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It's a little bit early days still, as the UCI typically releases its schedules around the end of June or even in July, but the 2017 calendar has nevertheless been updated on their site. Sadly, it seems as though we can only look forward to 6 rounds of DH action next year, all the more baffling given how popular the sport is and how well the events are currently being run.
The schedule is set to take in some classic venues like MSA, Fort William, and Val di Sole, before concluding in the Southern Hemisphere for World Champs in Cairns. There is no US round, and Lenzerheide will somewhat perplexingly apparently NOT host a DH in 2017, even though they invested in a new track (built by Sir Peaty himself), hosted a DH event in 2015 and will host one this year. They are still slated to host an XCO in 2017, so maybe they can still decide to add DH as well, time will tell if there is a further update to the schedule over the coming months.
29-30 Apr UCI MTB WORLD CUP - DHI Lourdes FRA
20-21 May UCI MTB WORLD CUP - XCO Nove Mesto na Morave CZE
27-28 May UCI MTB WORLD CUP - XCO Albstadt GER
3-4 Jun UCI MTB WORLD CUP - DHI Fort William GBR
10-11 Jun UCI MTB WORLD CUP - DHI Leogang AUT
1-2 Jul UCI MTB WORLD CUP - XCO - DHI Vallnord AND
8-9 Jul UCI MTB WORLD CUP - XCO Lenzerheide SUI
5-6 Aug UCI MTB WORLD CUP - XCO - DHI Mont-Sainte-Anne CAN
26-27 Aug UCI MTB WORLD CUP - XCO - DHI Val Di Sole ITA
5-10 Sep UCI MTB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - XCO/XCR/DHI Cairns AUS
Everything the UCI does annoys me, license fees, Kit regulations and fines, scheduling, crazy rules and dq's in races.
Just think how much better our sport would be if someone else besides these money grabbing roadies ran it, I'm looking at you Red Bull. The Enduro World Series has proved it to be possible.
Anyone else agree? If you can think of something good the UCI do for Downhill then please enlighten me.
Rant over.
edit: only 6 races is pretty darn lame too.
Less rounds means every round is more important and makes the pressure for points that much higher. If a top guy misses out on one race for whatever reason, or crashes, their whole season is pretty much ruined, and that sucks.
It's also the same venues just being recycled with the same tracks, and in my opinion (and probably the pro riders too) that makes for some boring racing. Don't get me wrong, val di sol and Mont-Sainte-Anne are amazing venues, but ft. william and leogang are pretty burnt out tracks. (once again, my opinion.) I really want to see new and exciting tracks being put in place that get both riders and viewers stoked. There are amazing tracks and amazing bike parks all over the world (looking at you north america), why is the world cup still confined to these venues?
Crankworx would never be allowed because racers would be having too much fun, and you know UCI doesn't like that...
Is there any way we can get racers to collectively petition against UCI and insist some kind of radical change? The guys riding rampage managed to create change within their event, why can't everyone in the world cup stand behind a shift in how and where UCI organizes races. I know it's all politics and UCI would love to keep on doing what they do, but something needs to change. We need better/newer tracks, more rounds, and more relaxed rules and regulations. I also want Rob Warner swearing and saying wild shit again, he sounds like a news anchor these days. Viva la world cup Revolution
they are badly predjudiced against gender as well, which needs to stop.
bring on the revolution kev.1n!
What do you guys think? Any problems to address or should I found the Downhill World Series?
edit: the link haha
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGcDpcvGbL8/?taken-by=ratboy_bryce
rupert chapman's social media said "does anyone else just want to quit DH after that track walk?" and i just got a text from a photog saying "top wood section is gone, replaced with a muddy mess akin to a forestry operation. other tech tree section lower woods, trees removed. thanks red bull." - maybe bryce is saying drifts will happen b/c it's muddy? wondering if trees were removed to see webcast better? will be interesting regardless.
http://www.vitalmtb.com/videos/member/HELMET-CAM-Claudio-and-Gwin-Chain…
Looks sloppy!
The riders pushed for changes to rampage because of issues that affected them. It may have helped that the viewers got behind that. I would do the same for a similar situation with downhill.
I'm pretty sure Rob is employed by Red Bull, so wrong tree there.
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