UCI & Warner Bros. Discovery Announce Full Calendar: 2023 UCI MTB World Cup

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The revised 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Calendar is announced, including a historic 10 day festival in Les Portes du Soleil (Les Gets, Morzine & Châtel), in the Haute-Savoie region and four new UCI World Cup cross-country marathon venues.

mtb world cup UCI
  • Haute-Savoie region, France, to be the first venue to host UCI Mountain Bike World Cup for downhill and cross-country as well as enduro, marathon and e-enduro across two action-packed weekends
  • Les Portes du Soleil, within the Towns of Les Gets, Châtel and Morzine to host competitions
  • Four new venues announced for cross-country marathon
  • Five round e-enduro calendar launched

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) are pleased to reveal the final details of the 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Calendar.

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One of the flagship events on next year’s calendar will be a first in the history of the sport with a ten-day all-encompassing festival featuring all formats of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, taking place from September 7 – 17. Taking place in the Haute-Savoie region, cross-country Olympic (XCO), cross-country short track (XCC) and downhill (DHI) will take place in Les Gets, while cross-country marathon and enduro will be based in Châtel and Morzine.

The Haute-Savoie region has hosted no less than six rounds of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in the past, as well as the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships twice in Les Gets, most recently in August this year. However, the 2023 edition will be the first time the Portes du Soleil has brought all the major mountain bike formats together in a single event. This major venue will host multi-format races combined with a festival atmosphere designed to entertain fans and gather the mountain bike industry into one space. For the first time, this will happen across back-to-back weekends. With these major formats united in a single area, riders, teams and fans can look forward to more racing than ever before.

UCI President David Lappartient said: “With the incredible images and atmosphere of the 2022 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Les Gets still in our minds, we can only look forward to returning to Haute-Savoie next year for the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

“This area has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to our sport, and with this major combined event we will again benefit from the fantastic organisation and enthusiastic welcome that characterises the region of Haute-Savoie, which will host our second UCI Cycling World Championships, in 2027.”

Martial Saddier, President of Conseil départemental de la Haute-Savoie, France, added: “We thank the UCI and Warner Bros. Discovery once again for their trust. Congratulations to the Portes du Soleil (Les Gets, Morzine and Châtel) for establishing themselves as the mountain bike reference. The Haute-Savoie will be there!”

Also announced today is the calendar for cross-country marathon (XCM) and e-enduro (EDR-E), both of which have been designated UCI Mountain Bike World Cup status from 2023 onwards. Kicking off the XCM calendar will be Nové Mesto Na Moravĕ in the Czech Republic, followed by Finale Ligure in Italy, Châtel/Morzine in France and Snowshoe in the USA.

Meanwhile, EDR-E will join XCM in that most famous of enduro venues, Finale Ligure, to get their season underway, before heading to Leogang in Austria. It’s back to Italy for round three and the stunning surroundings of Val di Fassa Trentino, before heading to France for rounds four and five. Loudenvielle in the Pyrenees will accommodate round four before concluding the series in style in Châtel/Morzine as part of the flagship ten day Haute-Savoie festival.

As part of WBD and the UCI’s commitment to participation and creating pathways into elite levels of sport, amateur racing will also be on offer in both enduro and cross-country marathon next season. All four rounds of cross-country marathon will have open racing categories, meaning there are no pre-qualification requirements for entry.

In enduro, six of the seven venues will have amateur racing on offer in both traditional enduro and e-enduro. They are; Maydena, Derby, Finale Ligure, Val di Fassa Trentino, Loudenvielle and Châtel/Morzine. All of the traditional enduro rounds will offer UCI ranking points, rewarding the best placed riders with the opportunity to advance to the elite competition.

Warner Bros. Discovery was appointed to advance the sport of mountain biking as part of an eight-year agreement in June 2022. They will deploy their extensive assets and expertise, including Discovery Sports Events and ESO Sports, to elevate mountain biking to the next level and reach a global audience. This new vision for the sport will provide a brighter spotlight for the different formats within mountain biking, including a number of rule changes across the sport which were announced last week.

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Amanda Wishart

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Amanda is our resident pedaller, who loves the climbs as much as the descents. No genre of biking is turned down, though she is happiest when at the top of a mountain with a wild descent ahead of her. If you ever want a chat about concussion recovery, dealing with a Womb of Doom or how best to fuel an endurance XC race, she's the one to email.

