iXS European Downhill Cup (EDC) Heads to Schladming

This upcoming weekend, it is finally time to return to Schladming for another round of the iXS European Downhill Cup. More than 400 riders from 27 different countries registered for the race and will provide their fans with another exciting weekend full of Downhill action!


Two rounds of this year’s iXS European Downhill Cup are already in the books and we enter into round three with the annual race in Schladming (Austria). After Schladming finally returned to the international Downhill stage in 2014 the race even seems to have gained more attention and popularity. With a stadium designed to host the Alpine Ski Championships, the venue is predestined for another high-class event like the European Downhill series. After all, it would be a terrible waste to simply abandon a stadium like this during summer! And of course, Schladming does not only offer a great stadium, but also one of the most popular Downhill tracks of the world with 2.500 meters in length and a 600-meter overall descent.

A look at the 2015 podium
Last year the MS Mondraker Team landed a double in Schladming. Danny Hart (GBR) set a best time of 4:03.573 minutes, finishing only three-tenths of a second faster than his strongest competitor George Brannigan (NZL - Trek World Racing), followed by future World Champion Loic Bruni (FRA - Lapierre Gravity Republic) in the Elite Men’s Super Final. In the Elite Women category Emmeline Ragot (FRA) succeeded with a 2-second gap towards Tahnée Seagrave (GBR - FMD Racing).

Ruaridh Cunningham, George Brannigan, Danny Hart, Loic Bruni, Markus Pekoll

Favorites 2016

One of the odds-on favorites is of course, Danny Hart, who not only is last year’s winner, but also seems to be at his best in general, judging his results in the last three World Cup races. Finishing twice in third place and once in fourth, he currently holds the fifth place in the UCI World Rankings.

But also Johannes Fischbach (Radon Magura Factory Team) can look back on a promising start of the current season. He already won the European Series in 2015 and simply seems to continue in 2016 where he left of. Not only did he win the first two EDC races, but he also finished eighth in last weekend’s World Cup qualifications, and if it had not been for a flat tire he would probably also have made the top 10 in the finals.

A third hot candidate for the podium seems to be local and former European Champ Markus Pekoll (AUT - MS Mondraker), who only missed the first place in Kranjska Gora by split seconds.

And also vice European Champ Slawomir Lukasik (POL - NS Bikes FroPro) delivered some fast results in the two previous races and should be eager to win after finishing in second place already twice this season.

In the Elite Women category, 30 riders have officially been registered for the race in Schladming. At present Veronika Widmann (ITA - Bike Club Egna Neumarkt) seems to be the odds-on favorite after she already won the first race of the series and made it to the Top 10 in both of her World Cup races.

Carina Cappellari (SUI - Radon Magura Factory Team) is the female equivalent to Lukasik in the Elite Men: she had to settle with the second place in both of the previous races this season and will push even harder to win this weekend. And after all, she already sits atop the iXS Standings which should definitely prove that she belongs at the top!

The third favorite of the Elite Women category is Jana Bartova (CZE - RRP). She already succeeded in Willingen this season like in various races during the past seasons and - on top of that – is also the current European Champion.

A look at this list already reveals that the upcoming race will be one of the highlights of the season, and there are more promising names on our lists which haven’t even been mentioned yet. Unfortunately, the weather forecast is not exactly all sunshine and rainbows, but after all, a little rain never killed anybody… See you in Schladming!

Photos: extreme-pics - Thomas Dietze / Benjamin Prescher

Schladming mountain biking trails
www.ixsdownhillcup.com / @iXSsports