UCI releases 2015 World Cup racing calendar
Originally posted on July 31, 2014 at 15:13 pm
The UCI released the 2015 schedule today and it includes six cross-country events, seven downhill events and zero cross-country eliminator events.
The season will kick off on April 11-12 with round one of downhill in the new venue of Lourdes (France). Although new to the World Cup calendar, Lourdes has already hosted the French Cup, and will present riders with a 2.5km long course that descends 600 meters in altitude.
The other first-time destination next year is Lenzerheide, Switzerland, which will organise a double event (downhill and XC) on July 4-5. This will be the first of three consecutive rounds (2015-2017) in the Swiss resort as it prepares to host the World Championships in 2018.
Often voted best XC event of the World Cup, Nove Mesto na Morave (Czech Republic) will host round one of the XC series on May 23-24. This will serve as a final rehearsal before the 2016 World Championships for XC and Cross-country Eliminator, which is gone from the World Cup series but will still be contested as a World Championship.
After the Czech Republic, the World Cup will move to Albstadt (Germany) for the third consecutive year then the downhill Mecca of Fort William (Great Britain) and the Austrian resort of Leogang, another regular World Cup venue and host of the World Championships in 2012.
The World Cup’s two destinations on the American continent will be held the first two weekends in August: the popular Mont-Sainte-Anne (Canada), which has hosted a round every year since the creation of the World Cup in 1991, and Windham (USA).
The overall World Cup winners will be crowned in Val di Sole, Italy, on August 22-23. The Italian resort is known for its difficult DHI track, and returns to the World Cup calendar after a break in 2014.
Full schedule
- April 11-12 Lourdes (France)
- May 23-24 Nove Mesto na Morave (Czech Republic)
- May 30-31 Albstadt (Germany)
- June 6-7 Fort William (Great Britain)
- June 13-14 Leogang (Austria)
- July 4-5 Lenzerheide (Switzerland)
- August 1-2 Mont-Sainte-Anne (Canada)
- August 8-9 Windham (United States)
- August 22-23 Val di Sole (Italy)