The 2016 UCI MTB Calendar

 What about a pinkbike poll where you can vote for the track that you like most (from all the UCI tracks that were raced ever).
And in addition an extra poll with where we would like to see one in the future.

 schladming must come back by itself.... it has to do with their world cup organization not UCI

 bring back Champery!!!

 iIt´s simply ridiculous they already have this planned, shows no intention of progression

 www.pinkbike.com/poll/1041-which-is-you-favourite-uci-world-cup-downhill-track-in-rece.html
You wanted a poll, you got it!

 I imagine sam will want that win more than anyone else

 I am already excited!

 Amen to this one right here. I hope Sam Hill gets his revenge run on this track so that we can all move forward.

 Cairns was an awesome race in the wet last year - they're probably hoping for the same again! :p

On balance I think it's a really good calendar. Several properly gnarly techy tracks, a few flat out speed merchant tracks, and nothing that anyone will try riding a single crown fork on!

 I hope the Cairns MTB Club and the QLD Government put some infrastructure in for the spectators because it was pure carnage trying to climb that hill in the wet tropical rain forest. Grated I had a ball last year and would do it again at the drop of a hat.

 Yeah event though it was complete bedlam it was a blast. Covered in mud no shoes, it was truly Australian.

 It seems silly that the Rocky Mountains/West Coast are famous for mountain biking, but there are never any races there

 I blame IMBA

 Racers and teams probably got tired of traveling to an abandoned ski resort course in the middle of bf-nowhere with no spectators. If there's only going to be one round in North America, it should be MSA for historical reasons and transportation.

 MSA is in Quebec, which is a long ways from the Rockies

 Mammoth

 I love Mammoth, but there's not much that's World Cup level there. Maybe Velocity would work if they included some of Upper Velocity (now called Pinball I guess?)... but Chain Smoke, Shock Treatment, Lower Velocity and Techno Rock are all too short. Flow, Skid Marks, and Follow Me aren't gnarly/steep enough. DC-10 has a huge flat section in the middle. Bullet has a lot of good sections, but a lot of pedalling too.

 Build a track in Park City

 Clearly Gwin hasn't been praying to Jesus enough.

 Vail deserves a WC. They hosted the world champs back in the 90's. Whistler should get one too just because.

 Windham has been on the schedule for the past 2 years.

 @the-dirt-farmer you could say that about other tracks that have been. On the World Cup. But if mammoth wanted to make a great trail for a World Cup race they have plenty to work with and could make one better then any other trail on the World Cup. But I don't think they want to deal with the headache that the World Cup comes with.

 it takes such a big organisation to host a world cup. for example in MSA there is about 700 volunteers throughout the weekend. then there's the track, lift, parking, media, spectators, safety, commodities... that needs to be planned

 also pretty interesting : www.pinkbike.com/news/Behind-the-Scenes-at-the-Mont-Saint-Anne-World-Cup-Planning.html

 I think resorts in the U.S. know how shitty the UCI is to deal with with creating and hosting a WC level event. They must not see that it's financially practical to do.

 I wish they would freshen up some of the old NORBA tracks in the US (Mount Snow, Durango, Snowshoe) for a WC. Also, I would think that Mountain Creek could hold a pretty radical event. Highland as well, but not sure if they have the local resources to host such a big event. It seems that there is very little money in DH in the US, unfortunately. I lot of great tracks washing away year by year.

 WC Finale at Vallnord and Worlds at Val Di Sole back to back is gonna be sick though!

 I was just at Snowshoe this last weekend and rumor is...it will be freshened up big time for the Pro GRT. Supposedly resurrecting 2 of the road gaps that were previously on course as well as some of their more gnarly rock gardens. Could get pretty rowdy there this year.

