Everything Lourdes World Cup

Squids make a good point.

The argument of spreading out the season and making people travel for a single round is valid.

The weather argument is a bit more difficult to get behind, as the summer rounds in the alps also frequently get rained out. I live in a different part of southern France, so far in 2022 it has rained 1 single day, not a drop the other 50 days. And warm enough to wear shorts and a tshirt during the afternoon on some days.

Looking at https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/@6454530/historic its hardly rained this year - I also saw a chart that suggested historically that there is more rainfall as the months go on and February is the driest of the year...

Not directly Lourdes related but Portuguese National Cup today was almost a mini world cup.
Results from today:

yeah charlie!

Let's get the hype train going: https://www.paddock-mtb.com/post/lourdes-wc-track-2022?utm_source=so&ci…

Discuss (forecast below is for the airport, the track is ~20km south and ~1,000m higher)

a week of carnage and possible mid-race precip? glad to be a spectator on this one.

Watching the livestream. At home. Being dry and warm

don't forget this same weekend is the texas state disc golf championship. watch calvin and his tour series destroyer which is cooler than anything on your bike, because it has a bike on it. in space. and a xenomorph.

Also, Saudi Arabia F1 race. But that's quite a bit later than DH, so should be fine

any info on getting last minute tickets to the race? Couldn't find anything online

For now the weather update looks not so bad, only rain on sunday afternoon, and very little rain on friday afternoon.

this is the official event website - https://www.lourdesvtt.com/evenement - if you haven't checked there, hopefully that helps

Tullie, you want to race or watch the show in person ? Because no need for tickets to watch it, this is free. And if you want to race and have the uci points, registrations to the race are still open.

I want to watch, if it’s free even better. That’s probably why I couldn’t find any ticket information anywhere and was having trouble translating the website.

I just hope everyone gets same conditions

Precip amounts look pretty low. Anyone have the forecast/actual weather from the 2017 race? Must have been at least 20-30mm rain given track conditions?

Hey Guys, I put together a MTB DH Fantasy League website to cast your predictions. You can also invite your friends to compete against them.
It has never been so difficult to predict a top3 or even a top5.
What is unlikely to be seen is no french rider on the podium. Even when it sounds like #USDH is back in full swing with some strong new blood like Dooley and Silva, the other countries are still moving forward.
The sport is so exciting.. it should definitively be on Netflix!

from red bull
lourdes live webcast times - watch on https://www.redbull.com/int-en/events/uci-mountain-bike-world-cup-lourd…
Mar 27 - Womens DH Finals - 7:25am EST / 4:25am PST
Mar 27- Mens DH Finals - 8:45am EST / 5:45am PST

The 2022 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season kicks off in Lourdes, France with a star-studded line up of international downhill mountain bike riders.

Follow all the action Live and On-Demand on Red Bull TV.
(Santa Monica, CA /March 22, 2022) - The countdown to the highly anticipated 2022 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup has begun. This weekend Lourdes, France will host the world’s best downhill mountain bikers as we kick-off the 2022 season, including 2021 Overall Mercedes-Benz UCI World Cup winners Loïc Bruni (FRA) and Valentina Höll (AUT). The atmosphere is set to be buzzing, with over 20,000 spectators expected to return to cheer on their favorites.


Superstar French rider Myriam Nicole will also join the start line, with everything to prove against Höll. Myriam narrowly missed out on the title last year by 50 points, after crashing out in the very last race in Snowshoe, USA.

Myriam Nicole says: “Lourdes is only four hours away from my home. Family, friends, and sponsors will attend. So yes, it means more pressure.”

“My number one goal is always to do a full season, too many have been the unfinished ones due to injuries. This goal is not an easy challenge when you do an extreme sport”.

Valentina Höll said the key to Lourdes is to be “prepared for the unexpected. It will be tight between the riders. You must be relaxed and mentally strong”.

Lourdes is known for its miracles and unpredictable riding conditions, so there is all to play for. Last time a Mercedes-Benz UCI World Cup race was held here five-years ago, Alexandre Fayolle (FRA) claimed his first and only victory in the UCI series. Can Loïc Bruni continue France’s winning streak with his first ever win on home soil? He definitely has the talent to do it.

Two weeks after Lourdes, the Cross-country riders will return to competition in Petrópolis, Brazil, for a unique stop in South America. Located in the district of Rio de Janeiro, the city is the hometown of Henrique Avancini, the first Brazilian MTB rider to win a UCI World title (UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships in 2018).

The Cross-country season will be full of surprises. Last year’s Overall Mercedes-Benz UCI World Cup winners Mathias Flüeckiger (SUI) and Loana Lecomte (FRA) will be looking to do the double and while Mathias will be running a similar set-up to 2021, the young French athlete, who turned 22 last summer, will start her third Elite season with a new team, the Canyon CLLCTV.

The next Downhill race will take place in Fort William, Great Britain, on 21-22 May. In total, the 2022 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season includes eight rounds of Downhill competition and nine rounds of Cross-country racing. The final races, like in previous seasons, will take place as a doubleheader, in Val di Sole, Italy in September.

Watch the entire 2022 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season live and for free on Red Bull TV and follow us on facebook.com/RedBullBike and youtube @ RedBullBike for even more of the action.

The 2022 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup calendar:
• March 26-27: (DHI) Lourdes, France
• April 8-10: (XCO/XCC) Petrópolis, Brazil
• May 6-8: (XCO/XCC) Albstadt, Germany
• May 13-15: (XCO/XCC) Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic
• May 21-22: (DHI) Fort William, Great Britain
• June 10-12: (XCO/XCC/DHI) Leogang, Austria
• July 8-10: (XCO/XCC/DHI) Lenzerheide, Switzerland
• July 15-17: (XCO/XCC/DHI) Vallnord, Andorra
• July 29-31: (XCO/XCC/DHI) Snowshoe, USA
• August 5-7: (XCO/XCC/DHI) Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada
• August 24-28: UCI MTB World Championships - Les Gets, France
• September 2-4: (/XCO/XCC/DHI) Val di Sole, Italy
• September 2-4: (DH/XCO/XCC) Val di Sole, Italy

lourdes event schedule

Doing my first "World cup and Waffles" brunch at home with a few friends for this one. Happy to be warm with waffles and a mimosa/coffee bar while they race in the possible rain/snow

Lol, a lot of southern France is undergoing a drought and there are major worries they are going to have to implement water usage quotas... Meanwhile rain is forecast for literraly the few hours of the men's finals!

I'm pretty optimistic it will be a dry race to be fair...

We'll see as the weather can change quite quickly, but it's looking pretty good for now:



I hope it will stay like this for the finals, or at least as it has been said, I hope everyone will get the same conditions !
I can't wait to attend this opening round !!!

let's hope it stays dry! early morning b-practice temps look frosty.
some pics from the ground via jack rice

I loved this section at Sol Vista that right berm was so fun at mach chicken! Who else remembers how the braking bumps grew before the whoops? For me it was one of the best racing/weekend with the crew I ever had! I also look at that and fondly remember my v2 supreme I also had the words rainbow confetti and the neon green. good times!

official pics of intense bikes in lourdes just landed
https://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/Intense-M279-HP1-Prototype-Pho…

syndicate bikes dropped. didn't notice anything we haven't seen. maybe you all will?
https://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/2022-Santa-Cruz-Syndicate-Worl…

Are France still enforcing the 'no vaccine no entry' ruling even for athletes? If so, do we know of any riders that can't be there for rnd1?

@swadd1er - don't think so, seems opened up/relaxed now.

pit bits gallery from today is live
https://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/PIT-BITS-1-Lourdes-World-Cup-D…