Ride: Mr. Müller, you produced events for Red Bull, worked on Swiss Ironmans and were a production assistant for Music Star on Swiss television. How does your work as OC President of the MTB World Cup Lenzerheide differ from your previous positions? Christoph Müller: Previously, I had to deal with far fewer contacts. For example, Red Bull and the town where the event took place. Now I have a lot of partners on board: the destination Lenzerheide, the mountain railroads, the municipalities, the canton. And the local service providers, from the caterer to the innkeeper to the mayor.

How does the cooperation with these bodies work?
I encounter very good structures here, it is very pleasant for me as an external person - I work for the agency evolution puissance 4 Ltd. The destination, the lifts and the agencies mentioned have done an excellent job of setting things up, the infrastructure is top-notch and ideally equipped for the upcoming World Cup.

How did your commitment to the World Cup come about?
I had already organized the Red Bull Skills event format in Lenzerheide, which was an alpine skiing event. After Lenzerheide was accepted for the WC and World Championships, I actively approached the destination managers. Ideally, I still had the same contacts as for the Red Bull event and developed ideas for the bike events on behalf of my agency. Since the summer of 2014, I have been OC President and on the board of the Lenzerheide Bike World Cup Association. I do the work as part of a 40 percent workload, a little more in the run-up to the event, but over the course of the year it's about right.

Who supports you with the organization of the World Cup?
As I said, we have excellent structures in Lenzerheide: Lenzerheide Bergbahnen, the destination municipalities, Lenzerheide Tourismus and Lenzerheide Marketing und Support AG support the major events. The Office for Economy and Tourism of the Canton of Graubünden has also pledged financial contributions. Organizationally, the head office of the event is located at Lenzerheide Marketing und Support AG.

Speaking of finances, how expensive is a World Cup like this?
We have a budget of just under one million for each World Cup. We can generate income directly from admissions, hospitality, the expo area, entry fees and catering. We also receive subsidies and funding from municipalities and the canton. Sponsorship income is of course important.

The flagship event freestyle.ch will not take place in 2015 due to a lack of sponsors. How is the search for sponsors for the Mountain Bike World Cup going?
Sponsorship is not where we would like it to be. In terms of marketing, the sport of biking is not where it belongs. But we are seeing successes: we have already gained our first co-sponsor with Ochsner Sport, and Lenzerheide is the main sponsor. And several sponsorship agreements are about to be concluded. The sponsorship path is very rocky, like an XCO course, but we are confident that we will achieve our goals in the first year.

Where does mountain biking have deficits in marketing - or what could be done better?
The sport of mountain biking is young in terms of marketing and still has little tradition. Take a look at the Ski World Cup, these races have a tradition and are well established. Races like Lauberhorn or Kitzbühel are legendary - we have to go there.

What else can we learn from the Ski World Cup?
The TV broadcasting hours are hugely important, which means there is a lot more money in the ski circus. We must succeed in positioning mountain biking better in the Swiss media landscape. Today's TV production is at a very high level and captures the attraction of the sport in an impressive way. Now it's up to us and our partners Swiss Cycling and the UCI to get the Swiss media excited about it.There is a cult following in the Ski World Cup for individual routes or jumps, which is interesting. And it's also conceivable for mountain bike routes: That the biker simply has to have been on the track in Lenzerheide once in his life. In addition to the DHI course, we are also working on making the XCO course of the World Cup permanently accessible and marketing it as an original World Cup course.

What are the hurdles when it comes to securing sponsorship money?
Road racing is still ahead of mountain biking, so TV coverage probably plays a role. Although this situation is paradoxical: Many more mountain bikes are sold in Switzerland than road bikes. When it comes to sponsorship, personal networks and a passion for mountain biking play a very important role: the best way to reach decision-makers who are enthusiastic about mountain biking is to open doors.
We have entrusted the acquisition of sponsors to the agency Sportsemotion from Rorschach. With three years of the World Cup and then the 2018 World Championships, we have a four-year timetable. This has advantages and disadvantages: the companies get planning security and continuity, but on the other hand they don't like to commit themselves for several years as the economic development is not foreseeable.

What role does the cycling world federation UCI play in the organization of a World Cup?
The world governing body is responsible for marketing the entire World Cup series and for the live production of the elite races. The UCI also provides technical guidelines that we have to adhere to. For example, how long a finish line has to be. We had to find room for maneuver here, as the space available at the Rothornbahn valley station - the event site - is limited. The finish has a slight bend after 50 meters, so the UCI was willing to talk to us.

The starting shot for the 1st UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Lenzerheide will be fired on July 3. How many spectators are you expecting?
We are expecting around 15,000 spectators over the three days of the event from July 3 to 5. The XCO fans in particular are a traveling bunch and very knowledgeable. And the DH fans are very entertaining and bring a great atmosphere to the side of the course. The mix over the entire weekend will be extremely exciting to watch. It will also be really hot on Sunday during the XCO races. Because with Nino Schurter and Jolanda Neff, we have two potential Swiss candidates for victory at the start.

2The World Championships will then take place in 2018. What are the preparations looking like?
We will start marketing the World Cup in 2016. The first stage is to present this year's World Cup at a high quality level.

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The first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup will take place from July 3 to 5, 2015, and the World Cup will return in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, Lenzerheide will host the UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships

World Cup and World Championships need structures: the Lenzerheide Bike World Cup Association was founded for this purpose in 2014. Local Domenico Bergamin is the president, other core members are Bruno Ulber (Lenzerheide Tourism Association), Thomas Hunziker (Lenzerheide Bergbahnen AG), Bruno Fläcklin (Lenzerheide Marketing und Support AG) and Manuela Michel (Graubünden Ferien). OC President Christoph Müller also sits on the association's board.

Christoph Müller is an experienced event professional and has played a key role in major events such as Red Bull Skills and Red Bull Crashed Ice. Having co-organized the Ironman events in Switzerland from 2008 to 2011, Müller also has experience in the cycling scene. Müller works for the company evolution puissance 4 Ltd. from Verbier and has a 40% workload for the World Cup and World Championships.

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Pictures: Michael Suter