Kate Courtney

Kate Courtney (born October 29, 1995) is an American cross-country mountain bike cyclist.

Early life Born to Maggie and Tom Courtney in October 1995, Kate Courtney grew up in Marin County, California at the base of Mount Tamalpais, which is considered to be the birthplace of mountain biking. Courtney was introduced to cycling at a young age by her father and they would ride a mountain-bike tandem up Mount Tamalpais together. She joined her school mountain bike team at Branson High School. While at high school, Courtney competed for the USA National Team and Whole Athlete Development Team in international events. In 2012, Courtney became the first American woman to win a UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in the Junior category.

In 2013, Courtney went to Stanford University to study human biology. In the same year, she signed her first professional contract with Specialized Bicycles.

Professional cycling career After graduating from Stanford University in 2017, Courtney began racing full-time and in her first full season in 2017 won four U23 World Cups and the U23 World Cup overall title, and took a silver medal at the U23 world championship. She is a two-time US cross-country (XC) national champion, having won the title in 2017 and 2018. Courtney participated at the 2018 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, winning the gold medal in the women's elite cross country race. It was the first such win for an American since 2001.

In 2018, Courtney took part in the Cape Epic Stage race with her Specialized teammate Annika Langvad; the teammates won seven individual stages and took the Overall team victory. She ended the season as the UCI World Cup series winner.

In 2020, Courtney appeared in a concussion education video as part of the CrashCourse virtual reality series for TeachAids. In 2024, Courtney appeared alongside Tom Cruise in a video promoting the 2028 Summer Olympics which was shown at the 2024 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.

In June 2026, Courtney won the road race at the United States National Road Race Championships. The following month, FDJ–Suez announced that the team had signed Courtney with immediate effect through December 2028.

Major results Mountain bike

2016 2nd Overall UCI Under-23 XCO World Cup 1st Cairns 2nd Lenzerheide 2017 1st Cross-country, National Championships 1st Overall UCI Under-23 XCO World Cup 1st Nové Město 1st Lenzerheide 1st Mont-Sainte-Anne 1st Val di Sole 2nd Albstadt 2nd Vallnord 2018 1st Cross-country, UCI World Championships 1st Cross-country, National Championships

2019 1st Overall UCI XCO World Cup 1st Albstadt 1st Nové Město 1st Les Gets 2021 Swiss Bike Cup 1st Savognin 2nd Leukerbad Internazionali d’Italia Series 1st Legend Cup

2022 Swiss Bike Cup 1st Basel 2023 Pan American Championships

2025 1st Marathon, UCI World Championships 1st Leadville Trail 100 MTB

Road 2026 (1 pro win) 1st Road race, National Championships 1st Stage 4 Tour de Feminin