UCI MTB World Cup Race Calendar 2023 14

The revised 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Calendar is announced, including a historic 10 day festival in Les Portes du Soleil (Les Gets, Morzine & Châtel), in the Haute-Savoie region and four new UCI World Cup cross-country marathon venues.

• Haute-Savoie region, France, to be the first venue to host UCI Mountain Bike World Cup for downhill and cross-country as well as enduro, marathon and e-enduro across two action-packed weekends
• Les Portes du Soleil, within the towns of Les Gets, Châtel and Morzine to host competitions
• Four new venues announced for cross-country marathon
• Five round e-enduro calendar launched

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) are pleased to reveal the final details of the 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Calendar.

One of the flagship events on next year's calendar will be a first in the history of the sport with a ten-day all-encompassing festival featuring  all formats of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, taking place from September 7 - 17. Taking place in the Haute-Savoie region, cross-country Olympic (XCO), cross-country short track (XCC) and downhill (DHI) will take place in Les Gets, while cross-country marathon and enduro will be based in Châtel and Morzine.

The Haute-Savoie region has hosted no less than six rounds of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in the past, as well as the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships twice in Les Gets, most recently in August this year. However, the 2023 edition will be the first time the  Portes du Soleil has brought all the major mountain bike formats together in a single event. This major venue will host multi-format races combined with a festival atmosphere designed to entertain fans and gather the mountain bike industry into one space. For the first time, this will happen across back-to-back weekends. With these major formats united in a single area, riders, teams and fans can look forward to more racing than ever before.

UCI President David Lappartient said: “With the incredible images and atmosphere of the 2022 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Les Gets still in our minds, we can only look forward to returning to Haute-Savoie next year for the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

“This area has repeatedly demonstrated its commitment to our sport, and with this major combined event we will again benefit from the fantastic organisation and enthusiastic welcome that characterises the region of Haute-Savoie, which will host our second UCI Cycling World Championships, in 2027.”

Martial Saddier, President of Conseil départemental de la Haute-Savoie, France, added: “We thank the UCI and Warner Bros. Discovery once again for their trust. Congratulations to the Portes du Soleil (Les Gets, Morzine and Châtel) for establishing themselves as the mountain bike reference. The Haute-Savoie will be there!”

Also announced today is the calendar for cross-country marathon (XCM) and e-enduro (EDR-E), both of which have been designated UCI Mountain Bike World Cup status from 2023 onwards. Kicking off the XCM calendar will be Nové Mesto Na Moravĕ in the Czech Republic, followed by Finale Ligure in Italy, Châtel/Morzine in France and Snowshoe in the USA. 

Meanwhile, EDR-E will join XCM in that most famous of enduro venues,  Finale Ligure, to get their season underway, before heading to Leogang in Austria. It’s back to Italy for round three and the stunning surroundings of Val di Fassa Trentino, before heading to France for rounds four and five. Loudenvielle in the Pyrenees will accommodate round four before concluding the series in style in Châtel/Morzine as part of the flagship ten day Haute-Savoie festival.

As part of WBD and the UCI’s commitment to participation and creating pathways into elite levels of sport, amateur racing will also be on offer in both enduro and cross-country marathon next season. All four rounds of cross-country marathon will have open racing categories, meaning there are no pre-qualification requirements for entry.

In enduro, six of the seven venues will have amateur racing on offer in both traditional enduro and e-enduro. They are; Maydena, Derby, Finale Ligure, Val di Fassa Trentino, Loudenvielle and Châtel/Morzine. All of the traditional enduro rounds will offer UCI ranking points, rewarding the best placed riders with the opportunity to advance to the elite competition.

Warner Bros. Discovery was appointed to advance the sport of mountain biking as part of an eight-year agreement in June 2022. They will deploy their extensive assets and expertise, including Discovery Sports Events and ESO Sports, to elevate mountain biking to the next level and reach a global audience. This new vision for the sport will provide a brighter spotlight for the different formats within mountain biking, including a number of rule changes across the sport which were announced last week.

About the UCI

Founded on April 14, 1900, in Paris, France, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is the worldwide governing body for cycling. It develops and oversees cycling in all its forms and for all people: as a competitive sport, a healthy recreational activity, a means of transport, and also just for fun. The UCI manages and promotes the ten cycling disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, BMX Racing, BMX Freestyle, cyclo-cross, trials, indoor cycling, cycling esports and gravel. Five of these are featured on the Olympic Games programme (road, track, mountain bike, BMX Racing, and BMX Freestyle), two in the Paralympic Games (road and track), and four in the Youth Olympic Games (road, mountain bike, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle). For more information: www.uci.org.

About ESO Sports

ESO Sports are specialists in major global mountain bike races and festivals. Formed in 2012, ESO Sports are the owners and operators of the Enduro World Series (EWS), which now includes a network of over 80 events in 35 countries. EWS is sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) including EWS-E, the first UCI sanctioned international E-mountain bike enduro series. In 2021, Warner Brothers Discovery invested in ESO Sports, strengthening the organisation’s relationship with Play Sports Network and further cementing their commitment to developing mountain biking globally.

About Discovery Sports Events

Discovery Sports Events is the Discovery-owned event management division that oversees 55 events per year across 5 continents. With 15 years of experience as Eurosport Events, it offers a wealth of expertise on two and four wheels with a focus on electric car racing, motorbike racing and track cycling. It acts as the global promoter and commercial rights-holder for 5 global Championships under long-term relationships with governing bodies including the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). On four wheels it promotes the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup and FIA ETCR eTouring World Cup from, the world’s first all-electric touring car championship. Launching in 2023, it will also promote the ground-breaking FIA Electric GT Championship, a new long-term platform for manufacturers to showcase their flagship GT cars and innovative technologies. On two wheels, its 10-year alliance with FIM will see it promote Speedway events way globally, including FIM Speedway Grand Prix, starting in 2022 in addition to its promotion of the FIM Endurance World Championship for motorbikes since 2015. Launched in November 2021, it promotes the UCI Track Champions League, the innovative new series that opens a new chapter in the history of track cycling. Discovery Sports Events delivers a full spectrum of event management services including promotion, television production, media rights distribution, press office management, sponsorship acquisition and client servicing.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world’s most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across television, film and streaming. Available in more than 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Warner Bros. Discovery inspires, informs and entertains audiences worldwide through its iconic brands and products including: Discovery Channel, discovery+, CNN, DC, Eurosport, HBO, HBO Max, HGTV, Food Network, Investigation Discovery, TLC, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies and others. For more information, please visit www.wbd.com. 

About Warner Bros. Discovery Sports

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe represents WBD’s portfolio of sports brands, channels and platforms in Europe. It collectively reaches 130 million people every month, engaging fans and broad audiences in more than 200 markets and in over 20 languages across all platforms where consumers are spending time -free-to-air TV, pay-TV, streaming, online and social. Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe includes the much-loved consumer brands Eurosport, Global Cycling Network (GCN), Global Mountain Bike Network (GMBN), Golf Digest and GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR, as well sports programming and content on discovery+ and Discovery’s free-to-air TV networks. They connect audiences with the greatest sporting events in the world. This includes being the Home of the Olympics Games in Europe; tennis’ Grand Slams; cycling’s Grand Tours, more than 600 cycling broadcasts per year and the UCI Track Champions League; the PGA TOUR year-round; the best new and existing electric racing series with ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and FIA eTouring Car World Cup; and every major winter sports World Championship and World Cup event. Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe completes a full 360° offer with its events management and promotion arm, Discovery Sports Events.