When it comes to Yeti one of the most iconic athletes is definitely Richie Rude, who has been part of the YETI family for 12 years. Richie has grown together with the American brand starting from DH up to enduro. Recall that Richie Rude has conquered a silver at the Juniores DH World Championships in 2012 (behind Loic Bruni) e he conquered the rainbow jersey the following year in Pietermaritzburg.
WORLD CUP 2013 PIETERMARITZBURG
In South Africa Team Yeti had brought a lot of class and style: Jared Graves had finished in 3rd place on his enduro bike while Richie Rude had won among the Juniors. Despite his success in DH, Richie had decided to stay with Yeti along with Jared Graves and the chief mechanic Shaun Hughes to try the Enduro. The rest is history. Graves and Rude raced together many years until retirement of Jared Graves, which occurred last year.
To date, Richie Rude has amassed 30 podium finishes, tallying 19 wins and 2 Enduro World Series titles. The 2022 season started with Rude and Melamed going head-to-head until the end, with the American having to bow to Melamed for a few points, settling for 2nd place, also due to a scapula fracture in the last stage.
The last few years have been hugely successful for Rude, but after back-to-back second-place finishes in 2021 and 2022, a bitter taste still remains in his mouth over the possibility of a third title.
This year, with Discovery's entry into the world of MTB, it's a season full of excitement where many brands want to show off in front of an international public. Obviously, Rude's longtime friends and Yeti staff, Hughes and Graves (now on the YETI staff), were a big factor in staying on the team, but after nearly a decade of enduro racing, there was an urge to add new pepper. And so began Yeti's challenge in bringing back to life a bicycle, the DH model, which he had long ago withdrawn from the market.
Richie Rude has signed with Yeti Cycles through 2025 with a focus on DH.
When Richie said he wanted to race DH again, our entire product and design team came together with one goal: to create a bike that can make Richie faster. We didn't talk about the cost, or even how many we could sell, we just made the fastest bike we could make. We are excited to be part of Richie's journey to compete in DH again – Chris Conroy
It was great to see Yeti work hard to create a no-compromise DH bike. After leaving the discipline nearly a decade ago, it's exciting to have the opportunity to be involved in another Yeti Special Project. Enduro has been really fulfilling for the last ten years, but I can't wait to explore DH again. I want to push myself to higher speeds and reconnect with that DH mindset and ideally carry those benefits into enduro. In the end, I just want to get on a DH bike again and have some fun –Richie Rude
