2022 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Les Gets, France: Preview, schedule, how to watch the stars in action

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The world’s best mountain bikers are ready to crown a busy season with the 2022 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Les Gets, France, from 24–28 August. Hundreds of the globe’s top MTB cyclists are entered in 15 medal competitions across five different events within mountain biking.

Medals will be awarded in the cross-country Olympic discipline (in men’s and women’s junior, under-23, and elite categories) and in the non-Olympic occasions of cross-country short track (men and women), cross-country relay (mixed team), electric mountain bike cross-country (men and women), and downhill individual (men’s and women’s junior and elite categories).

Competition actually begins on Tuesday, 23 August, with qualifying rounds in the men’s short track event, before the main programme begins on 24 August with the particular team relay.

Find out all you need in order to know about the competition below.

UCI Mountain Bicycle World Championships: What are the short course, relay, electric MTB, and downhill events?

The most recognisable competition at the Mountain Bike World Championships is cross-country Olympic (XCO), the standard event within the particular mountain bike discipline plus the only one of the five currently held at the Olympic Games. But what about the other four activities?

Cross-country short track (XCC) is a variation on that, featuring a vastly reduced lap – in Les Gets, the single lap of the XCC course is 905m (0. 56 miles), compared to the XCO course’s 3. 39km (2. 11 miles).

The cross-country exchange (XCR) will see teams nominate six cyclists – one from each XCO age category (men’s and women’s elite, under-23, and junior) to compete as a mixed relay team against the particular other countries.

In electric mountain bike cross-country (E-MTB or E-XC), riders get to use an electric battery-powered bike. The particular electric engine will only provide power while the cyclist is pedalling, meaning there is no power output without the rider making an input on the pedals. The engines are restricted to a maximum assistance of 25km/h (15. 5mph) and the maximum continuous power rating of 250 watts. The E-MTB course is also slightly shorter than the XCO one, coming in at 2 . 6km (1. 6 miles). This is a relatively new event, having joined the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships schedule only in 2019.

The other event being contested in Les Gets is downhill individual (DHI). This is not a straight head-to-head race; instead, riders start in the top of the particular hill and aim in order to be the quickest to reach the bottom of a 2 . 4-km (1. 5-mile) course against the clock.

Stars in order to watch at Les Will get 2022 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships

Most of the best mountain bike riders will certainly be in Les Gets, fresh off the Commonwealth Games and European Championships in Birmingham and Munich.

Newly-crowned European XCO champions Tom Pidcock of Great Britain and Loana Lecomte of France will become out to convert their European – and within Pidcock’s case, Olympic – titles into the world champion’s rainbow jersey for the next season.

Pidcock, the 2020 under-23 XCO and top notch E-MTB world champion, may face stiff competition through home hope Jordan Sarrou and Switzerland’s Nino Schurter ; around the women’s side Lecomte’s teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Switzerland’s Olympic champion Jolanda Neff are among the favourites too.

Lecomte is skipping the XCC race, which should allow for Ferrand-Prevot plus Neff to come to the fore, but within the mens side Pidcock and Schurter will both have ahead through an additional qualifying round if they want to take gold.

There is the surprise name in the particular men’s E-MTB race, as three-time road cycling globe champion Peter Sagan , who started as a mountain biker, is entered in the event.

And in downhill, the current World Cup leaders Amaury Pierron of France and Camille Balanche of Switzerland enter as favourites.

2022 UCI Mountain Bike Globe Championships, Les Gets: Full schedule

All times Central Western european Summer Time, CEST (UTC/GMT +2 hours). Schedule is correct as of 22 August 2022 and subject to change.

Legend: XCC – cross-country short track; XCO – cross-country Olympic discipline; XCR – cross-country relay; E-MTB – electric mountain bike cross-country; DHI – downhill individual

Tuesday twenty three August

18: 00: XCC, men’s qualifying

Wednesday 24 August

12: 30: XCR, team final

Thursday 25 August

10: 00: DHI, men’s and women’s junior qualifying
eleven: 30: DHI, men’s plus women’s elite qualifying
15: 00: XCO, women’s junior final
17: 00: XCO, men’s junior final

Friday 26 August

10: 00: E-MTB, women’s final
11: 30: E-MTB, men’s final
17: 00: XCC, ladies final
17: 45: XCC, men’s final

Saturday 27 August

09: 30: DHI, men’s and women’s junior finals
13: 15: DHI, women’s elite final
14: 35: DHI, men’s elite final

Sunday 28 August

09: 00: XCO, women’s under-23 last
10: 45: XCO, men’s under-23 final
13: 00: XCO, women’s elite last
15: 15: XCO, men’s elite final

How to follow and watch the mountain bike world championships 2022 in Les Will get

You can follow the action from the 2022 UCI Hill Bike World Championships for the official live timing page .

The elite down hill finals and under-23 plus elite cross-country finals upon Saturday and Sunday will be broadcast on the UCI’s broadcast partners, including La Chaine L’Équipe in hosts France.