 Hell ya! @scbullit36

 I have fond memories of the Grundig WC at Mt Snow - the nude criterium was always a highlight (?!) I will never forget hearing this one guy go by on his banana seat bike going "ding ding". I thought it was a bell... until I realized he was tapping his prince albert on the top tube! OH BOY

 And they've scheduled Lourdes so close to Crankworx next year I bet we won't even get most of the pro DH'ers at Crankworx, because no-one wants to travel that far before a WC race. Laaaaame.

 the uci is so petty and douchey, they probably tried to have it as close as possible to crankworx nz. so douchey.

 I thought 7+1 was pretty good for dhi. A few years ago I think it was 5 rounds and that was rubbish

 For years we've wanted Plattekill to host a WC because clearly the terrain is at or above WC level but the killer is the lack of accommodations NEARBY. Most places that have hotel/motel/sleeping are 15-40 minutes away. Laz has been doing a great job of expanding the parking and upgrading the venue. Sure you could camp and it's a great time but not everyone wants to (I have no issue myself).
If we can get UCI to put a WC at Plattekill I'd be all about it, Laz and his crew there certainly have the terrain for it and they are just genuinely good people who help drive the sport.

Mount Snow had WC back in the day but I believe ownership changed and there were some legal and financial issues (I could be wrong, pardon me if I am). There is great potential there and theyve been great in the past but the real killer from a racer perspective is THE LIFT TIME was SO SLOW. As in painfully slow = 27 minutes of uplift for 5-9 minute runs really limits the number of practice sessions plus only 3-4 hours of actual ride time per day. Just not worth it IMO.

Mountain Creek/Dia-blow would be great but last I remember leadership there was useful as a white crayon. I heard it's improved and if tats true I tip my hat to them, they have the potential to do some great things the attitude of people there was just garbage last I was there. They have decent space for sleeping/eating and a quick uplift time. Maybe smaller than most WC venues but the terrain makes up for it (Just like Plattekill).

 Plattekill has no business holding a WC. They could not even get the GRT back. I love riding there and they have great terrain, but it would be just as short as windham without the ammenities, and of course having to deal with lazlo, which is a chore in itself

 Laz wasn't really given a choice from what I understand. He's got just as much right as anyone else. Just because he dudnt get pro grt means nothing. He's been hosting regional races since at least 1998 and back then he got hoards upon hoards of racers. If someone gets a bid taken away without their knowledge it's not exactly their fault. It sounds like you are upset over matters much deeper and personal and while you may feel some way wronged it doesn't excuse a claim of someone not being worthy of a race or series. There is alot of work that goes on behind the scenes that you may not be aware of.

 Actually I am aware of it, which is why i am telling you plattekill has no business being a part of it. (I am a WC official at Windham) I spent 8 days with the uci delegates at windham last year prior to the race and was involved in meetings with the uci as early as march. The things that the uci demands and the constant work and structure is something that I dont ever see plattekill being ready for. Windham can barely do it, and they bust their ass to do it. There is simple no way laz could ever get along with them. Just the small things would squeeze him out. Like putting 150 pads on trees that he would have to buy, or double taping a course with 48 inch flex pvc at an angle.

I get you love plattekill, and i do too, but as somebody who has done this, i promise you, it will never happen.

Ps, awesome changes in the works for this years windham track

 One more small hiccup is that windham has over 440 volunteers, the unpro grt this year maxed out the parking lot with about 125 people.. Plattekill couldnt even sustain half of the staff needed to run ONLY the race. Skipping food, officiating, and all the other UCI nonsense

 Platty is simply too small, doesn't matter how tough the stuff is - at WC speeds , they'll be down in 2 mins. Windham is too small, but I'm sure in the end there was no profitability and wasn't lucrative for the town. In the East, Killington can put on a great show if they ever wanted too. They have everything.

 Whiteface has the vertical, and there might still be someone who's not completely clueless around seeing how Lake Placid hosted the Olympics about 30 years ago. The infrastructure isn't that bad either.

 I'll admit it was always a challenge parking when the lots at Plattekill filled up.

 It costs windham around $100,000 just to have the WC there, and that doesn't even include paying staff, running lifts, running the whole loge etc.. and after hiring gravity logic to build 2 new trails I don't think they had the money to put on the WC in 2016.

