The revised 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Calendar is announced, including a historic 10 day festival in Les Portes du Soleil (Les Gets, Morzine & Châtel), in the Haute-Savoie region and four new UCI World Cup Cross-country marathon venues.
- Haute-Savoie region, France, to be the first venue to host UCI Mountain Bike World Cup for Downhill and Cross-country as well as Enduro, Marathon and E-Enduro across two action-packed weekends
- Les Portes du Soleil, within the Towns of Les Gets, Châtel and Morzine to host competitions
- Four new venues announced for Cross-country Marathon
- Five round E-Enduro calendar launched
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) are pleased to reveal the final details of the 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Calendar.
One of the flagship events on next year's calendar will be a first in the history of the sport with a ten-day all-encompassing festival featuring all formats of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, taking place from September 7 - 17. Taking place in the Haute-Savoie region, cross-country Olympic (XCO), cross-country short track (XCC) and downhill (DHI) will take place in Les Gets, while cross-country marathon and enduro will be based in Châtel and Morzine.
The Haute-Savoie region has hosted no less than six rounds of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in the past, as well as the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships twice in Les Gets, most recently in August this year. However, the 2023 edition will be the first time the Portes du Soleil has brought all the major mountain bike formats together in a single event.
This major venue will host multi-format races combined with a festival atmosphere designed to entertain fans and gather the mountain bike industry into one space. For the first time, this will happen across back-to-back weekends. With these major formats united in a single area, riders, teams and fans can look forward to more racing than ever before.
UCI President David Lappartient said: “With the incredible images and atmosphere of the 2022 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Les Gets still in our minds, we can only look forward to returning to Haute-Savoie next year for the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.
“This area has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to our sport, and with this major combined event we will again benefit from the fantastic organisation and enthusiastic welcome that characterises the region of Haute-Savoie, which will host our second UCI Cycling World Championships, in 2027.”
Martial Saddier, President of Conseil départemental de la Haute-Savoie, France, added: “We thank the UCI and Warner Bros. Discovery once again for their trust. Congratulations to the Portes du Soleil (Les Gets, Morzine and Châtel) for establishing themselves as the mountain bike reference. The Haute-Savoie will be there!”
Also announced today is the calendar for cross-country marathon (XCM) and e-enduro (EDR-E), both of which have been designated UCI Mountain Bike World Cup status from 2023 onwards. Kicking off the XCM calendar will be Nové Mesto Na Morave in the Czech Republic, followed by Finale Ligure in Italy, Châtel/Morzine in France and Snowshoe in the USA.
Meanwhile, EDR-E will join XCM in that most famous of enduro venues, Finale Ligure, to get their season underway, before heading to Leogang in Austria. It’s back to Italy for round three and the stunning surroundings of Val di Fassa Trentino, before heading to France for rounds four and five. Loudenvielle in the Pyrenees will accommodate round four before concluding the series in style in Châtel/Morzine as part of the flagship ten day Haute-Savoie festival.
As part of WBD and the UCI’s commitment to participation and creating pathways into elite levels of sport, amateur racing will also be on offer in both enduro and cross-country marathon next season. All four rounds of cross-country marathon will have open racing categories, meaning there are no pre-qualification requirements for entry.
In enduro, six of the seven venues will have amateur racing on offer in both traditional enduro and e-enduro. They are; Maydena, Derby, Finale Ligure, Val di Fassa Trentino, Loudenvielle and Châtel/Morzine. All of the traditional enduro rounds will offer UCI ranking points, rewarding the best placed riders with the opportunity to advance to the elite competition.
Warner Bros. Discovery was appointed to advance the sport of mountain biking as part of an eight-year agreement in June 2022. They will deploy their extensive assets and expertise, including Discovery Sports Events and ESO Sports, to elevate mountain biking to the next level and reach a global audience. This new vision for the sport will provide a brighter spotlight for the different formats within mountain biking, including a number of rule changes across the sport which were announced last week.
