March 20/20 10:27 am - More Cancellations or Postponements Coming for MTB World Cup

Posted by Editoress on 03/20/20
 

The first round of the Mountain Bike World Cup, a Downhill scheduled for Lousa, Portugal, this weekend, was postponed on March 11th [see UCI Confirms Lousa World Cup Postponed]. Now it looks likely that further events will be affected.

Less than an hour after we published our story, the UCI has confirmed that it is correct. The next two rounds are also both Downhills, scheduled for the first two weekends of May in Maribor, Slovenia, on May 2-3, and Losinj, Croatia, on May 9-10. Neither have been officially taken off the schedule, and the UCI initial statement said that all competitions were cancelled until at least April 3rd. However, since then the UCI has stated that the Road calendar is cancelled until the end of April. That has now been extended to all disciplines.

Losinj, Croatia

Maribor, Slovenia

We have heard that the Maribor organizers are looking into alternate dates later in the year, and that the Losinj event is cancelled after the local tourism authorities - a major sponsor - withdrew their support. We have no official confirmation on either of these situations.

The first XC event of the year, in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, is not until May 22-24, and it is the final major event in the Olympic qualifying period. Organizers have taken the proactive approach of announcing that they will make a final decision on whether to postpone on April 20th. They also said that they would be able to reschedule to a date in September or October.

Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic

Nove Mesto press officer Jan Nemec said in a statement, "It is important to look at this situation from the perspective of participants from all over the world. Even if the coronavirus pandemic was eliminated and kept under control in the Czech Republic, it would depend on global developments whether the event could take place or not. UCI will have to decide in order to allow as many regular participants as possible to take part, while none of the national federations to be disadvantaged (for example, because its competitors cannot travel to the event because of international travel restrictions). Therefore, we are also talking about potential "substitute" date for our event. Due to this year's specific racing calendar (mainly thanks to the Olympics in August) there are several dates available in September or October that could fit into updated racing schedule quite well."

The next scheduled international events are the Fort William (Scotland) Downhill World Cup on June 6-7, with XCO world championships scheduled for late June, so these events are both still working to go ahead as planned. World championship organizers in Albstadt, Germany, have said that a decision will be made at least four weeks prior to the event, and that they are in ongoing discussions with the UCI. The event could move to September, if needed.

The UCI has now confirmed that some other cancellations and postponements will take place:

• Suspension of all classifications for all events on the UCI International Calendar until further notice but at least until 30 April;

• Concerning requests for the postponement of events, priority will be given in order to: UCI World Championships, UCI World Cups, Continental Championships, National Championships, events on the UCI International Calendar.

• The second round of the UCI E-MTB World Cup in Ascona-Locarno (SUI), scheduled for 17-18 April, and the third round in Bologna (ITA), scheduled for 5-6 June, have been postponed. New dates to be confirmed.

• The first round of the Enduro World Series, in Manizales (COL) scheduled for 28-29, the second round in Farellones (CHI), scheduled for 4-5 April, and the third round in Olargues (FRA), scheduled for 20-24 May have all been postponed. New dates to be confirmed.

• The first round of the 2020 UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup in Dubai (UAE) scheduled for 6 March, and the second round in Barcelona (ESP) scheduled for 28 March have been postponed. New dates to be confirmed.

• The fifth and sixth rounds of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Manchester (GBR) scheduled for 17-18 April and the seventh and eighth rounds in Papendal (NED) scheduled for 2-3 May have been postponed. New dates to be confirmed.

• The first round of the UCI BMX Freestyle Park et Flatland World Cup in Hiroshima (JPN) scheduled for 3-5 April, the second round in Puyang (CHN) on 7-8 May and the third round in Montpellier (FRA) scheduled for 21-22 May have all been postponed. New dates to be confirmed.

• The first leg of the UCI Indoor Cycling World Cup in Winterthur (SUI) scheduled on 4 April and the second leg in Wendlingen (GER) scheduled on 25 April have been postponed. New dates to be confirmed.