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IT’S THE MTB NEWS 18.04.24
XC BONANZA: The 2024 Whoop UCI MTB World Series MTB World Cup kicked off last weekend at R1 of the XCO and XCC in Brazil. Watch the highlights of all the races and find the full results here (lots of fast-paced action, crashes and battles).
After getting somewhat slated by the online community in the run-up to the race due to the apparent lack of broadcast in many major cycling countries globally, MTB World Series (MTBWS) pulled one out of the hat and announced worldwide coverage at the 11th hour.
Not only that, but the MTBWS Instagram page went into overdrive during the race week – in only seven days, around 130 posts (many of them collabs) appeared. For comparison’s sake, that’s about 30% more than was posted about all disciplines combined during the 2023 Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, XC, XCC and DH World Cup season finals week.
Add a dozen quality highlights and insight videos on the MTBWS YouTube and the coverage was a step up from the days of publishing ‘Worst mechanicals of 2023’ videos (5 April 2024) and hoping for an avalanche of views. Bravo – and let’s hope the momentum continues into the non-Olympic disciplines when the DH and EDR seasons start in a few weeks.
Having said that, is it just us (or maybe it was only for R1, or a technical blip), but what happened to the U23 live broadcast (last year the U23 races were showed in real time on YouTube; Mairiporã replays were uploaded after the weekend)?
ENDURO WORLD: Has Val di Fassa, Italy, accidentally confirmed it is hosting the first-ever Enduro World ChampionshipS (cunning new acronym: EWS) on its bike park page and in the comments on this IG post? The event remains unconfirmed by the powers that be, but this is the firmest validation of the EWS since we reported the rumours in February.
Talking of the outlook, the UCI Enduro World Cup (EDR) begins in Italy in a few weeks with the first round of the season in Finale Outdoor Region. But are the whispers true, and will EDR and EWS be back in the home of enduro in 2024?
Going slightly off-track, the UCI’s History page not only reports the international cycling union’s past history but also its future history, reminding us, for example, of the first-ever Urban Cycling World Championships (China, 2017), the first-ever UCI Cycling E-sports World Championships (er, online, 2020) and predicting that 2025 will see the ‘1ST UCI Road World Championships in Africa’. (No mention of enduro.)
Tangent: The next Urban Worlds is in Abu Dhabi in December. How long before MTB World Cup or Champs racing travels to the promised (and monied) lands? (The Hero Abu Dhabi XC race earlier this year had $150,000 prize money.)
GRIT: Rheola, Wales’ ever-menacing classic downhill track, claimed many new victims at R1 of the 2024 British Downhill Series. A mountain of mud sucked in wheels, threw off riders and made for a truly testing race. Many red flags later (get well soon to the injured), finals were cancelled and results were taken from seeding. That left Charlie Hatton and Phoebe Gale victorious. Congrats to everyone involved. (By the way, we unofficially sponsor Billy Pugh, who took the win in his first junior national – good work Billy!)
PROUD: Phil Atwill has just announced his 2024 Propain Positive team with new riders and a host of sponsors including – who’d a thought it – Misspent Summers! We’re proud to be included alongside the likes of title sponsors Propain and Schwalbe.
RANDOMS: After losing his job running the CRC-Nukeproof team he built and managed for over a decade, Nigel Page launches a new podcast (listen to the entertaining first episode here). Rob Rides EMTB reports that Pole Bicycles files for bankruptcy. Should cycling broadcasters have to declare brand affiliations when their presenters are riding and endorsing bikes, components and accessories, as they would have to in the real world of advertising standards? MTBWS presenter Josh Carlson’s alter-ego, John Carlton, has been spotted promoting the MTB World Cups to road audiences via Eurosport – can’t complain about that. Finally, are some UCI DH World Cup teams offering full-time unpaid internships to aspiring and desperate mechanics?
