2013 UCI DH Schedule1/ June 8/9 Fort William, UK
2/ June 15/16 Willingen, Germany
3/ July 27/28 Val Di Sole, Italy
4/ August 3/4 Vallnord, Andorra
5/ August 10/11 Mont Sainte Anne, Canada
6/ September 14/15 Hafjell, Norway
7/ September 21/22 Leogang, Austria
World Championships
Aug 26 - Sep 1 - PIETERMARITZBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
2013 UCI XC Schedule1/ May 25/26 Nove Mesto Na Morave, Czech Republic
2/ June 15/16 Willingen Germany
3/ July 27/28 Val Di Sole, Italy
4/ August 3/4 Vallnord, Andorra
5/ August 10/11 Mont Sainte Anne, Canada
6/ September 14/15 Hafjell, Norway
Potential World Cup in China! - Looks like dates TBA, but that would be huge news.
World Championships
Aug 26 - Sep 1 - PIETERMARITZBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
Which venue has you the most excited?
New Zealand on the otherhand, what... the heck. I've been there 4 times this year and it's heaven, it has so many insanely sick tracks that could easily hold a world cup. I don't understand WHY there's no world cups there at the moment, their is probably a fairly justified reason. Hopefully we see some world cups there in years to come.....
With that said, why even have a event here then?
Now just get rid of MSA and Fort Bill, and the World Cup will be slowly getting fresher. They need new tracks and new locations. Stoked for Norway, but what about the rest of the world?
Could do a Euro season ( yeah I know , it pretty much is already ) visiting say 15 tracks to cut down on traveling.
Do a USA/Canada season , with all the bike parks there this could be amazing.
Maybe a NZ/Oz/lower Asia season .
Places like south africa and other events where it's way out of the way to the rest of the events could be added as a one-off , long distance trip every season.
I never like to see a DH course/event get removed from the roster, in fact I wish Windham would still be there. I love the sport and waiting sometimes for a month between races is very long.
I would like in addition to see a WC on the North American West coast (Canada or US) but in priority I would like to see more female riders at the WC level. This worries me because throughout the recent years the number of female riders that qualify is drastically less then before. Maybe the UCI should look into being more flexible and change the terms for female qualifications.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but every year at Crankworx Whistler, nearly EVERY bike company is there in the village.
So if they can be there for Crankworx and some of the racers race, why could they not tie in a UCI event shorty before or after Crankworx on the west coast? They are already there
Also alot of the riders are out for Sea Otter any way, have a event around then
It's ridiculous that there isn't a race out west, there are so many wicked venues. Open your eyes UCI! See the possibilities! Plus, there's awesome riding culture in BC, and people are very aware of the sport (especially in towns/cities w/ bikeparks. there's a reason they have bikeparks. But in tons of other places as well - cough cough, rossland, cough cough).
On the other... 7/8 rounds, no Champery, no USA, it would at least be good to see NZ used.
CHINA!? How will the tweets get out?
And let me be the first to say that since PMB is a such Crap-ass pedally course that we will not have a legitimate World Championship DH track, next year, which tarnishes the value of the rainbow jersey. It was Ok as a warm-up race for the season, but now that this is happening the racers should all get together and have PMB kicked off the circuit! World's in Africa, on a shit course? Looking forward to 2014,
somebody please bring back World Cup racing to the western half of North America, the sports epicenter; Whistler, Grouse Mtn, Big Bear, Tahoe, maybe Stevens Pass.
1) Best current DH racer is American, no American races
2) Only 7 rounds? Shouldn't the sport be expanding?
3) World Champs in the middle of the season? That makes sense.. why hasn't the NFL moved the Super Bowl in the middle of the season?
4) World Champs at Pietermaritzburg? C'mon. Yes, love the track, but everyone knows there is way too much pedaling for that track to hold World Champs.
2. 7 is more than a couple of years ago when it dropped to 5 or soemthing didnt it? Cost is obviously a major factor which is helped by having more races closer together (geographically)
3. Super bowl needs the teams to beat each other to work out who is going to play in it the Worlds is a one off race, the other races do not effect it.
4. I agree, its not a good Worlds course although at least its long. I guess if you have a couple of years of pure gravity gnar then throwing in a slightly different style track gives variety.
Wouldn't cost not matter if the audience and popularity of the sport increase? More people will watch/attend, more sponsors will throw more money to help run them, etc.
And isn't the point of the "regular season" before worlds for riders to gain momentum and confidence and also to increase excitement among fans as they watch with anticipation for riders to do well in worlds; riders that maybe were coming off an injury and having improvements every race or riders that have totally dominated the circuit thus far and seeing if they can put the nail in the coffin and win worlds? Yes the races after will still be exciting but not nearly as much as they would be with the pinnacle race of the sport being held last.
