groovychx

I think the use of the word "event" makes it sound like the junior women compete at a different venue and time. However the published schedule for Lourdes as well as the other world cup events list the junior women on the schedule and are treated similar to junior men (except they do not have a qualifier, only seeding). Previously Junior Women and Elite Women were combined in one event. The UCI rulebook highlights that they have eliminated the combined "Women" event and replaced it with "Elite Women" and "Junior Women" just like the Elite Men and Junior Men. In January Pinkbike published an article interviewing industry people and athletes on the UCI rule changes - it's worth checking out. UCI Rulebook: http://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/Rulesandregulation/17/29/73/4MTB-E-1.01.2017_English.pdf Lourdes Schedule: http://www.lourdesvtt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-UCI-MTB-World-Cup-Program-DHI-Lourdes-17.01.2017.pdf

@komodo1: You are correct. If you look at the UCI rulebook ( http://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/Rulesandregulation/17/29/73/4MTB-E-1.01.2017_English.pdf ) you can see they have eliminated the "Women" category and now have "Elite Women" and "Junior Women" (modifications to rules are in red). In addition, if you look at the schedules published for Lourdes as well as the other world cup events ( http://www.lourdesvtt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-UCI-MTB-World-Cup-Program-DHI-Lourdes-17.01.2017.pdf ), junior women are treated like junior men, except they do not have a qualifier, only seeding.