UCI Mountain Bike World Championships: E-MTB the curtain-raiser in Andorra

E-mountain bike cross-country on first day

The Pal Arinsal resort in Andorra is set to host the 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.

Featuring cross-country Olympic (XCO), cross-country short track (XCC), cross-country team relay (XCR), E-mountain bike cross-country (E-MTB) and downhill (DHI) the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships will kick off on Wednesday 28 August

In this first of three event previews, we look at the main contenders for the E-MTB UCI World titles, who will race on the opening day of competition.

Andorra has regularly hosted UCI World Cup rounds since 2008 and provided the stage for the UCI World Championships in 2015. It has a thriving mountain bike scene and is home to many professional cyclists, including Tom Pidcock, who boasts the 2020 E-MTB rainbow jersey in his ever-growing multi-disciplinary collection.

The short, punchy 6km Pal Arinsal E-MTB course shares part of the XCO / XCR track, including the start/finish straight, and will feature tough technical obstacles such as rocks and enough steep climbs to test the legs and the strategic use of power by the riders.

Youth, experience and strategy

Unlike the other mountain bike formats, E-MTB is open to any rider aged 19 or above, and it’s the resulting combination of youth and experience that adds a fascinating strategic element to the power-assisted cross-country racing at the top level.

The official women’s entry list includes Slovakia’s Terézia Ciriaková (born in 2005) who will find herself up against – among others - the oldest registered rider, reigning UCI World Champion and one of the top favourites, Nathalie Schneitter (born in 1986).

The men’s field includes another young Slovakian, Róbert Porubský (born 2004) and the USA’s David Harrison Jr (born 1964), along with all the favourites from recent UCI World Championships and UCI E-Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cup races.

The order on the start grid is determined first by the top five of the 2024 UCI E-MTB Cross-country World Cup, and then by the top five of the 2023 UCI E-MTB Cross-country World Championships.

2023 UCI World Championships: surprises in Scotland

At the 2023 UCI E-MTB Cross-country World Championships held in Glentress, Scotland, the racing was exciting and the results, for many, unexpected.

Switzerland’s Nathalie Schneitter dominated the women’s race, a minute ahead of Germany’s Sofia Wiedenroth and another 30 seconds in front of one of the other favourites, France’s Justine Tonso. Kathrin Stirnemann (SUI) and the British veteran Tracy Moseley (not racing in 2024) completed the top five.

Switzerland’s Joris Ryf claimed the 2023 men's rainbow jersey, 20 seconds ahead of France’s Hugo Pigeon, with another Frenchman - and pre-race favourite – Jérôme Gilloux in third, almost two minutes down after mechanical issues. Two more Frenchmen, Emeric Lenzer and Remy Gena (not racing in 2024) rounded out the men’s top five.

Gilloux and Switzerland’s Nicole Göldi (not racing in 2024) won the UCI E-MTB World Championships both in 2022 in Les Gets (France) and 2021 in Val di Sole (Italy).

UCI World Cup form

If we look for pointers from the 2024 UCI E-Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cup, there only two rounds have been completed so far, both of them in Arco di Trento (Italy) in June. The series continues in Germany then Belgium in September, and concludes with a double-head in October in Monaco - typically the season opener and a happy hunting ground in particular for Gilloux.

In the women’s UCI World Cup racing, Wiedenroth and Schneitter each have a win and a third place, with Anna Spielmann (AUT) picking up silver in both races. Gilloux has won both men’s rounds this year, while the other podium athletes - Ryf and Mirko Tabacchi (ITA) - each have a 2nd and 3rd place finish to their name.

If we look back to the UCI World Cup from 2023, it was overall victories for two French riders: Justine Tonso and Gilloux. Tonso won six of 13 rounds, with three for Wiedenroth, two for Göldi and one each for Spielmann and Schneitter. Gilloux won eight times, with three victories for Ryf and one each for Lenzer and fellow Frenchman Théo Charmes.

But as last year’s UCI World Championships demonstrate, season-long consistent strength can easily be upset in a stand-alone race: the women’s and men’s UCI World Cup overall winners both had to make do with bronze medals. Form, fitness, conditions, line-choice, mechanical issues and moments of brilliance can all play a part, at any moment. There is surely drama to come in Andorra, with a top-class field assembled in both races at a tariff venue!