2012 World Cup Schedule Set

The 2012 edition of the World Cup mountain bike series will comprise 10 events in nine countries on three continents.

There will be seven rounds for each of the traditional mountain bike disciplines: Olympic cross-country, downhill and four-cross. Next season will also see the introduction of the cross-country eliminator, in which several rounds will go towards a final ranking. This format of racing will also be included in the 2012 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships.

As in 2011, the 2012 World Cup will open in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Traditional venues such as Scotland’s Fort William, Mont-Sainte-Anne in Quebec, Canada, Italy’s Val di Sole and La Bresse in France are included on the calendar.

However La Bresse, known for its downhill course, will host an XC round in honour of Julien Absalon, multiple World Champion and double Olympic Champion, who lives just 15km from the venue.

A new triple event will be organised in Val d’Isère in France, site of the 2009 World Ski Championships. This will be the final cross-country event of the World Cup season, and the last time racers will meet before the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, the final downhill and four-cross events will take place in a new venue, the Hafjell Bike Park in Norway, which hosted the 2010 European Championships.

Other venues for the 2012 Mountain Bike World Cup are Houffalize, Belgium, returning to the calendar after one year’s absence, and Nove Mesto na Morave in the Czech Republic, which hosts an event for the second time.

One round in North America, remains to be confirmed.

New Worlds Format

The 2012 mountain bike world championships in Austria will be held over two weeks: the downhill and four-cross competitions will take place in Leogang from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, while the Olympic cross-country, cross-country eliminator and trials specialists will confront each other in Saalfelden from Sept. 6 to 9.