Lenzerheide marks the opening round of the 2023 Downhill World Cup and round 2 of the XC World Cup. The downhill track is typically the shortest of the season with times dipping below 3 minutes for the fastest men. Greg Minnaar pulled off a spectacular 3rd place run here in 2022! On the XCO side, this is the track that saw Alan Hatherly earn his career best Elite XCO finish (2nd place) behind Luca Braidot as Fluckiger and Schurter got into a tangle moments from the finish line. Should we expect drama here in 2023? Without a doubt, this is mountain bike racing!
The 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Series
With Discovery Sports, ESO, and Play Sports Network taking over the organizing, promoting, and broadcasting of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cups for 8 years starting from 2023, there are big changes coming about for the riders and fans of “Mountain Bike World Series” as it is now collectively referred to!
Over the course of the season you can expect 8 rounds of Downhill, 8 Enduro rounds, 9 XCO/XCC events, and 4 Marathon World Cups across 3 continents, 10 countries, and 15 venues.
Where to watch
There will be various places to watch the live streams of particular races of the World Series in 2023, whereas in the past it used to be all on Red Bull TV.
2023 will see an addition of U23 XCO racing, Junior Downhill, and Elite Semi-Final Downhill events being live streamed (and will all be free to view on UCI MTB World Series YouTube).
“Live broadcasts of the downhill, cross-country Olympic and cross-country short-track elite finals and coverage of all major races from each of the 13 race weekends will be available globally on GCN+*. “
“GCN+ can be accessed worldwide through a monthly or annual subscription. Racing coverage and content is available live and on demand via the GCN App, all web browsers, Amazon FireTV, Samsung Smart TV, AndroidTV, Chromecast, Apple AirPlay and Apple TV. “
DSTV is also an option for us as South Africans. See the schedule at the end of the article for channels and times.
Races can also be watched Live and On Demand through Discovery+ though it is the most expensive option.
Most affordable way to watch?
An annual subscription to GCN + (done via the cellphone app but then can be used on web or TV App) is R719,99. To subscribe monthly would be R124,99 per month. With 4 months of Downhill and XC racing left (from June to October), you can save a bit by subscribing monthly (R500 for 4 months) to watch the live broadcasts of the Elite Downhill and XC Finals.
There are plenty of other live races from the road cycling world as well as feature films that can be viewed on GCN+ so you may see value in going for the annual sub to have access to that content beyond the 5 months of racing.
Who are the South Africans who are racing?
These are the South Africans who will be lining up to race the Cross-Country and Downhill events in Lenzerheide!
XC:
Elite:
Alan Hatherly – Cannondale Factory Racing
Candice Lill – Faces / Seattle Coffee Co.
u/23:
Johan van Zyl – Computer Mania MTB Team
Tyler Jacobs – Computer Mania MTB Team
Luke Moir – Trek
Unathi Nxumalo – Pump For Peace Racing
Matthew Scott
Hugo Hahn (NAM)
DH:
Elite:
Greg Minnaar – Santa Cruz Syndicate
Christopher Philogene
Jono Philogene
Rory Kirk
Connor Finnis
Stefan Garlicki
Theo Erlangsen
Junior:
Ross Kew – Propian / 23 Degrees
Alex de Bruin
Keagan Brand
Who was on top in 2022?
DH winners were Amaury Pierron and Myriam Nicole (sitting out this year’s race due to concussion symptoms) and in the XCO racing it was Luca Braidot and Loana Lecomte. The XCC winners were Filippo Colombo and Jenny Rissveds.
About Lenzerheide
We are in Eastern Switzerland, high up in the mountains, for this round of World Cup mountain bike racing. A stop that has become a regular on the circuit over the years and will once again be hosting in 2023.
“Lenzerheide is a high valley alpine resort, located at 1400 metres above sea level in Switzerland. With a stunning view of the Heidsee lake, surrounded by peaks reaching up to 2800 metres, Lenzerheide knows how to impress. Known as the Bike Kingdom, Lenzerheide is a paradise for mountain bikers, offering a wide variety of terrain to explore..” – UCI MTB World Series
The tracks
The DH track is fast and awkward in Lenzerheide. It is 1.9km long and drops 417m. The track features a lot of loose gravel, some exquisite loamy forest sections, big drops and technical rock gardens; it has it all! Going off of last year’s results, it seems the mid to lower segments of the track are most crucial to get right if you want to climb the results board. Course preview below.
The Lenzerheide XCO track is 4.3km long and has 200m of elevation gain. That means an 8 lap race will take in 1600m of elevation gain over 34.4km of racing. The track features a good mix of open sections, making room for attacks, and tight technical terrain to test the riders. Have a look at a course preview from last year below.
The XCC course is 1km long with 38m of elevation.
Event schedule
8 June
17:30 – Cross-country Short Track – U23 Women – no live stream
18:15 – Cross-country Short Track – U23 Men – no live stream
9 June
13:15 – Downhill Final – Junior Women – YouTube
14:00 – Downhill Final – Junior Men – YouTube
15:30 – Downhill – Qualification – Women – no live stream
16:00 – Downhill – Qualification – Men – no live stream
17:45 – Cross-country Short Track – Women – GCN+ – SS206
18:00 – Cross-country Short Track – Men – GCN+ – SS206
10 June
10:45 – Downhill – Semi Final – Women – YouTube – SS206
11:20 – Downhill – Semi Final – Men – YouTube – SS206
13:00 – Downhill – Final – Women – GCN+ – SS208
14:00 – Downhill – Final – Men – GCN+ – SS208
11 June
08:30 – Cross-country Olympic – U23 Women – YouTube
10:30 – Cross-country Olympic – U23 Men – YouTube
13:00 – Cross-country Olympic – Women – GCN+ – SS207
15:30 – Cross-country Olympic – Women – GCN+ – CH950 (OTT 6)
Find more info here on the event and series
Find the supersport TV Guide here
