never not had a bike deal or a direction my career was going in and to be honest I just wanted to give up all together.”

“The team was all apart of my success and for it to all be over, without a proper goodbye, one last whirl or any warning has been really, really hard,” Hill added, in a good reminder that, with all the hard times in the cycling industry lately, there are real people behind all these closures and layoffs. 

While the abrupt transition wasn’t easy, Hill’s still focused on getting back to the World Cup and isn’t talking about retirement just yet.

“I’ll stop racing when I’m ready to stop racing and not be forced to stop racing,” Hill says, ending with “Seeya between the tape somewhere soon everyone.”

Will soon be next week at the first World Cup in Fort William? If so, what frame will we see Hill racing?

Full statement from Sam Hill:

“Where do I even start?

Obviously 2023 didn’t go to plan. I wanted to return to DH, challenge myself and relearn the speeds of the current top elite men. The sport has changed since I last fully committed to the World Cup circuit and I knew it was going to be a big adjustment for myself. I felt like I was building momentum & getting comfortable on the DH bike again but then unfortunately as you all know broke my foot. I flew home and…