The upcoming UCI downhill and fourcross seasons summarized for your convenience, from people to places; its all in the rundown.
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Last season was surely one to remember, highlights included Steve Peats historic win at World Champs and his return to true Peaty form as well as Sams consistency on the WC circuit. Downhillers werent alone in the spotlight though; Jared Graves dominated the fourcross portion of the World Cup following the awesome Aussies Olympic year. By all accounts we can expect big things this year as he is once again committed to racing 26 bikes. The schedule for 2010 is looking like a technical DHers dream. This should provide some interesting competition between up and coming riders who thrive on steeps and older, more powerful riders; thankfully, competition is what it's all about! Speaking of which, the races themselves are the center of this piece, so heres a look at what we can expect.
Kicking off the gravity end of things this year will be a fourcross stop in Houffalize on the first of May. Last year marked the inception of the 4X only event; Jared Graves took the win and was followed closely by Dan Atherton, with Jill Kintner taking the win on the ladies side.
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Houffalize World Cup Highlights
The downhill World Cup is not scheduled to start until the weekend of May 16th. Maribor, Slovenia will graciously host the opening ceremonies. For the third year in a row spectators will be treated to a weekend of technical but fast racing that has showcased the talents of Sam Hill and Fabien Barel in the past couple of seasons.
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The top 5 men of 2009 at Maribor.
The top 5 men of 2009 at Maribor.
Racing resumes on the 5th of June at everyones favorite World Cup destination: Fort William, Scotland. The hotbed for racing will host the fourcross and downhill events as well as an exorbitant amount of rowdy Brits with cowbells (over 18 000 in '09!). Last year Greg Minaar clambered atop the DH podium and his fourcross counterpart was Jared Graves. For more info on Fort Bill and what makes it a crowd (and rider) pleaser check out http://www.fortwilliamworldcup.co.uk/.
The month of June will not be without further competition, to put it in an overly complex way; more simply, Schladming is set to host DH and fourcross competitors on the 19th and 20th. Riders to look for on these dates include Kiwi Sam Blenkinsop, last years winner Sam Hill, and Tracy Moseley on the womens side.
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The top 5 men at the 2009 Schladming DH.
A massive break follows, as competition does not resume until the 24th of July in Champery for both downhill and fourcross action. Champery has taken a couple of years off the circuit, but in 2007 proved to be an exciting event by any standards. Sam Hill won qualifying by almost 15 seconds, but it was Finnish star Matti Lehikoinen who came out on top when it really mattered.
The following weekend (31st-1st) is the Val di Sol World Cup, a track best known for hosting World Champs in 2008 and being the site of Sams heart wrenching crash and Gees first World Championship victory.
Notably absent from this years edition of the World Cup schedule are the Canadian stops, usually held at Mont Sainte Anne and Bromont; however, World Championships will be at MSA, with the DH finals taking place on the 5th of September. As such, Canadian race fans cannot be pitied, as they will be hosting what is arguably the biggest event of the racing season.
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Highlights from the downhill event at Mont Sainte Anne in 2009.
Highlights from the downhill event at Mont Sainte Anne in 2009.
Back to the topic at hand, World Cup racing, the series finale will be hosted in the U.S of A. This will be the U.S first WC race since Angelfire, New Mexico hosted a stop in 2006, and to host the finals is quite the endowment from UCI. This time around, Windham, NY will play host to the worlds best racers in a showdown for racing supremacy, hopefully the points race will be as close as it was this year! For a much more extensive detailing of the Windham World Cup schedule, including spectator information, head on over to Windham Mountain Bike Park.
Be sure to check out Ridemonkey this summer for race coverage throughout the season, well be at all the World Cups and World Champs as well! Didnt we tell you that we have eyes everywhere?
