MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP MEDIA GUIDE 2018 #MBWORLDCUP 2018 MERCEDES-BENZ UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP | MEDIA GUIDE 1 MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP CONTENTS GENERAL INTRODUCTION 3 INTRODUCTION OF FORMATS 5 WORLD CUP PARTNERS 6 FACTS AND FIGURES - 2017 7 THE WORLD CUP ON INTERNET 8 THE WORLD CUP ON SOCIAL MEDIA 9 PRESENTATION OF THE 2018 ROUNDS 10 2018 CALENDAR 11 TOP 5 RIDERS 21 2018 UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE ELITE TEAMS 26 2017 RESULTS 29 2018 COMMUNICATIONS CONTACTS 39 2018 MERCEDES-BENZ UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP | MEDIA GUIDE 2 MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP MERCEDES-BENZ UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP A BRIEF RUNDOWN The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup has a long, colourful history and enjoys a solid following through- out the world. Over the years, the UCI has modified the format and introduced new initiatives in or- der to keep up with evolving trends and meet the expectations of athletes and fans. EVOLUTION OF THE UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP 1991 2002 - 2011 It was 24 years ago that two American riders, John Tomac and Sara After four years on the programme, the dual-slalom was replaced by four- Ballantyne, became the first winners of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. cross (4X) in which four riders race against each other on a single course. The year was 1991, and the World Cup series comprised nine rounds in seven Winner of three of the four dual-slalom World Cups, Brian Lopes went on countries, catering for cross-country Olympic (XCO) specialists only. to dominate the first year of four-cross. In the women’s competition victory 1993 went to France’s Anne-Caroline Chausson, already winner of the dual-slalom in 2000. Two years later the downhill (DHI) format joined the programme, crowning two German athletes this time: Jürgen Beneke and Regina Stiefl. 2012-2014 Interestingly, John Tomac, XCO winner in 1991, took second place in the Cross-country Eliminator was the next mountain bike format to join the UCI inaugural downhill World Cup as well as second in the XCO. Mountain Bike World Cup, from 2012 to 2014. This spectacular format for XCO 1998 - 2001 specialists sees four competitors race head-to-head over a lap of around a kilometre. Introduced to the World Cup with three events in 2012, six 1998 was the year that the dual slalom – the forerunner of four-cross – made Eliminator rounds appeared in 2013 and 2014 with the overall classifications its debut in the World Cup. Dual-slalom involved knock-out heats with two going to Belgium’s Fabrice Mels and Switzerland’s Kathrin Stirnemann. riders racing on parallel courses, and it featured in the World Cup for four years. American Brian Lopes and Australian Katrina Miller won the overall 2018 classification the first year. 2018 sees the addition of cross-country short circuit (XCC) racing into the overall XCO UCI MTB World Cup competition. The goal with this new discipline is to continue developing cross-country. 2018 MERCEDES-BENZ UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP | MEDIA GUIDE 3 MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP MERCEDES-BENZ UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP BEST EVENTS The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup rewards not only the best athletes but also the best organisers. Each year, UCI Mountain Bike Teams, sponsors, and UCI officials vote for the top events for each of the two formats: cross-country and downhill. This creates healthy competition between the organisers and encourages them to stage events of the highest quality. Cross-Country Olympic: Nove Mesto Na Morave (CZE) A regular host of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano, Nove Mesto Na Morave was voted best XCO event for the sixth time in 2017. The city in the Czech Republic returned to the World Cup calendar last year after hosting the UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country World Championships in 2016. Voters appreciated the course, team area, crowds, atmosphere and general organisation. Downhill: Fort William (GBR) For the same reasons, Fort William, Great Britain, won the vote for best DHI event. The Scottish venue hosted its 16th UCI World Cup in 2017, and has already been voted best event on five prior occasions, including in 2016. 