e-MTB fans have a few more dates to add to their calendar with the announcement of the UCI e-MTB Cross-country World Cup!
Race fans will be happy to learn that another e-MTB race series sanctioned by the UCI has been revealed. The UCI E-Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cup will see athletes from all over the globe compete against each other on e-MTB race bikes at 5 venues spread throughout the year.
The race series will be organised by both the UCI and World E-Bike Series Management (WES) with the first race scheduled for 6-7 March in Monaco.
4 of the 5 venues have been announced and the dates would suggest that this new race series will be run independently as standalone events.
We currently don’t know which teams and riders will be taking part but we imagine some famous faces will appear on track along with secret techy trail bikes.
UCI 2020 E-Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cup Calendar:
- 6-7 March: Monaco
- 17-18 April: Ascona-Locarno (Switzerland)
- 5-6 June: Bologna (Italy)
- 11-12 September: tbc
- 2-3 October: Barcelona (Spain)
Press Release Follows:
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is delighted to announce the launch, in partnership with the World E-Bike Series Management (WES), of the first UCI E-Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cup.
Comprising five rounds, the new competition will kick off on 6-7 March in Monaco and finish seven months later in Barcelona, Spain, on 2-3 October.
The UCI included E-MTB in its regulations in 2018. The following year it added the events in the World E-Bike Series to its International Mountain Bike Calendar and, on 28 August 2019, it successfully staged the first UCI E-Mountain Bike World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada.
The launch of the UCI E-Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cup is an important step in the development of the discipline, not least in terms of technical advances – achieved in collaboration with manufacturers – and the promotion of an activity with a bright future.
A growing number of E-MTB events are now being included on the UCI International Calendar, with some high-profile mountain bike cross-country athletes taking part, such as two-time Olympic Champion and five-time UCI World Champion Julien Absalon, three-time UCI World Championships medallist and former Junior UCI World Champion Nathalie Schneitter, and Olympic bronze medallist and seven-time UCI World Championships medallist Marco Aurelio Fontana. Thanks to electrically assisted mountain bikes, MTB is also opening up to new audiences, providing yet another activity with much to offer for tourist resorts.
E-mountain bikes make use of two energy sources: leg power and an electric motor that offers assistance while the rider turns the pedals. The motor has a maximum continuous rated power output of 250 watts and stops providing assistance at a speed of 25 km/h.
UCI President David Lappartient: “It gives me great pleasure to launch the inaugural UCI E-Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cup, and I am thrilled that the UCI can bank on the recognised expertise of World E-Bike Series for its organisation. The discipline now has a World Cup to go with the UCI World Championships, and I have every confidence in the development of E-MTB at the elite level and among amateur and recreational riders.”
WES CEO and founder Francesco Di Biase: “We are delighted to unveil the first ever UCI E-MTB XC World Cup after much hard work in collaboration with the UCI over the last couple of years. We hope this prestigious competition will encourage both well-known and young athletes to put themselves to the test in this fascinating discipline.”
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well speechless
Not my cup of tea but its going to push the tech forward which will trickle down and in 15 years time when I need one they will weigh 25lb !!!
Obviously this has nothing to do with the burgeoning sales of these things. What have we become…
I wonder if the cyclo-cross rider that got caught with a motor will be allowed to compete?
Well its not something I would go to watch (or watch on TV)
Cant imagine making rules for this – and then trying to police the rules, be open to lots of pushing the rule boundaries and maybe even cheating.
No problem with eBikes in general – this seems rather pointless really…
Obviously this has nothing to do with the burgeoning sales of these things
So what if if is? On this planet it’s never been any different in any walk of life.
Maybe it’s different on your home world, but this doesn’t demonstrate that we’ve “become” anything that we haven’t always been.
So glad that I’m not an easily confused Luddite…
I’d watch a race or two on tv. It surely can’t be any worse than that cringey FIM E-XBike race from last year.
I never watched that either, but its still not something I would watch. eBikes have their place but not in competition for me – will we have a eBike Tour de France soon , and if we did how valid would it be – How valid as a race is eBike XC. Will all the bikes be 100% even in power and battery performance, will you be watching it and think, did that rider only win because they had some extra watts in their motor or battery.
Bicycle racing is great to watch because of the human effort and suffering and endurance.
Motorsport is also great to watch but for different reasons.
Help. My calendar had failed. It’s still reading 19th Feb. Whereas it’s gotta be 1st April for sure.
Plenty of people watch (fetishise) motor sport so why not e-MTB? Would you boost early to get ahead and use battery early so save your juice? Much more exciting than watching timed tyre changes (I can do that at ATS).
Not sure who does ‘timed’ tyre changes, they change tyres as fast as possible but that’s not really any different than watching a complete car change as quickly as possible, if that’s what your getting at.
As I said ‘Bicycle racing is great to watch because of the human effort and suffering and endurance.’
‘Motorsport is also great to watch but for different reasons.’
I get it for an enduro format but XC?….
As mrlebowski has said, Enduro maybe, but XC seems an odd choice. Having said that, try to hustle a 22kg ebike along when it’s over the assist threshold is bl**dy hard work. I tend to use my ebike for ‘winch and plummet’ rides with some. Still use my normal short travel trail bike for all other off road riding, as it’s way more fun for XC trials and trail centres.
The main positive I can see that using them in XC format might bring is that it drives the technology forward and reduces the weight of ‘em.
If they get the courses right this could be most fun and very competitive too
I’m curious how they will police software upgrades? It takes a fair bit of expertise to keep really police this (see F1 over the years), and I don’t think the average race stewards even at a UCI-sanctioned event will have the expertise to do so.