It is UCI MTB World Cup week in Val di Sole Italy and South Africa’s best are once again out to take on the world! Val di Sole hosts round 4 of the XC World Cup and Round 3 of the Downhill World Cup, the last round before the mid-season break until the 24th of August when racing returns in Andorra.
2 weeks ago we were in Leogang and we had some good results from the young guns on the SA team! Luke Moir went 20th in XCC and 14th in XCO, Tyler Jacobs followed up her 12th in XCC with a 26th place in the U23 Women’s race and Alan Hatherly carried his top form from Lenzerheide to 5th place in the XCC and 4th in XCO.
Find all the info you need below to watch the action and see the South African rider list for the weekend.
About Val di Sole
This mountain town is located in the Trentino region of Italy, North West of Milan by a couple hours, close to Switzerland and Austria.
The terrain in Val di Sole is as rugged as it comes so we can expect plenty of drama on track. While “Sole” means sun, we will be seeing some decently heavy rain here on Friday for the Downhill Qualifications and Elite XCC races and some light showers over the weekend.
At 1000m above sea level, altitude won’t be a huge factor this weekend but the effort for the European XCO riders who gave their all at European Champs laste weeknd may be affecting their freshness.
“With a rich history of hosting international bike events, starting from the 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships and all the way to the upcoming 2023 UCI MTB World Cup, Val di Sole has cemented its reputation as a premier destination for the sport. With over 300 km of high-altitude trails, six brand-new Alpine Gravel itineraries, two bike parks for gravity enthusiasts, iconic road biking routes and a 35 km cycle path along the Noce River, there’s truly something for every type of cyclist to explore.” – UCI MTB World Series
Which African riders are racing?
These are the African riders who will be lining up to race the Cross-Country and Downhill events in Val di Sole!
XC:
Elite:
Alan Hatherly – Cannondale Factory Racing
Tumelo Makae – Pump for Peace Racing Team (Lesotho)
Candice Lill – Faces / Seattle Coffee Co.
u/23:
Tyler Jacobs – Computer Mania MTB Team
Johan van Zyl – Computer Mania MTB Team
Daniel van der Walt – Computer Mania MTB Team
Luke Moir – Trek SA
Jaedon Terlouw
Ignatius Du Preez
Hugo Hahn (NAM)
DH:
Elite:
Greg Minnaar – Santa Cruz Syndicate
Christopher Philogene
Jono Philogene
Rory Kirk
Connor Finnis
Stefan Garlicki
Theo Erlangsen
Niko Velasco – Unno Racing
Junior:
Ross Kew – Propian / 23 Degrees
Alex de Bruin
Junior DH racer Ross Kew went well here in 2021 placing 18th in the Junior Category.
Mr Minn crashed badly here in 2022, fracturing his neck but has made a strong recovery and will no doubt be looking for redemption this weekend!
Who was on top in 2022?
As for the downhill in 2022, Myriam Nicole Snatched victory over Nina Hoffman by 4 seconds and Loris Vergier trumped Andreas Kolb (2023 Leogang DH winner) by 3 seconds on the rugged Black Snake track.
On the XCO track, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot triumphed over Loana Lecomte by 1 min 27 secs (Candice Lill in 23rd) while Tituan Carod took a 35 second victory over Schurter in the men’s event with Alan Hatherly finishing in 11th.
The downhill and XCO tracks
The downhill track is called the Black Snake and is about as enticing to ride as the name might suggest. It is 2.2km in length and drops 510 metres down to the valley floor through some of the rockiest and rootiest terrain on earth. To every so slightly tame the track, race organisers dumped a heap of new soil onto the most exposed sections to fill in some of the holes and smoothen things out. We’ll see how long it lasts this week before it is blown to pieces again. The taping is a little different, adding some chicanes near the top to slow things down a touch but otherwise we have the same old classic to enjoy (from the couch).
Course preview by Junior Chris Houser:
Junior Practice Session:
The XCC track is a fast 1.1km with 26m of elevation. While the XCO track takes in 204m of elevation gain over 4.2km. It has some of the most technical features of the World Cup circuit and has some savage climbing sections! The natural sections of track are rougher than a goat’s knee and will push riders to their limits when going all out in race mode.
Current top 10 standings XCO
Candice Lill – 33rd (131 points)
Johan van Zyl – 40th
Luke Moir – 43rd
Tyler Jacobs: 38th
Current top 10 standings Downhill
Minnaar – 26th (116 points)
Chris Philigene – 68th
Theo Erlangsen – 74th
Event schedule
29 June
17:30 – Cross-country Short Track World Cup – U23 Women – live timing
18:15 – Cross-country Short Track World Cup – U23 Men – live timing
30 June
12:45 – Downhill World Cup Final – Junior Women – YouTube
13:15 – Downhill World Cup Final – Junior Men – YouTube
14:00 – Downhill World Cup – Qualification – Women – live timing
14:40 – Downhill World Cup – Qualification – Men – live timing
17:45 – Cross-country Short Track World Cup – Women – GCN+ – SS206
18:30 – Cross-country Short Track World Cup – Men – GCN+ – SS206
1 July
10:45 – Downhill World Cup – Semi Final – Women – YouTube
11:20 – Downhill World Cup – Semi Final – Men – YouTube
13:00 – Downhill World Cup – Final – Women – GCN+ – (SS206 – 07:50 – 2 July)
14:00 – Downhill World Cup – Final – Men – GCN+ – (SS206 – 08:50 – 2 July)
2 July
08:30 – Cross-country Olympic World Cup – U23 Women – YouTube
10:30 – Cross-country Olympic World Cup – U23 Men – YouTube
13:00 – Cross-country Olympic World Cup – Women – GCN+ – SS208
15:30 – Cross-country Olympic World Cup – Women – GCN+ – SS208
Find more info here on the event and series
Find the supersport TV Guide here
Video Content From Leogang World Cups
Wyn TV Track Walk
Vital MTB Pit Bits
About 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 we will get 8 rounds of World Cup Downhill, 7 Enduro World Cups, 9 XCO/XCC World Cup 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 Cup in 2023, whereas in the past it used to be 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 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.
