On March 27, fans of the spectacular downhill sport will have every reason to make a pilgrimage. The French pilgrimage town of Lourdes will herald the start of the 2022 World Cup season with the downhill race on the last weekend of March. From April 8 to 10, the cross-country specialists will be pedaling for the first World Cup points of the year. Not in Europe, as in previous years, but in the land of sambas - Brazil. The last time a World Cup was held in Brazil was in 2005. Back then in Balneário Camboriú, the World Cup race in 2022 will take place in or near the city of Petropolis.

After Brazil, the classics in Europe will follow again, with Albstadt (DE) from May 6 to 8 and Nove Mesto (CZE) from May 13 to 15. The second Downhill World Cup in Fort William follows a week later. The first Triple World Cup of 2022 will take place in mid-June, with Leogang (AUT) holding races in Short Track, Cross Country and Downhill from June 10 to 12.

Question marks after the break

After a month's break from the World Cup, the second half of the season starts on July 8-10. But which race? The line with the venue is blank, or is described as "to be confirmed".

Although the spectator magnet Lenzerheide is missing from the World Cup calendar and the venue for this date has yet to be confirmed, there are still reasons to speculate on the Grisons World Cup stop: The organizers in Lenzerheide have delivered a high level of quality over all previous stagings and generated high spectator numbers. The UCI is unlikely to want to do without this. Furthermore, OC President Christoph Müller revealed in a brief interview in the 05/2020 edition of Ride that the bids for the 2021 and 2022 World Cup events have been submitted to the UCI. And since Lenzerheide is on the 2021 calendar, hosting the 2022 event should be a mere formality.

Triple events and thin air

Cross country and downhill will share the venues until the end of the season, and the next triple event will take things to the next level. From July 15 to 17, the cross-country and downhill athletes will breathe the thin air of Vallnord in the dwarf state of Andorra. But there won't be much time to recover afterwards. Two weeks later, the riders must have digested the jet lag in order to be able to perform at their best again in Snowshoe (USA) and from August 5 to 7 in Mont Saint Anne (CAN).

For the World Championships, it's back to Europe, to France. Les Gets will host them from August 24 to 28 - the last World Championships in Les Gets took place in 2004.

There will be another opportunity to race internationally for the rainbow jerseys at the World Cup finals. From September 2 to 4, the cross-country and downhill riders in Val di Sole will have the last chance to ride for points in the 2022 overall standings.

uci.org/mountain-bike/calendar