The cycling world is already counting down the hours until the spectacular Glasgow World Cup begins. Regarding the MTB disciplines, this week we already have the Downhill and Marathon appointments, while for the XCC and XCO we will have to wait for the next one.
The precious rainbow jersey will bring together such important names as Schurter, Van der Poel, Pidcock or Valero in the fight for metals. First of all, the Downhill World Championship will be held between August 3 and 5.
World Championship – Downhill Day Time
Junior Women’s Classification August 3 – Thursday 17:30
Junior Men’s Classification August 3 – Thursday 18:00
Elite Women’s Classification August 4 – Friday 1:00 p.m.
Elite Men’s Classification August 4 – Friday 1:30 p.m.
Junior Women’s Final August 4 – Friday 15:30
Junior Men’s Final August 4 – Friday 16:30
Elite Women’s Final August 5 – Saturday 13:30
Elite Men’s Final August 5 – Saturday 15:00
On the other hand, the rest of the World Cups will go from August 6 to 12.
World Championship – XCM, XCC, E-MTB and XCO Day Time
Elite Men’s XCM August 6 – Sunday 10:00
Elite Women’s XCM August 6 – Sunday 10:30
Elite Women’s XCC – Elimination 1 August 8 – Tuesday 11:15
Elite Women’s XCC – Elimination 2 August 8 – Tuesday 11:15
Elite Men’s XCC – Elimination 1 August 8 – Tuesday 12:30
Elite Men’s XCC – Elimination 2 August 8 – Tuesday 12:30
Mixed Team Relay August 9 – Wednesday 13:30
Women’s E-MTB Cross Country August 9 – Wednesday 16:00
Men’s E-MTB Cross Country August 9 – Wednesday 17:30
XCO Women’s Junior August 10 – Thursday 13:00
XCO Junior Men August 10 – Thursday 15:00
XCC Elite Men’s Final August 10 – Thursday 18:45
XCC Elite Women’s Final August 10 – Thursday 19:30
XCO sub23 Men August 11 – Friday 12:30
XCO sub23 Women August 11 – Friday 16:30
Elite Women’s XCO August 12 – Saturday 12:30
Elite Men’s XCO August 12 – Saturday 16:30
To understand the magnitude of the event, the MTB World Championship can be seen in almost 80 countries around the world.
The XCO races will be held in Glentress Forest, in Tweed Valley, a town located in the south of Scotland, about 108 kilometers from Glasgow. In the circuit that the runners will find themselves, they will have to tune very well to overcome the technical zones, which will include jumps and rockgarden.
As expected, the best cyclists in the world will fight for the rainbow jersey that accredits them as World Champions. The list of participants anticipates a close fight between several top-level riders, all of them with options to take the victory.
The teams in the top 10 ranking will have 7 representatives: Switzerland (it will have 8 for having the current world champion), France, Italy, Spain -which we are talking about in this article-, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Poland, Czech Republic and Canada. In addition, the United Kingdom will also present itself with seven runners for being the host.
Nino Schurter is by definition the rival to beat. The Swiss signed his tenth rainbow jersey last year and this season he became the cyclist with the most World Cup victories. At 37 years old, he is still one of the fittest figures in this sport, with an enviable track record and still with enough legs to sign another great result.
The rivals that a priori could make things more complicated for him are Tom Pidcock and Mathieu Van der Poel. Both riders come from competing in the Tour de France and especially the Dutchman has not competed in the mountains for a long time. Undoubtedly, the little preparation they will have been able to do could work against them, but they are such proven cyclists that despite this inconvenience they start among the group of favourites.
David Valero, current runner-up in the world, should be in the ointment and fight to get a place in the noble positions of the table. Baza’s is the safest bet for a Spanish National Team that also has David Campos -brand new XCC European Champion-, Jofre Cullel and Pablo Rodríguez.
In addition, other riders called to play a good role will also be present, such as Peter Sagan, Vader, Sarrou, Schwarzbauer, Gaze, Flückiger, Dascalu -current XCO European Champion-, Hatherly or Braidot.
On the other hand, it is worth regretting the sad absence of the American Magnus White, 17, who died after being run over while training.
As for the female category, the fight is even more open. Forecasts are always difficult when there are so many rivals capable of winning the rainbow jersey, including: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Puck Pieterse -one of the sensations of the season-, Laura Stigger, Mona Mitterwallner, Anne Terpstra, Jolanda Neff, Alessandra Keller – number 1 in the ranking- and Evie Richards.