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Viewing 36 posts - 1 through 36 (of 36 total)
  • UCI & Warner Bros. Discovery Announce Full Calendar: 2023 UCI MTB World Cup
  • DickBarton
    Full Member

    Daft question but why aren’t the events in Scotland for the UCI Worlds not mentioned? I thought there was some DH and XC stuff…or have I mixed up stuff?

    PrinceJohn
    Full Member

    Still no mention on how we can actually watch it tho…

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    World Cup vs World champs? Different innit

    DickBarton
    Full Member

    Ah gotcha…ta.

    nickc
    Full Member

    Ooh, racing in March! That;s not long to wait. Cool

     

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Is it daft to have a 10 day event outside of school holidays?

    ocrider
    Full Member

    Edit: what Tom Howard said above.
    Maybe because this is the world cup calendar? Discovery don’t hold the rights to the 2023 world champs. I think it’s the BBC who are the official broadcaster.

    desperatebicycle
    Free Member

    Wonder why they have Ebike enduro but not Ebike XC (or downhill for that matter). Must be a lot of ex- XC racers who could get into racing again with a bit of assist 😀

    ocrider
    Full Member

    So if all the UCI Enduro World Cup events are one day affairs, is the start/finish in Chatel or Morzine?

    chakaping
    Free Member

    Correction: Story should read “However, the 2023 edition will be the first time the Portes du Soleil has brought all the major mountain bike formats (and e-bike racing) together in a single event.”

    They should run the XCM course around the Passportes loop, perhaps on the same day as the PPdS.

    Is it daft to have a 10 day event outside of school holidays?

    I dunno when French school hols are, but they probably want to bring people in when they’re not already going to be busy.

    rockhopper70
    Full Member

    I think the Morzine date sort of ties in with the end of the summer lift season. This is a good way to eeek out every last penny worth, I’m already thinking it might be worth a late season visit.

    ayjaydoubleyou
    Full Member

    Is it daft to have a 10 day event outside of school holidays?

    its already “full” in the school holidays. Not actually full, but everything is set up for the max capacity.
    Bringing more people outside of these dates will be a big help to the town.

    Harley Davidson week was an experience last year. (Biannual though).

    ayjaydoubleyou
    Full Member

    Ooh, racing in March! That;s not long to wait. Cool

    only enduro (while I love riding enduro, the practicalities of filming and watching it remain a dissappointment). Although I am open to be surprised by Disco’s checkbook.

    Mid may for some XC action.

    nickc
    Full Member

    Is it daft to have a 10 day event outside of school holidays?

    Not everything has to revolve around families with children.

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Not everything has to revolve around families with children.

    But surely that would increase income for the event? The ability to have more people there to watch/spend ?

    nickc
    Full Member

    I’ll be willing to bet children don’t add that much to the whole thing. Besides it’s probably down to some other logistics or scheduling.

    finbar
    Free Member

    Lame. I’ve still got my fingers crossed for a Red Bull downhill series.

    wipperman95
    Free Member

    So the original first XC round in Valkenburg has been dropped – and they haven’t said why. Then there is a month’s wait until the next round. Not great planning – at the other extreme where we get a CX World Cup every week.

    As it’s their first attempt at a calendar, I’m prepared to qive them the benefit of the doubt.

    ayjaydoubleyou
    Full Member

    But surely that would increase income for the event? The ability to have more people there to watch/spend ?

    Its either the last week of the season, or they have extended it by a week. So every additional person that goes to watch it is more income.

    Peak season, its people who were already there – or replacing people who would have been there.

    ocrider
    Full Member

    To answer my own question the PDS enduros are going to be based in Chatel and the XCM in Morzine.
    The DH in Les Gets is the same date as the last leg of the French DH cup in Valberg, for now.

    dirkdestijl
    Free Member

    Assume coverage will be through usual Discovery Subscription channels (Discovery Plus, Eurosport, GCN) can’t be anything else, can it? Maybe free highlights on YouTube as with EWS last year.

    dirkdestijl
    Free Member

    On the cancelled Valkenburg round of the XC – I read somewhere that this has been postponed until 2024

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Privateer/individual riders registering for each race will also see a rise in costs next year as Elite (and U23 for XC) downhill and XC entry rising from €80 to €150. A Junior downhill racer will now need to pay €80 instead of the €40 this year. XC Marathon, Enduro and E-enduro races will have to pay €150 entry fees

    weeksy
    Full Member

    mashr
    Full Member

    So you get more winning the XC World Champs than the DH? Would love to see the reasoning behind that

    weeksy
    Full Member

    It made me laugh last year at the Worlds .. the same weekend Bruni got £4500 for winning, Rory Mcllroy got £17m for winning a golf game.

    the 200 for coming 10th is what makes me laugh the most though. The time, money effort, training, coaching, riding, bikes, spares, fuel, entries, to make it to that sort of level to get a top 10… your prize…. Enough for a new set of pedals. Plus…. you had to pay 150 for entering anyway.