 Windham put a bid. Uci did not approve. Windham is still trying to hold the wc, it probably wont happen though.

 Champery, Maribor, Vigo...

 vigo would be nice, at 100 something k would be there in a heart beat

 this.

 Teams don't have the budget for that, but they could add more races. Go New Zealand / AUS at the start of the season, then around Europe for a few months then over to America / Canada. Have maybe 12/13 rounds

 Sounds awfully tough on the riders and teams...

 There's also other races/events outside WC that these guys and gals do, more UCI rounds would take them away from some of that. Just a thought whether that would be good or bad.

 There is so much production in putting on a race behind the scenes. I've worked with a couple small race organization companies for something as little as a kids road race on a school campus. Its incredible how much goes into something that small. I couldn't even begin to imagine what it takes to shut down a mountain and schedule/hold a race. It would be sweet though.

 Even South America can be thrown in

 Still, 6 or 7 rounds a year is an awfully short season for the highest level of any sport.

 still important for these top competitors to be racing their local competitions to ensure that there is progression in the junior ranks....and nascar is just one continent....the flight strain on visitng all tracks around the world would be immense

 1 or 2 more stops would be sweet or just make the national races coverage better, like the world cups! it'd be awesome if the ixs euro cup was live and others!

 they would be better of raising the money to have some real prize money at the crankworx canadian open.

offer 70,000 clams first place money (like alpine skiing in kitz) and we will see who shows up and skips a uci wc real quick!

 Whistler should happen soon enough. I hear Bear Mtn on the Island is also investing in the infrastructure to become a WC venue. Their first move is to relocate the National Training Centre from Bromont.

 Too bad if you want to do well at marathon and xco though

 Not being raced next year.. it was such a good venue, will probably be back in a few years

 Yea windham just spent a shit ton of money developing into a full bike park for the whole season. They hired gravity logic (the guys who build whistler trails) to build a few new trails, so I don't think they could afford to put on a wc again.. But hopefully it will be back. Or maybe Killington?

 they tried to have a WC, the UCI did not allow them to. If it was up to Windham they would have it every year

 I think the leogang race was one of the best this year.

 To run a world cup event is a huge financial undertaking. There is a very high probability that Schladming isn't bidding due to the cost where Leogang continues to pay the $$ each year, run a well organised race, with plenty of accommodation close by for teams and fans.

Each year everyone bashes Leogang but it always provides tight exciting racing which shows well on the Redbull live feed. Eg Steve Smiths win to claim the overall in 2013.

The track can't be that pedaly if Gwin can win with out a chain. At Fort Bill Gwin would have been out the back end without a chain with all the pedalling on the XC/motorway section.

 Oh it was great and exciting. It's just not another 08/15 DH-Track.

 in my opinion gwin had luck with the winds , the other ones got strong front wind, Connor fearon got a bit less, and gwin even less, if it wasn't for that he would have lost time that he couln't recover on the other bit's

 Schladming not bidding on a WC has almost nothing to do with not being able to afford it or lacking the proper infrastructure. Schladming hosts the most popular alpine ski race of the year which draws over 60,000 fans for one night of racing. They definitely have the money and infrastructure to pull it off. It most likely has to do with their interest level, contractual obligations, and/or space on the calendar.

 listen to the austrian.

he/they know whats up.

 F**k Uci...Crankworx for ever.

 50 percent of me agrees. lol.

 Crankworx has a much more sustainable financial model than any UCI WC event. Only a few WC venues actually break even so Whistler is waiting for the right time to showcase a world class XCO track as well as a world class DH track, then exit cleanly before the bleed starts.

 In America.

 Deer Valley, Ca,.. Vail, Keystone...

 XC at a guess

 xc has been an Olympic sport since Sydney 2000

 since atlanta 96 - bart brentjens

 Actually Atlanta in 1996.

 I stand corrected.

 whats going on there? the olympic games i guess