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Well, downhill is 2/3 Europe based...
more spectators than in france? doubtful
Statement from the MSA organizers: https://www.coupedumonde-mtb-msa.com/en/post/statement-on-the-2026-calendar
The removal of Mont-Sainte-Anne from the 2026 calendar is based solely on WBD's own profitability considerations.
Discussions are already underway with WBD and various stakeholders, including our public partners, to prepare for Mont-Sainte-Anne's return to the UCI calendar in 2027.
That's good news at least, MSA is definitely one of the best venues even if it has been raced for 30 years. Whistler will be great but Canada deserves more rounds than 1.
Also may as well pin this thread and unpin 2025 so there's less confusion about which one is the active one.
In this current format of team/rider eligibility, no chance of locals racing year one. IF someone is inspired and has deep enough pockets to go get some UCI points, then maybe in year three, a slim chance at year two. There's little to no support for local riders. I'd put my money on one of two local juniors if they hit the gym and move abroad to train and collect points since they've both already outgrown the local parks.
If it were ten years ago, there were two riders who'd be able to line up in Pro. One, Park Jun Sung actually lined up for one or two races. There used to be videos of him at a GT team camp going full send with Brook Macdonald, but without any real support, he took an offer to race Keirin and make a living.
The local race scene is on life support now. Apparently, the riding community isn't big enough to make a race series profitable enough. I hoped that would change when one race series took over the operation of one of the parks, but it hasn't turned out that way. A friend has been working on organizing juniors to go race in Japan to gain some experience since there isn't much left domestically.
There are thousands of kilometers of good riding in Korea. Unfortunately, Trailforks only has like 1-2% of the trails listed, and it's hard to find info if you don't read or write Korean. It's E-bike country for very justified reasons. The scene is small but passionate, growing all the time. The fixie epidemic really hurt for a while, but there's finally a growing number of groms/teens getting into riding.
Stoked for the Whistler race. It's been a long time coming. The track is amazing. With a bit (actually quite a bit) more excavating of access roads and adjusting of the rescue plans, I'm sure they could do the race without the heli. The access roads this year were already better than last year. I've spent a lot of time in that forest, and currently, it would be quite the epic to carry out an injured rider from the middle of the course. Also, the B Zone is mostly non existant. That's two large, but manageble projects that will also have to be done before next year.
Another thought: The current course doesn't go all the way to Creekside. Where the current finish is makes a lot of sense because there is a large parking lot where the pits could be, and lots of room for spectators. However, it would be sweet for the race course to go all the way to Dusty's. Space is tight down there though, with the bottom of the chairlifts, hotels, and other stuff taking up most of the room. Flashback to Rob Boyd winning the (winter) World Cup DH. That course went all the way to the bottom of the mountain. The 1199 course is to the right of this course. The base area now is a lot more crowded with infrastructure than it was in 1989.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLmFgN7DlfA
The 2010 olympic DH course didn't go to the bottom, but finished where the current 1199 course finishes. You get a good shot of the base area setup at the beginning of this vid. Lots of room for temporary seating and whatnot. I'm guessing all the fibre optic and whatnot from 2010 is already in place, which should make the video production side of the event a bit easier. I think Crankworx uses all that infrastructure for their Red Bull broadcasts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgzrsI_EI_g
Not to jinx it, but one of the reasons Whistler doesn't have a ski World Cup is because it got cancelled most of the time due to low hanging clouds. That part of Whistler Mountain is frequently in a cloud bank. I was having flashbacks during this years attempted 1199 race.
Interested to see what happens with Crankworx. Crankworx is usually beginning or middle of August, and this race is at the end of September, so I guess it's possible to have both events. It seems crazy that Crankworx wouldn't have a Whistler stop, or that Crankworx would go away entirely, but I guess anything is possible.
Also stoked to see what Gwin and Co are cooking up at Whiteface. The terrain there is steep and rocky, and I've seen a few bits of the track in person, and it looked pretty good.
As others have mentioned, kinda crazy on the timing between the Whistler and Whiteface races. But I guess it's so far (5000km) even if it was 2 weeks between races, it's still pretty unlikely that teams would drive across and not just fly. September in Whistler is prime time for riding. October in NY could be a bit dicey. Not likely to snow, but some frozen ground is a possibility.
Do they not get federation jerseys in Korea? Or is that only for countries with established racers? For that matter, what's stopping some random rider from Mozambique or Uzbekistan getting a national federation jersey to ride in a world cup?
S Korea should get national jerseys and as a home country they should get double the normal number, so some home grown racers should have the chance to complete if they choose.
Whiteface should be fine at the elevations where the track is, but you're right it's cutting it close. The leaves will be in full color around that time. Last year, Whiteface had the first snow at the summit on October 9th, and first ski tracks were laid on the toll road on October 10th.
What are some numbers for the French events?
