The time will come at the end of August 2019: The first e-mountainbike world champion will be crowned. As part of the official UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne in Canada, there will be an e-mountain bike discipline for the first time. There is hardly any information about the competition format and regulations yet, but it will probably be limited to one race, i.e. one discipline. Information from the UCI has been scarce so far. The announcement was limited to a three-liner that was inconspicuously hidden in a long press release on the topic of "professionalisation of women's cycling".
It remains exciting to see how the UCI will interpret the E-MTB format. Will it be downhill and technique-orientated in the style of an enduro race? Or as a classic endurance format? The regulations also raise questions. How will different battery sizes be dealt with, what concept will prevent tuning?
This year has already seen the German E-Bike Championship Premiere. The event in Wipperfürth was organised in the style of an enduro race. The individual special stages were mostly downhill, but there were also pure uphill stages and mixed routes. Another E-MTB format: the Bosch eMTB Challenge. A lot of emphasis is placed on technically tricky uphills, and there are even penalty seconds if you put your foot on the ground in so-called "no foot zones". But the focus is also on togetherness and the idea of participation for everyone.
Florentin Vesenbeckh
Editor CvD
