While there may have been a break in the 2024 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series over summer, there’s been plenty of off-road action for fans to sink their teeth into since the most recent UCI World Cup in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie.
The highlight was the Olympic Games Paris 2024, where Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) retained his title with a last-ditch pass on Victor Koretzky (France) in a nail-biting men’s cross-country Olympic (XCO) race. This came hot off the tyre tracks of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s (France) victory 24 hours earlier – the home favourite dominating to finally clinch an elusive gold medal in what looks set to be her last season in mountain biking before switching to the road.
Rather than heralding the season’s conclusion though, the Olympics kicked off a series of races that will prove decisive in how this year’s titles and championships are distributed. And before the final three rounds of the 2024 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, there is the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships to be decided.
ANDORRA AWAITS
The 35th UCI Mountain Bike World Championships will take place in Andorra’s Vallnord Pal Arinsal Bike Park between 28 August - 1 September. A regular on the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series circuit, it’s the second time that the Pyrenean venue has hosted the annual rainbow jersey-deciding races.
Nine years ago, icons of mountain biking Nino Schurter (Switzerland) and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France) were victorious in Vallnord in the Cross-country Olympic (XCO), while Loïc Bruni (France) and Rachel Atherton (Great Britain) won the Downhill (DHI). Each win kickstarted periods of dominance that saw Schurter claim five world championships in a row, while the others each have five in their collections. All but Atherton are still amongst the favourites to be crowned champions this time round as well – the British downhill legend’s last race the 2023 UCI Downhill World Championships in Fort William.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP-WORTHY COURSES
The Andorran spot is a favourite with both riders and fans thanks to its big, natural features, but the bike park’s build crew have added a few new surprises to keep everyone guessing.
The XCO races will pit the Endurance athletes against a 4km track that packs 160m elevation gain into each lap. The loop contains three big, long ascents, but the riders won’t have a chance to catch their breath on the flat or downhill sections, which are crammed with singletrack, roots and rock gardens before a final section of pump track.
If the technicality of the Vallnord course doesn’t get you, the altitude will; located at 1,900m vertical, riders will also battle against reduced oxygen levels, which could become a factor in the race’s outcome if they haven’t acclimatised properly.
Although the Downhill course starts even higher at 2,400m vertical, the Gravity contingent won’t be hanging around long enough for altitude to play as big a factor. But if the course used in the 2023 UCI Downhill World Cup is anything to go by, they’re not in for an easy ride either. The 1.6km course drops 427m and is a tale of two halves. The top sees riders build up a head of steam on an open hardpark before delving into a lower section where they have to navigate rock gardens, off-camber piste, and endless immovable pine trees.
PIDCOCK AND FERRAND-PRÉVOT TARGET BACK-TO-BACK TITLES
The Olympic champions Tom Pidcock and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot are clear favourites for the XCO UCI World Championships, which would see both also complete back-to-back victories having won at Scotland’s Glentress Forest course last year. But it’s far from a foregone conclusion.
Pidcock is likely to resume his rivalry with Victor Koretzky – the Frenchman targeting vengeance over the Brit after he’d led the Olympic race until the very last section of singletrack – while the bronze medallist from Paris 2024, Alan Hatherly (South Africa), is in red-hot form and leads the 2024 UCI XCO World Cup overall in the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series.
Others in contention include Mathias Flückiger (Switzerland), who won the 2023 UCI XCO World Cup round in Andorra, while it’s hard to rule out his fellow countryman Nino Schurter (Switzerland). The 10-time UCI World Champion already has four wins to his name at the venue, and another would be a fitting finale in what is predicted to be his final season.
Ferrand-Prévot’s challengers are harder to predict, but last year’s winner in Andorra – Mona Mitterwallner (Austria) – is unlikely to be battling for a podium place after being off the pace for most of the season. Haley Batten (USA) was closest to the Frenchwoman in Paris and has been consistent all year, while Puck Pieterse (Netherlands) comes into the race after a stage-winning performance on the road at the Tour de France Femmes.
One outside contender is Evie Richards; the 27-year-old Brit was a surprise UCI World Champion in 2021 so knows how to win on the biggest stage, and has been flying somewhat under the radar this season despite finishing fifth at the Olympics.
GAZE AIMS TO REGAIN RAINBOW WHILE KELLER FACES OFF WITH FERRAND-PRÉVOT
Just like at the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, there is a separate Cross-country Short Track (XCC) race format that plays to the strengths of the more sprint-focused Endurance riders.
Reigning champion Sam Gaze (New Zealand) currently leads the men’s 2024 UCI XCC World Cup overall, but there’s likely to be a tyre width separating the podium steps with Koretzky, Pidcock and Hatherly all with XCC wins to their names this year.
The women’s event is set to be just as close, and Alessandra Keller (Switzerland), Pieterse, Ferrand-Prévot, Batten and Richards are just a handful of riders who could come out on top.
BRUNI VS PIERRON AND CAN HÖLL MAKE IT A HAT-TRICK?
After a washout in Fort William (Scotland, Great Britain) that saw Charlie Hatton (Great Britain) and Vali Höll (Austria) clinch the 2023 UCI Downhill World Championships titles, riders will be hoping for slightly more predictable conditions on course come Saturday, August 31.
After a season that has seen the rivalry between Loïc Bruni and Amaury Pierron (France) reignited, all eyes will be on the French pair come the men’s final. Bruni has the edge at the venue and in UCI World Championships (two wins to zero, and five to zero respectively), but his compatriot has found some of the form that has alluded him since 2019 – winning the last two UCI Downhill World Cup rounds in Val di Sole (Trentino, Italy) and Les Gets (Haute-Savoie, France). Other Frenchmen Loris Vergier and Thibaut Daprela have also recorded UCI World Cup wins in Andorra in recent years, so don’t be surprised if it’s a French 1-2-3.
It will also be a momentous occasion as Greg Minnaar (South Africa) takes to the UCI World Championships start gate for the 28th and very latest time. The four-time UCI World Champion and widely regarded G.O.A.T isn’t there to make up the numbers either, as his third place at Les Gets (Haute-Savoie, France) last time out proved.
On paper, the women’s race looks like a less competitive affair – 2024 UCI Downhill World Cup overall leader Vali Höll targetting her third consecutive rainbow jersey. But the 22-year-old Austrian hasn’t been looking her infallible self of late and has found herself on the lower steps of the podium after mistakes in race runs at the UCI Mountain Bike World Series rounds in Val di Sole (Trentino, Italy), Les Gets (Haute-Savoie, France) and Bielsko-Biała (Poland). Those ready to pounce on any errors include Tahnée Seagrave (Great Britain), Marine Cabirou (France) and a resurgent Myriam Nicole (France).
RETURN OF THE WHOOP UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD SERIES
A week on from the UCI World Championships sees the return of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series for the first of the final three UCI World Cups of the 2024 season. The Loudenvielle-Peyragudes, France (6-8 September) weekender will see the downhill athletes joined by the Enduro and E-enduro riders for an all-out Gravity affair, where the Enduro and E-enduro overall winners will also be decided.
It’s not the final Enduro and E-enduro race of 2024 though, with the first ever UCI Mountain Bike Enduro & E-Enduro World Championships scheduled the following week (12-15 September) in Val di Fassa, Trentino, Italy.
All the action from the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships is available on Max, Eurosport and discovery+, with WBD Sports platforms bringing the sport to countless screens worldwide.
