A view from the World Cup course in Hafjell, Norway(Image credit: Kathy Sessler)
Harry Heath (Unior Tools) at the Fort William World Cup(Image credit: Unior Tools Team)
The UCI published an updated 2013 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup calendar on its website on Friday. Next year's World Cup will comprise eight rounds in eight different countries. It will include five cross country eliminator (XCE) rounds and six each for downhill (DHI) and Olympic cross country (XCO).
A preliminary World Cup schedule was released in mid-July. Since then, a new round for cross country and eliminator racing has been added as the first event of 2013 in Albstadt, Germany, on May 18-19. The triple round scheduled for Willingen, Germany on June 15-16 is no longer on the calendar after it withdrew its bid. Its departure opened up the opportunity for Albstadt.
The downhill season will get underway in Fort William, Great Britain three weeks later on June 8-9.
A few other rounds have switched dates. Val di Sole moved up to June 15-16 from the previously posted July 27-18; while Andorra moved from August 3-4 to July 27-28.
Previously, the city of Guiyang, China was mentioned as a World Cup candidate venue. In September, it ran a World Cup test event that was well received by racers. The UCI said the city will put forward its candidature to host a round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in 2014. The news should come as a relief to World Cup team managers who were concerned about travel costs to the Asian venue.
2013 UCI Mountain Bike Calendar (updated)
2013 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Calendar May 18-19: Cross Country #1, Eliminator #1 - Albstadt, Germany May 25-26: Cross country #2, Eliminator #2 - Nove Mesto, Czech June 8-9: Downhill #1 - Fort William, Great Britain June 15-16: Cross country #3, Eliminator #3, Downhill #2 - Val di Sole, Italy July 27-28: Cross country #4, Eliminator #4, Downhill #3 - Vallnord, Andorra August 10-11: Cross country #5, Downhill #4 - Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec, Canada September 14-15: Cross country #6, Eliminator #5, Downhill #5 - Hafjell, Norway September 21-22: Downhill #6 - Leogang, Austria
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World championships June 29-30: Marathon Worlds - Kirchberg, Austria August 21-25: Masters cross country and downhill Worlds - Pietermaritzburg, South Africa August 26-September 1: Elite, U23 and Junior cross country, eliminator, downhill and four cross Worlds - Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Designated national championships weekends July 20-21: Cross country, downhill, four cross, worldwide September 21-22: Marathon, worldwide
Continental Championships March 27-30: Oceania championships - Australia May 11-12: Asian championships - China June 20-23: European championships - Bern, Switzerland Note: American championships not specified by date or location.
