After eight years, the battle for precious metal in various mountain bike disciplines will be back in Saalfelden and Leogang tomorrow. The World Championships start at 12.30 pm with the cross-country team competition. Around 670 riders from 48 nations will be in action over the next few days.

Team Relay promises excitement

The top favorites for the opening competition of the second World Championships in Saalfelden/Leogang since 2012 include the teams from Switzerland and France. The Swiss have secured the titles at the last three World Championships, while France won between 2014 and 2017.

For the first time in the history of the Mountain Bike World Championships, the team competition will be held with six athletes per country. The Swiss team consists of Sina Frei (elite women), Thomas Litscher (elite men), Noëlle Buri (U23 women), Alexandre Balmer (U23 men), Elisa Alvarez (U19 women) and Luke Wiedmann (U19 men). Jolanda Neff and Nino Schurter, who represented Switzerland in Mont-Sainte-Anne last year, will focus on their individual races after a particularly busy race program last week.

E-bike World Championships with many Swiss riders

The cross-country team race will also be followed by the second World Championship decision in the history of e-mountain biking. The men will start the e-cross-country race at 2.30 pm and the women at 4.15 pm. Last year's premiere was won by Nathalie Schneitter from Switzerland and Alan Hatherly from South Africa.

Schneitter was on course in her preparations, but was slowed down by an imposed coronavirus quarantine as she had come into contact with a positive Covid-19 case according to contact tracing. The 34-year-old is composed: "Of course I'm disappointed. A ten-day quarantine is the worst possible preparation for world championships, but I'm trying to stay positive and keep hoping that I'll make it to the start line in time to defend my title." Schneitter has plenty of experience of setbacks. Last year, she broke her left foot three months before the World Championships. The current situation is a lot more difficult emotionally, but thanks to being able to complete training sessions on the home trainer, she can at least take her mind off things, says Schneitter.

The e-mountain bikers are on the extended cross-country course over 4.3 kilometers. The UCI regulations stipulate that the motor support of the pedelecs must end at a maximum of 25 km/h and the rated power must not exceed 250 watts. In addition, recharging or changing the battery during the race is prohibited.

Representing Switzerland will be Joris Ryf, Andreas Moser, Ursin Spescha, Simon Vitzthum, Gusti Wildhaber, Jürg Graf and Michael Lenherr. In addition to Nathalie Schneitter, Kathrin Stirnemann and Alba Wunderlin will also be competing in the women's race.

And there's racing every day

The program continues on Thursday with the decisions for the juniors at 1.30 pm and 3.30 pm respectively. Starting for Switzerland: Elisa Alvarez, Nicole Göldi and Annika Liehner. In the juniors, Janis Baumann, Dario Lillo, Roman Holzer, Finn Treudler, Luke Wiedmann and Timo Müller will be competing.

Friday will be dominated by the men's U23 World Championships. From 10.30am, the downhill riders will get down to business for the first time when they start the qualifying runs.
The big cross-country competition day starts on Saturday with the U23 women. This will be followed by the showdowns in the elite categories at 12.15 and 02.45.

On Sunday, it's all downhill when the downhill riders provide the spectacle. But like the cross country, only on screen.
This year's World Championships will also demand a lot from the fans. As following the event on site is not permitted due to Covid19 restrictions, fans are asked to stay at home. This is the only way to ensure that the race is not stopped by the authorities and that the athletes can compete fairly.

The elite races in Cross County will be broadcast live on SRF2 on Saturday and a partial recording of the downhill race on Sunday. Highlight shows are available daily on ORF Sport+ as well as the elite races live. The elite races can also be followed live on the ZDF live stream and on Red Bull TV.

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