val di sole

Description

The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano has a late start to the 2013 season, with the first event finally underway this weekend, in Albstadt, Germany, for the opening rounds of the Cross-country and Eliminator. Usually, competition would have started six to eight weeks earlier at what has become the traditional South African venue of Pietermaritzburg, however, this year Pietermaritzburg will host the UCI World Championships later in the season. While the London Olympics overshadowed every other competition last year, for 2013 the focus returns to the World Cup. After early season competition at various national and regional series events, the top riders in the world are eager for the return of the top level of competition. From Albstadt, the Cross-country and Eliminator move a week later to Nove Mesto na Morave in the Czech Republic, an event that is rapidly becoming a classic stop on the circuit, renown for enthusiastic fans. The focus then shifts to the Gravity World Cup for the opening round in Fort William, Scotland, in early June. Fort William is a centre for Downhill, and the top gravity riders will all be looking for a good result here, on one of the longest courses in the series. A week later, all three disciplines come together in Val di Sole, Italy, site of the 2008 world championships and many previous World Cups. This will be Round 2 of the Downhill, and Round 3 for both the Cross-country and Eliminator. The World Cup then takes a break until late July, when all three disciplines get back together in Vallnord, Andorra, in the Pyrennes between Spain and France. This will be followed by Mont Ste-Anne, Canada, for Round 5 of the Cross-country and Round 4 of the Downhill. Mont Ste-Anne is truly a historic venue, the only site to have held World Cup competition every year from the beginning of the Series in 1991 - with the exception of the two years when it hosted the world championships. After a break for the world championships, the World Cup returns to Europe for its final two rounds in mid-September. Hafjell, Norway, steps up from hosting a Downhill to organizing a triple - the final Rounds of the Cross-country (#6) and the Eliminator (#5), plus the penultimate fifth round of the Downhill. Finally, one week later, the Downhill World Cup series concludes in Leogang, Austria, site of the 2012 world championships.