The Ultimate Guide to the 2020 Race Season

The offseason is finally nearing its end, the latest team signings are slowly starting to trickle in and that means racing will soon begin for another season. As we reach the end of January, we are now started to see weekly races around the globe as riders shake off the cobwebs and . Let's take a look through some of the exciting events we have to look forward to over almost ten months of intense racing.

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JANUARY

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January starts the year slowly with the main races being the first two rounds of the New Zealand national DH series which leads us into both the Oceania and New Zealand championship events. Closing out the first month of 2020 will be McGazza Fest in Queenstown.

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FEBRUARY

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February is another quieter month before the chaos kicks in and it starts off with the third round of the New Zealand national DH series in the Whakarewarewa Forest. This is closely followed by almost a week of racing through the Chilean anti-grip for the Andes Pacifico. Pedro Burns managed to secure a commanding win in 2019 that saw him become the first rider from Chile to win the event, can he make it two in a row for 2020? The rest of the month sees the final round of the New Zealand national DH series wrap up in Dome Valley and the Trans NZ enduro kicks off for another year of taking riders around some of the best trails on offer in New Zealand. To close out the short month of February is the South African National DH Championships in Cape Town.

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MARCH

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March kicks off the madness with racing every single weekend and it all starts with the first Crankworx World Tour stop of 2020 in Rotorua. Featuring six days of racing from slopestyle to downhill this is one not to miss in March. The Windrock Pro GRT is also another big event at the beginning of the month which will act as a good indicator for the first World Cup as normally a whole host of the top riders turn up for one of the first bigger races of the season. At the same time some of the top EWS riders will be heading to New Zealand for the NZ Enduro, last year we saw Martin Maes sustain the injury which would eventually lead to his short suspension from racing.

The second half of the month doesn't show any signs of slowing down with the Cape Epic and Australian National Championships filling the middle of the month then as we reach the tail end of March we are treated to back to back top-level racing with the first round of the DH World Cup in Lousã. Keep an eye out for sdh riders getting some early race practice the weekend before at the Portugal Cup or the iXS in Maribor. The month is closed out by the first round of the EWS which returns to Manizales in Colombia

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APRIL

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April keeps the calendar full of racing action with the second round of the EWS kicking off the month. Racers will return to Lo Barnechea in Chile for another weekend of racing the Chilean anti-grip and we might see those that made their way out to the Andes Pacifico use their experience racing on this unique surface to their advantage. April also sees Sea Otter return for another year of racing and product launches in California.

Although it is a quieter month for the top-level racing April does see a few high profile race series kick off their year with the Super Enduro, British DH and the iXS European cup all host their first races of the year. With no World Cup downhill races this month we could see some bigger names get between the tape to keep their eye in.

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MAY

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Kicking off the start of a crazy summer of racing, May features a whole host of events offering something for every type of rider. Before May has even got a chance to get started we see the World Cup DH head to Slovenia for the second round of 2020 in Maribor. The track offered some great racing in 2019 after it returned from a long hiatus of hosting World Cup racing but for its second year in a row on the calendar, we can expect more close racing from the World's best.

Just a week later the downhill circuit heads back to the jagged rocks of Lošinj, Croatia. The last time we were here we saw some tight racing with the short track offering an interesting challenge to riders and it allowed Red Bull to cover the track in cameras meaning we didn't miss out on anything as riders made their way down the hill. The British DH series heads up to Scotland for its second race of 2020 in Fort William, as usual, we may see some World Cup riders make the voyage to the highlands to get some extra time between the tape on Anoarch Mor.

Closing out May we finally see the start of the XC World Cup in Nove Mesto, as it is an Olympic year we are going to see some fierce racing as every rider tries to find their speed in time for their chance to claim some Olympic gold. The EWS is back once again as racers arrive in Olargues France for another two days of racing.

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JUNE

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June kicks off with the downhill World Cup returning to the Scottish Highlands for the fourth round of the 2020 season in Fort William. The long and rough track has been on the circuit for years and although the track doesn't seem to change too much between season it always provides a good challenge for the riders. Close on the heels of the World Cup is the second Crankworx stop in Innsbruck which will see the world's best once again go head to head for the chance to be crowned king or queen of Crankworx.

The end of June will see a few crazy weeks with the fifth round of the DH World Cup, the second XC World Cup and the XC World Championships all taking place in the space of two weeks. With just a month until the Olympic games the XC racing will be faster than ever with riders reaching the peak of their training for the big event.

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JULY

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Although July finishes with the excitement of the Olympic Games, there is a whole load of racing to get through before riders get a chance at Olympic gold medal glory. Kicking off July are some legendary races such as the BC Bike Race and the Megavalanche. A common theme this month is national championships with most countries declaring their best riders during this month. Highlights include the Swiss XC, British DH and the USA championships.

The EWS also returns this month with two full weekends of racing in Italy and Austria as the series returns to some of the riders favourite venues. The big day will finally come right at the end of the month where the best XC riders in the world will head to Tokyo to fight for the gold medal onto one of the toughest looking XC tracks we have seen in quite a while. This will definitely be a lot tougher for the riders than the World Championships race in Albstadt the month before.

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AUGUST

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After the disruption of the Olympics August sees the season go back to business as usual with the month kicking things off with the sixth round of the EWS heading to a new venue in Burke Vermont. At the same time, the future of DH will be on track in Austria for the iXS International Rookies Champs. Filling out the middle of the month is the double package of EWS Whistler and the infamous week celebrating everything that is mountain biking; Crankworx Whistler.

After a week of partying and racing in Canada, the next big event sees us looking to Lenzerheide which will only be hosting the XC World Cup this year which is the first time the venue has not held both the downhill and cross country racing. Instead, the World Cup DH has a week off before riders head over to Mont-Sainte Anne for more classic racing on the oldest track on the World Cup circuit. Just making it into August is the final round of the EWS in Zermatt, the finale to another season of enduro racing will once again meet its conclusion under the Matterhorn. Can Sam Hill make it four overall titles in a row?

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SEPTEMBER

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Although September may not have many races, it is absolutely stacked with World Cup racing. Starting out the final big month of racing is the DH World Championships in Leogang. This is followed quickly the following weekend with a doubleheader in Val di Sole with one of the few World Cups in 2020 to host both the XC and DH at the same venue. Next, the circuit head straight off to France for the season finale at Les Gets. The French venue provided some of the wildest racing last year with Amaury Pierron's winning run still looks unbelievable. If we have another showdown between Pierron and Bruni expect some very excitable French fans. Coming at the tail end of the month is the second-ever Trophy of Nations which will once again bring the team format back to enduro racing as the top riders form national teams to secured the elusive Enduro rainbow jersey. Hardline finishes off the month in style on Dan Atherton's wild course.

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OCTOBER

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As always October is a pretty quiet month with the main event being one of the craziest events of the year, Rampage. 2019 saw some incredible runs from veterans of the sport and from a few fresh faces. October may seem a long way off now but once the excitement of racing kicks in we will be at the end of the season in no time and it expectations will be building for 2021.

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Which events are you most looking forward to this season?