September 3/05 12:02 pm - MTB World Championships: 2006 World Championships News, Stand-off at 4-Cross

Posted by Editoress on 09/3/05
 

Notes and News from the Worlds

The 2006 Mountain Bike Worlds organizers in Rotorua, New Zealand held a briefing on next year's event yesterday. The event is scheduled to take place earlier than usual - August 22 to 27. The tentative schedule is:

August 22 - Team Relay
August 23 - Junior Women and Junior Men Cross-country Races
August 24 - Espoir Women Cross-country and DH Seeding Runs
August 25 - Espoir Men Cross-country and 4-Cross
August 26 - Downhill (all categories)
August 27 - Elite Men and Women Cross-country


There are already some concerns regarding the schedule, based on problems this year. In Livigno, the Junior Men raced the day after the Team Relay, and this will happen again next year according to the schedule as stated. The Rotorua organizers are aware of the problem and hope to rectify it.

There was a stand-off between the media photographers and security at the 4-Cross qualifier last evening, which delayed racing by 30 minutes. The UCI rules allow photographers on the course to photograph the event, however, local security said it was "not permitted". The photographers refused to move and, after 30 minutes, commissaires finally sided with the photographers and the event took place.