The competition has 11 events across Europe, North America and South America: eight downhill (DHI) rounds and nine cross-country (XC). The season starts in France with the first DHI-only round before three XC-only rounds, setting the mood for action that climaxes back in France (at Les Gets) in late autumn with the 2002 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, ahead of the final UCI World Cup round in Val di Sole (ITA).
Lourdes downhill starts the party
This weekend Lourdes hosts a UCI World Cup race for the first time since 2017, which was the last of three successive years.
Rachel Atherton (GBR) came second in 2015 behind France’s double UCI World Champion Emmeline Ragot, then in 2016 Atherton won at Lourdes – and every other race – and won again in 2017!
Aaron Gwin (USA) won in 2015 and 2016 on the way to the UCI World Cup overall, before Frenchman Alexandre Fayolle claimed the 2017 crown in a final hit by tough weather.
About 1,000m above the town itself, the Lourdes DHI track is on the slopes of the Pic du Jer, where more than 40,000 spectators are expected. This year’s course is on the same black line trail used from 2015 to 2017 with only subtle changes. The top section features bruising rock gardens and the famous “Wall”, with two big jumps lower down.
DHI Men Elite: French favourites
Loïc Bruni (FRA) sealed the 2021 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup overall win (877 points), with victory in the campaign’s final race at Snowshoe (USA). Second and third overall were two compatriots, who each won UCI World Cup races in 2021: Loris Vergier is in good form, winning the Brioude DH Cup in France on 13 March; and Thibaut Dapréla, who made an immediate impact in his first full Elite season after winning the Junior UCI World Cup overall in 2018 and 2019.
More Frenchmen are keen to return to winning ways including brothers Baptiste and Amaury Pierron and National Champion Benoît Coulanges.
Of the other 2021 UCI World Cup round winners, Australia’s Troy Brosnan is out with a broken ankle and Britain’s 2020 UCI World Champion Reece Wilson would love to replicate his Snowshoe win. Also consider Greg Minnaar (RSA) and Aaron Gwin: the five-time UCI World Cup overall winner is ‘Going For Six’.
DHI Women Elite: Game on!
2020 UCI World Champion Camille Balanche (SUI), 2019 and 2022 UCI World Champion Myriam Nicole (FRA) and rising star Valentina Höll (AUT) were all in contention for the UCI World Cup overall going into last season’s final race. Even fourth-placed Tahnée Seagrave (GBR) had a mathematical chance. As 32-year-old Nicole crashed on a fast run, 20-year-old Höll took the rewards with 1125 points – just 46 more than ’PomPon’ over the season. The Swiss athlete finally took a more distant third overall, a further 143 points back.
But riders won’t settle for that two-way rematch. Balanche has already showed her form, winning at Brioude. France’s Marine Cabirou is returning from injury, Seagrave is looking forward, and let’s not discount the expected return of the most successful downhill mountain biker of all time, Rachel Atherton, following the birth of her daughter last summer.
Cross-country kicks in
Two weeks after the downhill at Lourdes, the cross-country riders start their 2022 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup with a trip to South America for the season’s first race in Petrópolis (Brazil). In the district of Rio de Janeiro, the city is the hometown of Henrique Avancini. He’s the first Brazilian mountain bike rider to win a UCI World title – the 2018 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships – and was a hugely popular winner in the 2020 UCI World Cup, first with the XCO Olympic distance race, then the XCC short course win in the Czech Republic’s Nové Město na Moravě double-header.
XC Men Elite: Flückiger’s plan
Last year’s overall UCI World Cup winner Mathias Flückiger (SUI) will look to back up his victory, and getting a strong result as early as possible will be on the 33-year-old’s agenda. His two victories in 2021 XCC and two in XCO helped him amass 1573 points over the season, more than 200 clear of Victor Koretzky (FRA) who has signed for a professional road team. Finishing 2nd in the UCI World Championships behind his countryman and rival Nino Schurter, and 2nd in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics behind Tom Pidcock (GBR) will add even more motivation for Flückiger.
Schurter, Vlad Dascălu (ROM), Ondřej Cink (CZE) and Snowshoe winner Christopher Blevins (USA) will all look to make their mark. But Flückiger is enjoying the start of spring and looking forward to the season:
XC Women Elite: Strong challenges to come
Loana Lecomte’s early domination of the 2021 season – winning the first four UCI World Cup races – guaranteed her the overall title (1550 points), despite the strong finish from Evie Richards. The British rider won the last two rounds in Lenzerheide (Switzerland) and Snowshoe, both times ahead of Australia’s Rebecca McConnell, to close within 240 points of the 22-year-old Frenchwoman.
But a defence will not be so easy! 25-year-old Richards’ confidence is high not least with her UCI World Championships win; Lecomte’s more experienced compatriot Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has been starting the season with the challenge of the Cape Epic; and Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds looks back near her best.
Swiss star Jolanda Neff built back her power and speed throughout the year to look the full threat again. A further threat may come from her compatriots Sina Frei and Linda Indergand – together they made the 1-2-3 at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
2022 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup and UCI Mountain Bike World Championship calendar
After Lourdes, the next DHI event will be at Scotland’s Fort William (Great Britain) on 21-22 May, by which time the XCO riders will have packed in three rounds: following Petrópolis are familiar courses at Albstadt (GER) and Nové Město na Moravě. After Fort William, the remaining six rounds through to September will feature both downhill and cross-country racing.
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