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SPAGHETTI CALENDAR – AN EXCLUSIVE RUMOUR REPORT
The World Cup organiser seems to be having a hard time confirming the, er, order and venues of its scheduled Haute-Savoie downhill, enduro, cross-country and marathon events this 28 June-07 July, causing light to severe anxiety for teams and media (cough cough) trying to book accommodation in the right towns on the right days.
Haute-Savoie is a region that comprises a great number of potential venues for mountain bike racing, and the regional council is said to want to spread events around various resorts for fairness. Some popular mountain bike destinations with ambitions for growth and capacity for an international event include Châtel, Morzine, Les Gets, Samoëns, Les Carroz, Megève and Les Houches.
Those World Cup dates cover two weekends’ worth of racing, as they did during the 2023 Haute-Savoie festival, but further info is hard to come by. We are partly based in the region and understand the problem most likely stems from the regional council (the source of funding) struggling to agree on, well, anything. (As we noted recently, Les Gets, where the DH and XC took place last year, is currently in a spot of bother with the authorities.)
It could also come down to many MTB events being crammed into just two weeks in the smallish Haute-Savoie area – and we’re not talking about the UCI World Cup races. On weekend 1, there’s the Passportes du Soleil cheese-and-chairlifts bonanza in Châtel, a classic event that attracts thousands of punters who ride around the whole Portes du Soleil area (which includes Les Gets and Morzine) riding the gnar and feasting at snack stops along the way.
And there’s the popular MB Race in Megève, the self-described ‘most difficult MTB race in the world’ also on weekend 1.
And – yep, also on weekend 1 – there’s a French Cup DH race in Les Arcs (in the neighbouring Savoie region), which could be a clue that the DH World Cup isn’t that weekend. (There’s also a heavily-rumoured-but-not-officially-confirmed French Cup DH in Les Carroz on 22-23 June, a race that is bound to attract some top talent and presumably hints at the downhill World Cup not being in that resort, as was briefly rumoured.)
Confused yet? No wonder confirming the World Cup dates is proving tricky. And we’re only halfway through:
Apart from a cyclosportive road event in Les Carroz, week 2 doesn’t seem to have anything pencilled, and the firmest rumours point to DH and XC World Cups being week 2 in Les Gets, with marathon back in Morzine probably in week 1.
What about enduro? Local whispers say it’s week 1 in Megève, coinciding with MB Race. This could make for good spectator turnout and positive vibes – better get that accommodation booked fast (deposit only, full refund if cancelled). In our dreams the enduro will be in Samoëns though – local trails are the best.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a memorable two-week riding holiday, head to the French Alps end June-start July. Chairlifts, World Cup races, fun events, world’s-hardest ones too. See you here.
OTHER NEWS
EVENTS: Araxá, Brazil, the venue for XC World Cup R2, is planting 1,000 trees to offset the event’s emissions. Want to get involved in Crankworx and UCI DH and EDR racing from the comfort of your armchair? The Ride Companion Podcast is launching a fantasy league for racing, slopestyle and even Hardline. And they’ve been kind enough to emblazon the website with our branding. Racing is just around the corner now, and The Race Companion site is already live. Lucas Borba, Felipe Agurto and Adrien Loron took 1st, 2nd and 3rd in that order at Red Bull Valparaíso urban downhill last weekend, with Rob Warner and Eliot Jackson winning the commentary.
UCI POLL: Last week’s official newsletter poll by the UCI – Useless Cycling Information – data showed that 30.8% of respondents believe punctures come to those who shred, but a whopping 61.5% believe punctures are merely sin leaving the bicycle. Only 7.7% think punctures are a thing of the past.
TECH: SRAM’s new Maven brakes are so big and burly and red that they’ve taken over the internet. Arris Composites says its carbon spokes are ‘2.7x stronger gram for gram than the best-in-class metal aero spoke available in the market today (80% stronger, weighs 35% less… and we haven’t yet revealed our highest-performing spoke option)’. Cannondale has recalled its Dave dirt jump frames due to ‘fall and injury hazards’ – isn’t that what dirt jumps are all about?
TEAMS: Greg Callaghan, the reigning Irish downhill national champion and top-drawer international enduro racer, has set up his own team supported by Ibis Cycles, SRAM, RockShox, Red Bull and more. Rumours from Greece detail Phil Atwill secretly in talks with a British-based print media company for 2024 season sponsorship. Energy drink helmet deals are dropping like flies – Jill Kintner recently left Red Bull, Sam Pilgrim just announced his deal with Monster has ended, and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot is no longer on Red Bull either. What’s going on there? Danny Hart and Veronika Widmann temporarily appeared teamless when Nukeproof bit the dust recently (Wiggle, Chain Reaction Cycles and all the brands within have been sold), but the Nukeproof-Continental team has now rebranded as GT-Continental, with Hart, Widmann and the rest of the team on-board GT bikes. Good to see the brand continuing its racing heritage after the end of GT Factory Racing last year. Rocky Mountain Bicycles has joined forces with its French distributor Tribe Sport Group to form the Rocky Mountain Gravity Racing with a roster of Canadian and European gravity racers who’ll be competing in enduro and downhill World Cups and e-enduro ones too.
The biggest recent signing is Roger Mandin, of Chez Roger fame – the Morzine-based bar frequented by the world’s best racers including Greg Minnaar, the Syndicate and Pivot Racing – has been picked up by Rossignol as a bike and ski ambassador. Roger is retired and last year closed his bar, but you’ll find him sending it on snow and dirt year-round – he’s a true inspiration to every generation and a good friend of Misspent Summers. Cheers for the support from the very start, Roger.
INDUSTRY: Deviate Cycles is seeking investors and anyone is invited. Brian Lopes recently spoke to the Gypsy Tales podcast about the bike industry and how it rebounded from a previous meltdown. Finally, is there something the downhill racing world is covering up? See you next time!
