Already in its third year, the Freeride Mountain Bike World Tour (FMB World Tour) can look back on two very successful seasons. However, as the governing body behind the FMB World Tour, the Freeride Mountain Bike Association (FMBA) is constantly working to improve the structure of the World Tour. After careful analysis of the structure of the organization and bearing in mind the goal of creating a fair and even playing field for all athletes, some important modifications will be made for the current 2012 season. These include amendments to rider licensing, the implementation of amateur rankings and athlete’s ability to access FMB World Tour events.
One of the changes that most directly affects the FMB World Tour riders is the introduction of two different athlete license categories; amateur (AM) and professional (PRO). This measure was introduced to assist young and up and coming riders and enable them to participate in the FMB World Tour. This newly implemented amateur level will open competitive freeride mountain biking within the World Tour to athletes of all levels. Riders with an AM license will be able to collect ranking points at Bronze and Silver FMB World Tour events. Their top 3 results in these events will count towards one of two AM ranking lists - either the European or North American AM ranking – while the top 6 results in these events will still count towards the separate FMB World Tour overall ranking, where all FMB World Tour athletes are listed.
AM riders also have the chance to participate in one FMB World Tour Gold event per season and if that result is among the rider’s top 6, these points will count towards the overall ranking.
Any AM rider wanting to participate in Gold and Diamond events more regularly, has the possibility to upgrade to a PRO license during the season in order to be able to access and collect points at Diamond and Gold events.
Professional or high-level riders need to acquire a PRO license in order to collect points at Diamond and Gold, Silver and Bronze events. Their results count towards the FMB World Tour overall ranking, best six results are counted.
Several steps have been taken to regulate the invitation process for FMB World Tour events. In order to ensure that FMB World Tour riders are given the best opportunity to improve their rankings, Diamond and Gold events will be required to guarantee a certain amount of starting places for the top PRO riders from a 52-week seeding list. The 52-week seeding list is a separate ranking that collects the top 3 results of all athletes in the last 52 weeks and that forms the basis for rider invitations at several event levels.
Silver events will have to guarantee starting places for PRO and AM riders, Bronze events have to grant priority access to FMB World Tour licensed riders. In general, participants in Diamond and Gold events must be FMB World Tour PRO licensed athletes; exceptions are possible in the form of a number of wild cards that are assigned to an event depending on the event level. AM licensed athletes get the possibility to attend in one Gold event with their amateur license.
Athletes can register on the FMB World Tour website:
www.fmbworldtour.com/en/riders/rider-registration.htmlAll Athletes will be required to hold a valid FMB World Tour athlete license before entering an event in order to be able to receive ranking points.
For a complete breakdown of the changes to the FMB World Tour structure, please check our website:
Event level structure and athletes event access Athlete licenses Ranking information 
