Nino Schurter (CH) and Julien Absalon (FR) are the two world numbers 1 and 2 in the biggest cross-country racing series, the BMC Racing Cup. Last year, the two top athletes went head-to-head in an exciting race. The fast Eliminator race kicks off on Friday evening. The short course is compact and manageable in the jump trench, so visitors can follow the fast-paced race from start to finish.

Exciting duels in the freestyle disciplines
The BMX Flatland discipline offers duels that will thrill visitors. The freestyle athletes literally dance with their bikes and outdo each other in skill and style on the dance floor of the Rythalle. This year, Spain's Viki Gomez, the 2-time winner of the Euro X Games, who also won the Bike Days in 2012, will be taking part.

His competition is fierce, including Didier Genet (Granges-Marnand/VS) from western Switzerland and Chris Böhm, a German flatland pro known from various TV shows. There will still be plenty of airtime to be seen in the MTB dirt jump. Ramon Hunziker (Steffisburg/ BE) is already an old hand in Solothurn, who is also responsible for the entire dirt jump facility in the Schanzengraben with his Flying Metal Crew. Also at the start will be Daryl Brown from England, who also jumped the world record at the MTB Highest Air last year in addition to the dirt jump competition, and Szymon Godziek (PL), who was voted Sportsman of the Year 2013 by the FMB World Tour.

Trial and Battle of the Nations: New attractive contests
Öufi Cup, VW Multivan Eliminator Race, BMC Racing Cup, MTB-Dirtjump, BMX-Flatland, MiniDrome Open and Pump it Up Race: these are the well-known and proven competitions that will provide spectators with entertainment and adrenaline in Solothurn

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Two new contests will be added this year. In the trial discipline, riders will compete against each other on a parallel course. As is customary in trials, the bikers hop and jump with great skill and precision over challenging obstacles such as barrels, beams and stairs in a knockout system. Eight-time Swiss champion Roger Keller (Freienstein/ZH) will also be taking part.

The team competition, in which the participating nations compete against each other, will be new for the dirt jump athletes. The nations competing so far are France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, who will try to outdo the others with their spectacular jumps.

The Bike Nights with lots of show, style and freestyle art
The Bike Nights are a must at the Bike Days, as the bike festival is far from over when the sun goes down. This year there will be two premieres: "On Friday evening, partygoers will get to see a battle between the 2013 German artistic cycling world champion David Schnabel and BMX flatlanders such as Chris Böhm," says Fabienne Lovece, program manager.

The sound for the battle will come from the well-known DJ Bazooka, the runner-up in the DJ battle series "Red Bull Thre3Style". And on Saturday, it will be shown whether BMX Flatland really is breakdancing on a bike: for the first time, professional breakdancers from the group Ruff'n'X will compete against BMX Flatlanders and really heat things up in the Solothurn Rythalle. Afterwards, the popular Turntable Babes will be on the turntables and you can dance until your legs can't take any more.

Experience more bikes than ever before at the Bike Days
At the big bike fair, visitors to the Bike Days can spend three days finding out about the latest innovations from the bike industry, get advice from experts and get on the saddle themselves. They will receive a complete market overview with over 300 exhibited brands and around 200 bike models to test out.

"With four different test tracks, every type of bike can be tried out on site and there have never been as many exhibitors offering their bikes for testing as this year," says Erwin Flury, OC President of Bike Days. There will certainly be something for everyone to experience, be it at the various workshops, the folding bike contest, the kids' race or the public courses where everyone can take part: The pump track with bumps and banked turns or the Minidrome, the smallest bike race track in the world.

A lot of bike love
On Friday afternoon, just before the actual opening of the Bike Days, Pro Velo Switzerland will choose the most bike-friendly Swiss city. The name will remain a secret until then.

The newly launched #velolove14 campaign is also very bike-friendly: it is looking for people who love their bikes above all else.
You have to show the world - or post with the hashtag #velolove14 via Instagram or Facebook - how much you love your bike. A team of experts will select the most "loving" picture from all of them and give the winner a bike weekend in Lenzerheide.

More information at www.bikedays.ch and www.facebook.com/bikedays