    I mean it’s 10th in a world cup….

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    So you get more winning the XC World Champs than the DH? Would love to see the reasoning behind that

    They have to ride uphill as well.

    ampthill
    Full Member

    It made me laugh last year at the Worlds .. the same weekend Bruni got £4500 for winning, Rory Mcllroy got £17m for winning a golf game.

    the 200 for coming 10th is what makes me laugh the most though. The time, money effort, training, coaching, riding, bikes, spares, fuel, entries, to make it to that sort of level to get a top 10… your prize…. Enough for a new set of pedals. Plus…. you had to pay 150 for entering anyway.

    I mean it’s 10th in a world cup….

    There’s more money in golf than mountain biking. If you win every World Cup of the season you’d be out of pocket. Just the way it is in most sports. Winning the America’s cup will cost you about 100 million dollars with no prize money

    weeksy
    Full Member

    There’s more money in golf than mountain biking. If you win every World Cup of the season you’d be out of pocket. Just the way it is in most sports. Winning the America’s cup will cost you about 100 million dollars with no prize money

    I absolutely understand that part… it just makes me laugh at the massive difference between sports, especially in a danger vs reward context. If you think that even a non-league footballer would potentially earn more than with DHWC in a year lol

    andyrm
    Free Member

    I guess the finances side of racing will mean riders/teams have to get better & more inventive at selling sponsorship.

    There’s a few really good YouTube videos from BSB/WSBK rider Taylor Mackenzie all about sponsorship, costs, deal structures (including how racers sell their own sponsorship to buy a seat on a team) and selling his own deals when he had a contract end.

    Hopefully being a televised sport will open the door to better conversations around non-industry sponsorship – riders and teams then need to brush up the skills to do the deals. It’s all part of professional sport now.

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Hopefully being a televised sport will open the door to better conversations around non-industry sponsorship – riders and teams then need to brush up the skills to do the deals. It’s all part of professional sport now.

    That remains to be seen as no-one has any idea yet where/how it’ll be broadcast. Apart from ‘Discovery’ in some context.

    voodoo
    Free Member

    Run by Warner brothers but no Rob Warner commentating just put Rob on the job

    wipperman95
    Free Member

    Agree with andyrm; Yes the prize money is awful, but where is the money coming from to pay? There aren’t any big money TV deals like in the major sports. And neither are there too many big money sponsors clamouring to sign up.

    Let’s be honest, MTB racing is pretty poorly promoted despite the Red Bull years; and the media/ journalism involved needs a kick up the backside……The cycling media still pays scant attention to MTB racing….

    At the recent Velo d’Or cycling awards, not one MTB racer was among the Top10 male nominees. WTF?? Even after winning his 10th World title, no Nino. PFP with 4 World titles only manage joint 2nd…..MTB racing still seems to be looked down on.

    They’ve mentioned 13 rounds of the World Cup, but that’s not strictly true; none of the disciplines have that many rounds – and there is your problem. In a whole year of MTB racing, there aren’t a lot of opportunities to sell the sport, are there?

    ocrider
    Full Member

    MTB racing is pretty poorly promoted despite the Red Bull years

    I’m not so sure that it’s despite RedBull. You could easily say that they ringfenced MTB within their in-house media universe, preventing it from growing a wider sponsorship portfolio over the years.
    I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how things progress over the next few years for media exposure and the money that accompanies it, but I’m certainly not counting on any miracles the first season.

    weeksy
    Full Member

    But if the masses wanted to grow it the crankworks, ixs etc would all have grown too.
    If you look at DH racing at club level, every single race fills, pretty much without fail, so there’s a certain level of interest it seems. But how to get bigger sponsors in, I have no idea.

    The obvious answer as stated is ‘mainstream tv’ and if Discovery play it like they can, it could fly in a few years. I wonder how much Mercedes had to pay for having their cars and vans at races this year. You need several of those big names to come in

    ocrider
    Full Member

    Exactly that. Mainstream exposure and broadcasting will be more likely to bring mainstream sponsorship and the trappings associated with it.
    I’m not sure that Crankworks or the iXS cup are able to reach that level of exposure. Something that isn’t a mainstream sports event won’t have the same gravitas if it isn’t the official world cup race.

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