In 2023 Crankworx claims 300,000 over ten days.
https://www.biv.com/news/hospitality-marketing-tourism/crankworx-2023-festival-generated-nearly-30m-whistler-8294561
When I do a google search for "highest uci wc dh attendance" Google AI says it was Fort Bill in 2016 with 20,000 over the weekend.
Tourism Whistler says that overnight capacity is 30,000 (matches up to the Crankworx number above).
https://www.ucimtbworldseries.com/news/the-whoop-uci-mountain-bike-world-series-celebrates-a-successful-second-season-of-growth
UCI says that 365,500 people attended all 2024 UCI Mtb events, so I do think that Whistler has the ability to break some records for attendance.
So 60,000 for a weekend isn't going to be a stretch when you take overnight capacity and day tripper traffic from the Lower Mainland.
That’s really interesting to know. It does make you wonder how/why Korea got a round of the World Cup then? You’d think that the local scene would be big enough to justify (might be the wrong word) it being held there. I know there’s lots of snow there, so am assuming this race will be in a ski resort, which I also guess is a bike park in their summer?
It’s great to see photos like that. It tells me that we have a friendly sport and it’s everyone against the clock! 😁
Amaury's trying to figure out how the linkage works like the rest of us
securing the location may have to do with a rumored multinational conglomerate sponsor from the area founded in 1938.
Having a sponsor of that size wouldn't just be out of this world, but out of this galaxy!
People complaining on the calendar and venue locations still don’t get the fact that its not UCI picking the cool riding spots but its venues wiling to poor a lot of money into hosting an UCI race. And simply for many cool places, its not worth of spending that money. It has nothing to do with UCI preferring EU over the US or so.
Also EU events are probably backed/funded by EU programs to promote certain industry such as travel to boost local economy which is not a thing in other places…
IF Canada gets only one round per year it would be cool to switch between MSA and Whister every other year. Or better yet a back to back with Whistler, MSA then down to Whiteface.
ACME corp! I knew it!
What’s changed in the last 30 years that wbd says the event won’t be profitable?
Whistler put up more money would be my guess.
Delivering the kind of journalism we need. Echoing the above statement, love seeing this comradery and likely shit talking each other's set ups. "Yours sounds like a bucket of bolts" "Well, yours sounds like a shopping cart and goes squish squish squish"
A couple of points of info:
-No one has really mentioned that Whistler's post says they're part of the UCI series "Starting in" 2026. So, sounds like they've signed a multi-year deal.
-1199 course was definitely built in mind of the 2010 fiber optics lines. It's all set up for TV and a big reason for the course location.
-The issue with Creekside base is that it's super tight. The base area will be an expo, and smaller teams will be pitting from the upper deck of the parking garage. The big teams ($) will get access to pit space in the timing flats (finish area). That said, there isn't even room on the timing flats for 'big rigs'. Really, there is no room at the Timing Flats or the Creekside base/parking lots for "Big Rigs". Also, the timing flats are going to be packed with WBD/timing company/TV broadcast/official vehicles.
-They will have to run spectator shuttles to the timing flats that are way bigger/better than the terrible setup they had for Cranworx. The hike UP to the timing flats from the base is ~200m up a steep grade. It's hikeable, but if you have 20,000+ fans it will be a nightmare. They would be smart to build a spectator walking road up from the base to the timing flats with a flatter grade.
-As has been said, a lot of work will need to go into the B-zone and access roads for injuries before next fall
Oh, lastly, for the Olympics, they installed a chairlift for crew and spectators to get up from the base to the timing flats. After the Olympics, they removed it and sold it to another resort.
I was reviewing the UCI’s 2026 competition details for mountain biking but didn’t see any mention of an MTB Enduro World Championship or related event. Are any Enduro World Championships planned for 2026?
https://www.uci.org/competition-details/2026/MTB/74366
i don't have any numbers but la bresse in '08 was mostly packed on both sides of the track, the lower you went the deeper the crowd was standing. similar thing in les gets or lourdes, not so much in loudenville though
i just don't see the same amount of people lining the 1199 in the steeps on the upper track. maybe in the lower woods and the open field, but not where it is really steep
2011 la bresse had not so good weather, but there was still a huge crowd, just look at them during fabien barel's run:
https://youtu.be/ved98LGrJTQ?si=gGnRbJdMh7Fbhrwf&t=1083
cycling is madness in france, no matter the discipline
Time to eat my words cause I jumped the gun.
I just found out there should be some cool news locally, hopefully in the next few days but might be another week or two. The embargo is real.
Don't spectators at most DH races take the lift to the top and then walk back down the track?
The Rock Shox truck at Crankworx had no issues with space. In fact, looks like it could fit a lot more trucks no problem. Most big team trucks are in Europe anyways, so lack of space is likely a non-issue.
So who do you think has the spare financial horsepower to take on Vali if the YT team folds due to YT being in a bit of bother?
Plenty of teams would happily drop a rider or two to make space for her with the current focus on team points. I'm sure Trek would be more than happy to take her back, seeing how their season is going.
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