Just one week after the European Championships in Munich the MTB World Championships will be held in the French mountain resort of Les Gets from 24 to 28 August 2022. For 20 years, Les Gets and its world-famous bike park have attracted not only gravity bikers, but also the racing elite: the 2004 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, five UCI Mountain Bike World Cups from 1996 to 2002, the French Championships in 2012, Crankworx from 2016 to 2018 and the return of the UCI World Cups in 2019. World Cup dress rehearsal at the 2021 World Cup the weather at the 2022 MTB World Championships will hopefully be much better by Thursday. In five disciplines World Championship medals and the coveted rainbow jerseys for MTB will be awarded in Les Gets. The Live streams on Red Bull TV you will find below.
- XCO: Cross-Country Olympic
- XCR: Cross-Country Relay
- XCC: Short Track
- DHI: Downhill
- E-MTB: E-mountain biking
Timetable: UCI MTB World Championship race in Les Gets 2022
- Wednesday 24 August - 12:30 pm: Relay race
- Thursday 25 August - 15:00: Junior women's cross-country race
- Thursday 25 August - 17:00: Junior cross-country race
- Friday 26 August - 10:00 am: Women's E-MTB race
- Friday 26 August - 11:30 am: Men's E-MTB race
- Friday 26 August - 17:00: Short Track Women
- Friday 26 August - 17:45: Short Track Men
The most exciting races of the UCI MTB World Championships in Les Gets take place this weekend. The elite cross-country and downhill world championship titles will be at stake there. The Live timing of the World Championship races can be followed here.
- Saturday 27 August - 13:15: Downhill women
- Saturday 27 August - 14:35: Downhill men
- Sunday 28 August - 13:00: Women's cross-country race
- Sunday 28 August - 15:15: Men's cross-country race
The MTB World Championship trails in Les Gets
The downhill course of the 2022 World Championships
The downhill course for the World Championships has been adapted again compared to the 2021 World Cup. However, the start and finish remain the same. At an altitude of 1740 metres, the riders have the opportunity to take one last look at Mont Blanc before setting off on a first fast and open section before gradually returning to the forest. A road gap is followed by a series of technical passages, roots and jumps. After passing close to the lake, the downhill bikers have to tackle new steep and technical sections. The last one will be spectacular with a series of tables before heading towards the finish.
- Starting height : 1740 metres
- Length: 2400 metres
- Depth metres : 571 metres
The cross-country course of the 2022 World Championships
A completely new cross-country course was created in Les Gets for the 2019 MTB World Cup. For 2021, the organisers have slightly adapted the course again, adding technical sections in the downhills and a rockgarden. For the 2022 World Championships, the organisers fine-tuned the course again with new technical sections, rock gardens and jumps. However, there are still two long climbs and 140 metres of elevation gain per lap.
- Start / Finish Height : 1165 metres
- Maximum height: 1235 metres
- Length: 3.39 kilometres
- Altitude metres : 140 metres per lap
Relay race
The first title of the 2022 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships will be awarded on 24 August in Les Gets in the team relay. The teams will consist of three men and three women from the junior, U23 and elite age groups. Normally, the teams consist of one woman and one man from each category, but rider changes are allowed until the end as long as the riders are already registered for the other races.
The two favoured nations - and the relay winners of the last eight years - are France and Switzerland. The French have won the last two years (Val di Sole 2021 and Leogang 2020), taking over from the Swiss, who were victorious at the previous three World Championships. Can France claim a third consecutive victory at the UCI home World Championships?
In addition to Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Spain are also among the nations that want to challenge the French relay team for the first title at the 2022 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. The USA, the Netherlands and Great Britain also want to compete for the medals.
E-MTB - World Championship race with Peter Sagan
The cross-country races for e-MTB have been part of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships since 2019. The e-MTB races are held on a 2.6-kilometre course that includes the new, technical sections of the cross-country course. The e-bikes must have a maximum continuous power output of 250 watts and the maximum speed is 25 km/h. It is forbidden to change bikes or batteries during the race.
