Insights

Joshua Dubau: The new face of Cross Country World

Joshua Dubau, French born in 1996, was the real surprise in the inaugural round of the World Cup in Nove Mesto, where he conquered a 2nd place behind Tom Pidock. Let's get to know him better.

Written by

David Finetto

May 19, 2023

Joshua Dubau UCI XCO World Cup in Nove Mesto na Morave 2023 // credits: Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool

Joshua Dubau, born in Reims (France) on 4 June 1996, is part of a family that is not new to the world of cycling. In fact he is the son of Ludovic Dubau, an athlete who in the 90s was always present among the finishers in the MTB World Cup.

It should be noted that Joshua Dubau is a cousin of Pauline Ferrand Prevot, and his father Ludovic Dubau coached the French champion. Joshua is also a multidisciplinary athlete having very interesting skills in cyclocross among his skills, where he won several French Cups and won the national title in 2022.

Joshua Dubau cyclocross — Joshua Dubau 2020 – CREDIT PHOTO HERVÉ DANCERELLE – DIRECTVELO

THE BROTHER

Small excursus: Joshua has a brother, Lucas Dubau, who is Rockrider brand ambassador and works closely with the team. He is also registered for the team but it seems that his future is in the staff as he is completing his studies in physiotherapy.

PASSAGE TO CROSS COUNTRY

There was no real transition to Cross Country but Joshua Dubau has abandoned his cyclo-cross commitments a bit to jump into mountain biking, this from 2021. In fact, after a few negative seasons, he recovers in 2021 with good placements in the World Cup thanks to the support of Team Massi. This makes Team Rockrider wants him in its workforce in 2022.

Joshua Dubau 2021 Team Massi Nove Mesto – credits: Stéphan Da Silva Photographe

Last year, Joshua brought home important results that industry insiders noticed: last year he closed twice in the Top10 (Leogang e Andorra) and the other times he still brought home some good placements, which allowed him to close 17th in the general classification of the World Cup.

The 2023 season started very well with Heubach's Bundesliga victory, ahead of Pierre de Froidmont and Luca Schwarzbauer, and at the Nalles race in front of Nadir Colledani and Simone Avondetto.

But between good performances and fighting in the World Cup with Tom Pidock there is a discrete difference and this has somewhat surprised industry insiders: is it a symptom of a day of grace or has the French talent really changed gears?

Only the next races will tell us but, in the meantime, we can only congratulate the Frenchman for the great show he put on.

If you want to review Joshua's race in Nove Mesto, click on this link.

In this article:365People, Cross Country, Joshua Dubai, Marlene South Tyrol Sunshine Race

Written by David Finetto

[email protected] I am a fan of everything that has 2 wheels: at a young age I practiced road and track cycling (Italian Allievi champion). At the age of 18 I passed into the cross country competing at national/international level as an Under23. Past Elite, I made the choice to take things more lightly from a training point of view, and my love for gravity disciplines was born, training me as an FCI MTB instructor and guide. Now I have made passion my profession by managing 2 MTB centers on the island of Elba (Bike Center Elba and Elba MTB), creating the FANTAmtb and telling in an ironic but professional way everything that revolves around MTB thanks to 365mountainbike and 365TV (YouTube'PULITI dentro BIKER fuori').