2018 MERCEDES-BENZ UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP | MEDIA GUIDE 4 MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP INTRODUCTION OF FORMATS CROSS-COUNTRY CROSS-COUNTRY DOWNHILL (DHI) OLYMPIC (XCO) SHORT CIRCUIT (XCC) Downhill is a race against the clock in which the rider negotiates a succession of fast and technical Cross-country Olympic format races are held over Cross-country short circuit is a variation of Cross- passages. The participant must demonstrate undulating circuits (with technical descents, forest country Olympic. The start and finish must be in courage as well as sharp technical and piloting roads, rocky paths and obstacles) of 4 to 6 km, the same area. The distance of the course must skills in order to battle tree roots, rocks, banked which riders must complete several times. The not be more than 2 km with a race duration of 20 sections, bumps, jumps and other natural Elite racing times, for men and women, vary from to 60 minutes. Natural and/or artificial obstacles obstacles along the way. 1h20 minutes to 1h40. An attractive course design are only permitted if their use has been approved that shows the discipline well on television and is beforehand by the UCI technical delegate or, in also spectator friendly is a necessity! his absence, the president of the commissaires' panel. 2018 MERCEDES-BENZ UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP | MEDIA GUIDE 5 MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP WORLD CUP PARTNERS TITLE SPONSOR OFFICIAL SPONSOR Beginning in 2018, Mercedes-Benz will be the title sponsor of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup and GoPro has been the exclusive camera sponsor of the presenting sponsor of the UCI Mountain Bike World UCI Mountain Bike World Cup since 2013. Championships. Mercedes-Benz is tapping into new Adding an exciting dimension to the series coverage product segments and started series production of with unique viewpoint of the world’s best mountain the X-Class – the first pickup from a premium car bike athletes, GoPro is excited to meet two wheel fans manufacturer. The partnership with UCI Mountain around the globe at the UCI events. Biking offers a great opportunity to showcase the www.gopro.com capabilities of the new X-Class. www.mercedes-benz.com MEDIA PARTNER Exclusive distribution and production partner, as well as MAIN SPONSOR Host Broadcaster Shimano has been in partnership with the UCI since Since 2016, Red Bull Media House has been the 1999 and is committed to helping teams and athletes exclusive production and distribution partner of the UCI with technical support at the UCI road, track, mountain Mountain Bike World Cup, producing live broadcasts, bike, mountain bike marathon, cyclo-cross and para- highlights shows and various clips, and has been in cycling World Championships, at the UCI Cyclo-cross partnership with the UCI since 2012. World Cup and at the Olympic Games. But more Host broadcaster of the Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain than this, Shimano is dedicated to helping people Bike World Cup, Red Bull Media House brngs the series to get closer to nature, realize their dreams and live to a global audience via Red Bull TV. healthy lifestyles. That comes with the desire to create www.redbull.tv outstanding cycling products and apparel. With almost 100 years’ experience in creating internationally renowned bicycle components, Shimano is proud to have developed products that continue to take countless athletes to victory and provide the means for limitless global bicycle journeys. For more information see: www.shimano.com 2018 MERCEDES-BENZ UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP | MEDIA GUIDE 6 MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP FACTS AND FIGURES - 2017 CALENDAR DATE FROM DATE TO EVENT TITLE COUNTRY VENUE 29.04.2017 30.04.2017 UCI MTB WORLD CUP - DHI FRA Lourdes 20.05.2017 21.05.2017 UCI MTB WORLD CUP - XCO CZE Nove Mesto na Morave 27.05.2017 28.05.2017 UCI MTB WORLD CUP - XCO GER Albstadt 03.06.2017 04.06.2017 UCI MTB WORLD CUP - DHI GBR Fort William 10.06.2017 11.06.2017 UCI MTB WORLD CUP - DHI AUT Leogang 01.07.2017 02.07.2017 UCI MTB WORLD CUP - XCO - DHI AND Vallnord 08.07.2017 09.07.2017 UCI MTB WORLD CUP - XCO - DHI SUI Lenzerheide 05.08.2017 06.08.2017 UCI MTB WORLD CUP - XCO - DHI CAN Mont-Sainte-Anne 26.08.2017 27.08.2017 UCI MTB WORLD CUP - XCO - DHI ITA Val Di Sole EVENTS: TELEVISION RED BULL TV BROADCAST: • 9 events COVERAGE: • 41.5 hours of live coverage • 9 countries • almost 2.5 million live views on Red Bull TV • 49 broadcaster in 104 countries • over 3.3 million views as Video on Demand on Red Bull TV • Cumulative audience of almost 65 million • 8 million TV viewers watched live and delayed 2018 MERCEDES-BENZ UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP | MEDIA GUIDE 7 MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP THE WORLD CUP MEDIA COVERAGE Almost 5.8 million viewers on Red Bull TV and a large TV audience reflects the enhanced broadcast offer. For the sixth year running, UCI’s official partner Red Bull Media House 8 million TV viewers followed the 9 rounds of the 2017 UCI Mountain Bike produced the 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano. In World Cup Series by watching either the live broadcasts or delayed highlight 2016, Red Bull Media House also took over the exclusive distribution for all summaries. In total, 49 broadcasters from 104 countries covered the 2017 electronic media rights.