Riders are gearing up for the 2026 UCI Snow Bike World Championships, taking place on Saturday 7 February in Châtel, in France’s Haute-Savoie region. The alpine venue hosts the event for the third consecutive year.
There will again be two competitions each for men and women: the Super-G and dual slalom. The Super-G on Saturday morning will see the day’s first rainbow jerseys of UCI World Champion awarded, with the results also helping determine the gridding for the evening’s quickfire dual slalom. The format is similar to that of last year.
Current and past stars from the UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup, enduro specialists, and local experts will pitch themselves against the clock in the Super-G then head-to-head in the dual slalom.
We take a look at the form of some of the favourites.
👑 is up for grabs in Châtel.
— UCI MTB (@UCI_MTB) January 19, 2026
Lisa Baumann 🇨🇭 and Vincent Tupin 🇫🇷 claimed victory at the 2025 UCI #SnowBike World Championships in the Super-G. ❄️
Who will take 🥇 this year in @Chatel_Officiel ?#Chatel2026 pic.twitter.com/0UBHX4P829
Going for gold in Super-G
For the Super-G, riders will start one by one, tackling a course on the l’Aity ski slope, just under 2000 metres long, with an elevation drop of around 600 metres.
Last year saw Switzerland’s Lisa Baumann improve on her 2024 bronze medal to take gold on her way to a 2025 double (Super-G and dual slalom). She bounced back from a big crash in June’s UCI Downhill World Cup race in Loudenvielle (France) in time to retain her title of European Downhill Champion in August. Among her strongest rivals will be France’s Vicky Clavel, who took Super-G silver last year and will be looking to up the ante this weekend.
On the men’s side Frenchman Pierre Thévenard won the 2024 Super-G in a time of 1:47.52, on his way to a Super-G / dual slalom double. The Haute-Savoie resident had previously set a staggering snow descending speed of 165.9km/hour, albeit in a straight line, without the cambers, gates and drops of UCI Snow Bike World Championship racing. He won Super-G silver last year, and has been revisiting his 2025 run in preparation for 2026.
It was 2024 bronze medallist Vincent Tupin who, last year, went faster than his French compatriot, crossing the line in 1:45.54, to beat Thévenard into second place. Tupin is looking to add to his haul of four UCI Snow Bike Worlds medals.
Completing a Super-G French clean sweep last year was the veteran Cédric Gracia. The former UCI Mountain Bike World Cup downhill racer also rode four-cross and freeride, and was a professional skier before switching to mountain bike. He’s not done with winning medals yet!
Dual slalom: riders to watch
For dual slalom rounds with two heats, both riders set off simultaneously - on parallel courses - in the first heat. In the second heat, they switch sides and have separate start times, representing the difference in the heat 1 times, up to a maximum of 0.5-seconds. The fastest athlete from heat 1 sets off first, meaning the first rider across the line in heat 2 wins the round. The other rider is eliminated.
The course is set on the steep Linga ski slope, a little over 500 metres long, with an elevation drop of more than 150 metres.
Lisa Baumann is unbeaten in the women’s dual slalom to date and will be looking for a third consecutive victory in Châtel on Saturday. However, France’s Morgane Such made the podium in both years (silver in 2024, bronze in 2025) and will be hungry for a gold medal to complete the set.
In the men’s competition, 2025 was another French clean sweep, led by Léo Grisel. But silver medallist Thévenard will be back to try to reclaim the gold he won in 2024. The two will have plenty of competition, not least in their compatriot Vincent Tupin (silver in 2024 and bronze last year) and Irishman Henry Kerr, dual slalom bronze medallist in 2024.