Marco Fontana (Cannondale Factory Racing)(Image credit: Armin Küstenbrück)
Organizers of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships have been busily working behind the scenes to begin getting ready for the 2013 event. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa will host the Worlds for both the elites, U23s and juniors as well as the masters.
The world championship racing will kick off with the masters from August 21 to 25, 2013. The elite, U23 and junior championships follow from August 26 to September 1.
Speaking of the masters Worlds, Event Director Alec Lenferna said, "After being successfully staged in Brazil for the last number of years, we are hugely excited to welcome everyone to Pietermaritzburg, South Africa for the 2013 UCI MTB World Championships. The event is eagerly awaited, and I and my team are already hard at work preparing for the event and we hope that these preparations will lead to an enjoyable time for all, as well as hard and good racing so that we can hail a new crop of UCI MTB Masters World Champions for 2013."
"What makes the 2013 edition of the masters Worlds unique is the fact that it is being staged the week prior to the elite MTB World Championships... It is the first time that these two events are being staged in the same country in the same year, and we are very honoured that the UCI has entrusted us with the challenge of ensuring that both events are staged to the very highest level to ensure that all people involved have an exceptional experience."
Lenferna and his Real Events Management Team are organizing the Worlds under the auspices of Cycling South Africa. They have put on various UCI sanctioned road, BMX and MTB events since 2008. Recent major mountain bike events include the World Cup in 2009, 2011 and 2012.
