The UCI Mountain Bike World Series kicks off its 2023 endurance calendar this week when it lands in Nové Město na Moravě in the Czech Republic for the first round of the UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cup.
The sport's biggest stars will once more line up to battle it out in this most iconic of venues - Nové Město na Moravě has been awarded a cross-country round no fewer than ten times.
This year’s event is one of the most hotly-anticipated thanks to a golden age of stars from all over the world set to confront each other as they aim to get an early good position in the UCI World Cup standings.
In the Women Elite cross-country Olympic (XCO) and cross-country short track (XCC), Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon), the reigning UCI World Cup winner will square off against Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Ineos Grenadiers) who rode away from 2022 with an impressive four UCI World Championship titles. And that’s before you factor in the return of the Olympic Champion Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory Racing XC) and the 2021 UCI World Cup overall title holder Loana Lecomte (Canyon CLLCTV).
Meanwhile, in the Men Elite ranks it’s all eyes on the greatest of all-time, Nino Schurter (Scott SRAM MTB Racing). The 10-time UCI World Champion and the winner of last season’s overall XCO title remains the man to beat - but a talent-studded top 20 are vying to take his crown. Sam Gaze (Alpecin-Deceuninck), 2022 XCC overall winner Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing) and Titouan Carod (Team BMC) are some of the big names already going fast this off-season and are amongst the favourites to make a run at the title.
The action kicks off on Thursday night with the Men and Women Under 23 XCC races, more than enough to warm up the always incredible Czech crowds. On Friday it’s the turn of the Elite athletes to get between the tapes for their XCC outing, which will determine the start grid for Sunday’s XCO racing.
On Saturday the cross-country marathon (XCM) specialists will make their debut at UCI World Cup level, with XCM being included in the leading mountain bike series for the first time in its history. Some of the best endurance athletes will line up to take on a gruelling 120km course that requires a fiendishly difficult combination of physical fitness and technical skill. As well as the pros, amateurs will also get the chance to race on Saturday thanks to the Marathon of Nové Město na Moravě, which offers them the choice to do the full 120km course or a slightly friendlier 60km. Also getting between the tapes on Saturday will be the U23 XCO racers.
Sunday will see the biggest test of the weekend in the form of the XCO racing, when huge crowds will watch the stars of the sport battle it out on this world-famous course.
This weekend’s action will be available to view on GCN+, Eurosport and discovery+. Live coverage kicks off on Friday evening with the Elite XCC races and resumes on Sunday with the XCO racing. Elsewhere, the U23 XCO will be streamed live free on the UCI Mountain Bike World Series and GMBN YouTube channels, as well as on GCN.
Full details about where to watch are available here