As someone has said though - they will go where someone is willing to pay for the race - maybe no one in NZ has more than a couple of pennies to pay the UCI?
I agree that the defending champ should get a home race.
I also think scrap the worlds, the world champ should be the best rider over a full season, i.e. what is currently the world cup champ.
Danny Hart is awesome but he has only won one first class race. The year before Hill only finished one race didn't he? I think that's a bit of a joke. I'm not Gwin's biggest fan, but he deserves the world champ tag more than anyone else.
As in many arenas, the US is a great breeding area for innovative ideas, but we don't hold a monopoly on success, nor of great fan support. I too would love to see a WC event in Whistler (not far from where I live, and a fabulous venue) or anywhere else on the continent, or in the US specifically, but I'm sure the UCI looks at where the bulk of the racers and fans live, and where they are reasonably assured of excellent hosting when making choices. The successes of Minaar, Peaty, the Atherton's have helped ensure venues in their home countries. Seems to me Australia is a natural choice for a WC event given the strength of the Aussie riding community. How many Americans are in the top 20 of any WC DH event? 2? 3? If we want more events in North America then we need to put more racers near the top, methinks.
I wonder too how much of a role insurance plays in deciding venues. In our litigious society, it may not be practicable to host large numbers of events due to the costs of hosting and insuring.
IT IS THE EURO CUPS!!!(with a little UCI label) Let the EURO'S race it!!
Now can somebody tell me how the German track its any better ?
dave
Not really pumped it's the track for the World Champs, but hey, money talks and as long as money stays in the sport, go for it. Bring on the dropper posts!
-UCI MTB total revenue stream is TINY compared to traditional sports and motorsports like MotoGP / F1 / NASCAR etc. Don't get delusional on what the UCI mtb circuit is actually capable of doing. They work with a very small budget, with no real corporate or TV contracts (which are always the big ticket support).
-Logistic costs for global events is a big economic strain for riders and companies, especially considering they probably pull in more advertising dollars and sales from places like Pinkbike and for killer promo videos!
-thus they need to eliminate isolated places like South Africa that have little hope for overall mtb growth. Sorry but the cost vs coverage and sport interest is simply not there. What percentage of riders are buying 3K+ bikes in Africa? In addition to the obvious Europe, the UCI need to target areas like Asia, North America and South America, whom have lots of interest, money and potential.
-FInally...although I love traditional tracks, Gwin is spot on when he states the DH racing scene is still run by traditionalists, and needs to progress in new directions. More fan friendly tracks (location and the actual track) with larger features are needed to truly progress. It doesn't mean take away traditional courses, but whats wrong with lets say a city course, or lets say short cuts that save time but are a real threat to crash, or adding more 4X style features or jumps at the bottom like Windham etc.
"World Cup" my ass, more like European Cup.
Listen in UCI / Rockyroads...... if you want people to 'give up' support of Downhill Mountain Biking, then your going the right way about it. That's for sure.
Perhaps listen to the culture of the sport, the spectators, the riders etc. I understand it's all about money, but you really pushing the wrong buttons.
BRING BACK DH1 Series !!!!!!!!
As beautiful as Australia is, and as talented as you all are, your country is an island. In order for you guys to go anywhere besides Australia you have to FLY. The USA and Canada have a border which makes PERFECT SENSE FOR A WORLD CUP IN THE USA, there is already one in Canada.
The U.S. Is not bitching just voicing its opinion as World Cup contenders, and the U.S. HUGE in the manufacturing and sales of mountain bikes, that should count for something?!?
There should be at least ONE world cup in the United States, probably TWO all things considered, there are SKI Resorts for days here!!
Where would you rather race all you World Cup racers? EUROPE??
It would be awesome !!!
..but no World Cup stop? Thanks again UCI.
People forget that it over 5,000 km between Sainte Anne and Whistler.
I am sure some teams will come next year and do Crankworx around the same time(assuming its at the same time it was this year) Others will probably skip it and head to south africa instead as Words is a more important race the MSA World Cup. A lot of people here seam to think these World Cup Teams are just swimming in Money. Maybe the big boys like Trek, Specialized and Giant, but i think you would be surprised if you looked at the books of the rest of them.
Canada is only 40 times larger than the UK and the second largest country. Yea, it is expensive to fly across Canada.
Quebec to Durban (RSA): ~13,200km
Cheapest return flights : to van $334 CAD
To Durban $2034 CAD.
How the f*ck. Is that not economical.
Whistler wanted the X games that would have brought a new crowd.. I don't see what value the mtb DH WC brings to Whistler.. its already the worlds most media publicized and media intensive bike park.. what are the UCI going to do to improve on that?
No WC event.. no loss for Whistler IMO, but a huge loss for the UCI as they would have gained hugely from having the event here..
No X-games - thats a real shame!