There's a Brand New World Cup Track in Vallnord!

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UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
Vallnord, Andorra
iceman2058 6/19/2022 6:15am
6/19/2022 6:15am Edited Date/Time 7/12/2022 9:12am
The World Cup is heading back to the classic venue of Andorra in the middle of July, but riders will be taking on a whole new track this year that actually finishes on the other side of the mountain. Commencal just posted up a few clips from a Copa Catalana race taking place on the new track this weekend, and from what we can see here, it definitely looks like a good challenge - loose, fast, and rocky, just like the old track. We don't know at this point if it provides the same level of steepness as the old track was known for - time will tell as we learn more!




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iceman2058 6/19/2022 6:24am
6/19/2022 6:24am
Here's a course map, which doesn't tell us a whole lot other than that the new track starts at the top of the Pic del Cubil, the highest point in the main bike park zone ("Pal"). As far as we can tell, that also means a whole new area will be used for the pits.



Full map of the bike park:


iceman2058 6/19/2022 6:27am
6/19/2022 6:27am
Bike park map with the new track area highlighted:


Roots_rider
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Roots_rider 6/19/2022 8:13am
6/19/2022 8:13am
Hopefully they’ve done some more improvements to the new track compared to the original helmet cam video released a couple months(iirc) ago. Didn’t look World Cup worthy then, starting to look more promising now.
The lower steeps of Andorra are what made it iconic and in my opinion one of the best wc tracks of all time.
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Alexptdmg
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Alexptdmg 6/19/2022 3:19pm
6/19/2022 3:19pm
Pretty straight overall. Definitely a different race.
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Headshot
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Headshot 6/20/2022 2:13am
6/20/2022 2:13am
Change is good but that's not going to be an improvement for us as spectators or the riders who were able to handle the steepness of the old track. A very different race.
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Jason_Schroeder 6/20/2022 6:46am
6/20/2022 6:46am
Overall I think the new track looks great! It will be a bummer not having the insanely steep lower half, but losing the long flat section at the top of the old track is a solid improvement. Going to be very interesting how rough the track will become during the World Cup and how those dusty off cambers will evolve with some rain.
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TEAMROBOT
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TEAMROBOT 6/20/2022 11:41am
6/20/2022 11:41am Edited Date/Time 6/21/2022 10:58am
Looks so sick. The blown up rocky/sandy/loose turns and high speed holes remind me of an old school NORBA National, minus the huge doubles and all the up-and-over bridges. It's different than the old track, very different, but that's not a bad thing. I've seen a lot of lame race tracks and this isn't one of them. Vital RAW from this track will be amazing.

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iceman2058 6/20/2022 12:39pm
6/20/2022 12:39pm
TEAMROBOT wrote:
Looks so sick. The blown up rocky/sandy/loose turns and high speed holes remind me of an old school NORBA National, minus the huge doubles and all...
Looks so sick. The blown up rocky/sandy/loose turns and high speed holes remind me of an old school NORBA National, minus the huge doubles and all the up-and-over bridges. It's different than the old track, very different, but that's not a bad thing. I've seen a lot of lame race tracks and this isn't one of them. Vital RAW from this track will be amazing.

Just to add to what Robot said, I’ve ridden Vallnord multiple times and that top section of the mountain is no joke. There’s plenty of speed and the ground is very loose and fast. It’s often windy up there too which adds to the challenge of the jumps. It’s not as steep as the old track but I’d be very surprised if this didn’t turn out to be an awesome race anyway.
LookinForIt 6/20/2022 12:44pm
6/20/2022 12:44pm
The track does actually look like a good track! The Andorrans know how to make one I guess.

I'm curious if there will be all that much line choice happening on track though... In Neko's video is does seem like there's only 2 or 3 places where there can be multiple lines. Otherwise, it feels like mainlining.

Excited to be proven wrong though
Nozes
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Nozes 6/20/2022 2:58pm
6/20/2022 2:58pm
Looks like a braking bump hellhole if you ask me.
We already had Lenzerheide for a full speed-one line for all bikepark track.
The people (and the racers!) want natural,tech courses.
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sspomer
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sspomer 6/20/2022 3:20pm
6/20/2022 3:20pm
how was that not natural? aside from some jumps and bridges, it looked very natural for that mountain (aka rough, bomb-holed and unpredictable)
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adamdigby
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adamdigby 6/20/2022 6:43pm
6/20/2022 6:43pm Edited Date/Time 6/20/2022 6:44pm
I like seeing properly dry and loose rocky trails like the NORBA days, reminds me of Mammoth.
I hope they tape the woods off wider and put poles every now and then in the lines that Neko rode; seemed incredibly one lined with lots of pointing and shooting. I'd assume the finish bridge will be different when the world cup happens. If they tend to those two things I think the track will be absolutely awesome and separate riders a lot more than this race did.
The Spanish 19 year old must have been very happy with his result putting the hurt down on lots of seriously fast dudes.

I found results here: https://mtbdata.com/comp/copa-catalana-internacional-vallnord-xco-dhi-1…
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Matt891
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Matt891 6/20/2022 7:40pm
6/20/2022 7:40pm
Kudos to the promoters on the new build. A double header weekend on 100% different tracks or perhaps having two different weekends spread thru the race season calendar.
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kcy4130
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kcy4130 6/21/2022 3:59am
6/21/2022 3:59am
Similar style to the top of Les Gets. I wonder how that type of soil handles rain? Should be a good race. I'd be surprised if they didn't tape it wider in some areas for the wc.
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veefour 6/21/2022 11:48am
6/21/2022 11:48am
vinicius gabrielli wrote:
Does anyone know what happened to the old track? it's closed?
I heard some of land the old track ran through has been sold for development. Just hearsay though.
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Aksel_Lfft 6/21/2022 1:27pm
6/21/2022 1:27pm
vinicius gabrielli wrote:
Does anyone know what happened to the old track? it's closed?
veefour wrote:
I heard some of land the old track ran through has been sold for development. Just hearsay though.
Yeah i think there will be an hotel complex where the old track ended. I guess the upper part of the track will remain (as the bottom was already rerouted elsewhere).
Last year the construction had already started when I went there.
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sspomer 7/12/2022 9:07am
7/12/2022 9:07am Edited Date/Time 7/12/2022 9:12am
pit bits/pit setup vid from lawlor just dropped. syndicate (and some other teams) have an upper AND lower pit for this track b/c they're so spread out (3-4 min drive). requires two chair lifts to top. syndicate says they'll prob work out of lower pits (which is just an EZ-up).
https://youtu.be/ROzvaivabaM
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