The women's entry list includes all three current or former UCI World Champions: The 2021 winner, Nicole Göldi (SUI), the 2020 winner, Mélanie Pugin (FRA), and the first E-MTB World Champion from 2019, Nathalie Schneitter from Switzerland. 37 riders are registered for the men's E-MTB race. In addition to the reigning E-MTB world champion Jérôme Gilloux also his French compatriot Hugo Pigeon - who demonstrated his skills and nerves of steel at the Megavalanche Enduro race in Alpe d'Huez. As well as the Swiss trio of Joris Ryf, Loïc Noël and Fabio Spena, who all believe that the gold medal should cross the border with them. Other contenders include Jeroen van Eck (NED).
And then there's a newcomer to the E-MTB UCI World Championships, but he's no stranger to wearing the rainbow jersey: Peter Sagan. The 32-year-old Slovakian may have slipped under the radar a little with his Junior World Championship title in 2008, but he became a superstar with his three consecutive victories at the 2015-2017 Road World Championships. Sagan's last outing on the mountain bike at the 2016 Olympics in Rio finished in 35th place with two discs.
Short Track: Successors sought for first UCI World Champions Frei and Blevins
The short track races will take place on Friday evening, 26 August. In the women's XCC, the three best riders from the 2021 UCI World Championships - world champion Sina Frei (SUI), Evie Richards (GBR) and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (FRA) - will face three of the five best XCC riders in the 2022 UCI World Cup: Jenny Rissveds (SWE), Anne Terpstra (NED) and Alessandra Keller (SUI). And with other big names such as Jolanda Neff (SUI), Haley Batten (CAN) and the Americans Gwendalyn Gibson and Kate Courtney on the start list, it is sure to be a great battle for the World Championship title.
With the exception of Mathias Flückiger (suspended due to a positive doping test) Four of the top five in the 2022 UCI World Cup overall standings will be at the start: Nino Schurter from Switzerland, Alan Hatherly (RSA), Vlad Dascalu (ROM) and Maxime Marotte (FRA). They will be joined by the three XCC medallists from the 2021 World Championships: Christopher Blevins (USA), Brazil's Henrique Avancini and Maximilian Brandl (GER).
Cross country in Les Gets: Pidcock against Schurter
The big duel in the men's cross-country race is between Nino Schurter and Tom Pidcock. The reigning world champion Schurter could win his tenth world title in Les Gets. His closest rival for gold is the reigning Olympic champion Tom Pidcock, who wants to do everything he can to become world champion in two different UCI cycling disciplines in the same year. Just a week ago he was crowned Pidcock confidently crowned European champion in Munich. From a German perspective, it will be interesting to see whether Luca Schwarzbauer can build on his strong results from the World Cup and also finish among the front runners in the World Championship race. After his injury, Max Brandl is probably not yet ready to build on his top results at the World Championships in Val di Sole.
In the women's event, three-time World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot from France and her compatriot Loana Lecomte missed the World Cup races overseas in order to prepare intensively for the World Championships at home. At the European Championships a week ago Lecomte won, Ferrand-Prévot came second - so both should be in very good shape. It will also be exciting to see whether the reigning world champion Evie Richards (GBR) can ride at the front. Her team-mate Jolanda Neff (SUI) is another candidate for precious metal at the MTB World Championships in Les Gets.
Downhill: Who can beat the French at the home World Championships?
The French downhillers are the clear favourites in both the women's and men's categories at their home event at the World Championships in Les Gets. Amaury Pierron is currently the measure of all things downhill - he dominates the World Cup and won in Les Gets in 2019. After his victory in Les Gets in 2021, Thibaut Dapréla is just as much a force to be reckoned with as Loic Bruni, Loris Vergier and Benoit Coulanges.
In the women's downhill, the French team has a rider in Myriam Nicole who knows how to finish at the top of the podium at a world championship. The 2021 World Champion should therefore only be beaten in Les Gets if she makes mistakes. In addition to the Frenchwoman, Austria's Vali Höll and German downhill hopeful Nina Hoffmann must also be on the list. Switzerland's Camille Balanche is out of the World Championships with a broken collarbone.
UCI MTB World Championships from Les Gets live on TV and streaming
The short track races as well as the cross-country and downhill races of the 2022 UCI MTB World Championships in Les Gets will generally be held at Red Bull TV broadcast. However, the live stream is subject to geo-blocking, meaning that it is not available in some countries. In Germany, you can watch the World Championship races free of charge on Red Bull. Eurosport 2, Eurosport Player and GCN+ also broadcast the World Championship races from Friday to Sunday. However, these programmes are subject to a charge. In Switzerland, the SRF the World Cup races live on television and in the SRF Sport app.
