UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2013: Preview

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Katerina Nash (Czech Republic)(Image credit: Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor)

The first-ever UCI Mountain Bike Worlds to be held in Africa kicks off on Wednesday in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. For the rest of the week, mountain bikers will compete in the team relay, cross country, downhill, eliminator and trials disciplines.

The cross country course is 3.094 miles or 4.979km long and features two main loops. Races typically range from one hour to two hours, depending on the category. The number of laps also varies by category, with the elite men likely to do seven laps and the elite women likely to do six. Lap times measured during the team relay will help organizers in finalizing numbers of laps for each category for the rest of the week's races.

After a 350m long start straight, loop one of the cross country course kicks off with a sharp climb called Red Face Hill, where racers will likely bottleneck on the first lap. Then riders are off onto meandering forest tracks to Noogies Knoll, which starts with a hairpin right into the first big climb of the first loop. The bottom section is short, but it's one of the steepest sections of the track, with five switchbacks taking riders to the top. This leads into Kim's Corner - a short, technical descending section with a number of step-like drops.

A forest road, and two short sections of singletrack, take riders into the top section of Pick Up Stix. This consists of a left berm into a right berm into a short off-camber section, which has two-step downs that are positioned on a steep slope. After Pick- Up Stix, some flowing, descending singletrack leads into the top of Rapid Rocks, a hand-made rock garden and the most technical section on the first loop. Riders then cross a stream down to a new section called Buckjump Alley, four rocky mounds of soil with multiple lines. After Buckjump Alley, riders will enter Feed/Tech Zone 1 near the start/finish area.

Then it's on to loop 2, on which riders face the largest climb of the course up to Switch Back singletrack. The first portion of Switch Back is contoured, with the second half made up of short and tight switchbacks. The track continues to climb into the top of The Amphitheatre, the highest point and one of the signature features of the track. This is made up of switchbacks, berms, bridges rocks and drop-offs.

The course then goes up a short, sharp climb to the top of Sharka's Playground, where riders have three options of either a bull run, or one of two chicken runs. The bull run consists of a partial-spiral log staircase, and the first chicken run goes past the bull run on the right, off a small step-down, over a small gap jump, into a sharp left, and drops down into the main track. The second chicken run is the same as the first, but instead of the gap jump it goes left, over some log rollers.

The track descends down the Amphitheatre Extension to the bottom of Shale's Climb, which goes into Tree House Rock Garden. This has three main lines through (or over) the rocks. Riders uncomfortable with this obstacle can choose a B-line, taking them around the section. There is a short portion of singletrack between Tree House Rock Garden and the Corkscrew, which itself is a steep, bermed descent into a short, rocky section. From the bottom of the Corkscrew it's 150m to Feed/Tech Zone 2, and a completed lap. On the last lap, riders continue past the feed/tech zone to the finish.

He'll face stiff competition from multiple World Cup winner and former world champion Gee Atherton (Great Britain), recent Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup winner Steve Smith (Canada) and former world champions Sam Hill (Australia) and Danny Hart (Great Britain). Though he hasn't had a great 2013, Aaron Gwin (United States) has never won a world championship and will be hungry for some late season success.

Sector one of the downhill course forms the steepest and most technical portion of the track. The start rock garden has been extended, creating a stair-step section down to the Eye Boggler rock drop. From Cloud 9, the track follows a ridge line through an off-camber singletrack to the Haibo road gap, then through the corkscrew and over the Doctor Evil gap jump. From here, speeds increase to almost 80km/h before the riders hit the N3 tabletops.

Sector 3 starts with the Air-odrome bridge drop, where riders need to adjust their style once again, as the track changes from a flat-out sprinting surface to a massive supercross track. It overlaps with some of the old four cross track. Speeds again reach in excess of 60km/h, as riders are catapulted through an endless rollercoaster of berms and jumps. The final sprint to the finish includes the Moneymaker hip, a 15-metre step-down hip that wows the crowds. From there it's a massive power to the finish.

The eliminator will be run on Sunday with most of the cross country riders expected to compete for another shot at a rainbow jersey. 2013 is only the second year that the eliminator is a world championship event. Last year's winners Ralph Naef (Switzerland) and Alexandra Engen (Sweden) have shown good form recently and have a shot at defending their jerseys; however, it's not uncommon for lesser known cross country riders or younger riders to surprise in this sprint-centric elimination event.

The weather has been unseasonably hot for winter in South Africa this week, with temperatures in the low 90s (F) and low 30s (C). That should continue through Thursday; however, rain storms are a possibility for Friday, when temperatures will plummet abruptly to the low 60s (F) and high teens (C) for the duration of Worlds. Those racing in the mornings later in the week could face near freezing temperatures.

Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.