The UCI Mountain Bike World Championships are the world championship events for mountain bike racing in the disciplines of cross country, downhill, and four-cross. They are organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the governing body of world cycling.
Mountain bike racing is the competitive cycle sport discipline of mountain biking held on off-road terrain. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recognised the discipline relatively late in 1990, when it sanctioned the world championships in Durango, Colorado. The first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series took place in 1988. Its nine-race circuit covered two continents—Europe and North America—and was sponsored by Grundig. Cross-country racing was the only World Cup sport at this time. In 1993, a six-event downhill World Cup was introduced. In 1996, cross-country mountain biking events were added to the Olympic Games. In 2006, cross-country mountain biking events became part of the World Deaf Cycling Championships for the first time in San Francisco, USA.
Greg Minnaar is a South African World Champion mountain bike racer competing in downhill cycling. He currently competes in the Mountain Bike World Cup points series races, in the Elite Downhill event. Minnaar is currently the most prolific winner among male professional downhill mountain bike racers, with 21 world cup career victories.
Four-cross (4X), also called mountain-cross, not to be confused with fourcross, is a relatively new style of mountain bike racing where four bikers race downhill on a prepared, BMX-like track, simply trying to get down first. These bikes are generally either full suspension with 3 to 4 inches of travel, or hardtails, and typically have relatively strong frames. They run a chainguide on front and gears on the back. They have slack head angles, short chainstays and low bottom brackets for good cornering and acceleration. In recent years the tracks raced on have been rougher and less like those used in BMX.
The 2001 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup included four disciplines: cross-country, cross-country time-trial, downhill, and dual-slalom. It was sponsored by Tissot.
Aaron Holmes Gwin is an American professional downhill mountain biker from Morongo Valley, California. He is a five-time World Cup overall champion.
The 2016 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships was the 27th edition of the UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships. Unlike in previous years, the world championships for the various disciplines were held at two different locations. The world championships in cross-country were held in Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic from 28 June to 3 July 2016. The downhill, four-cross, and trials events were held at Val di Sole, Italy from 29 August to 11 September 2016.
The 2009 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships were held in Canberra, Australia from 1 to 6 September 2009. The disciplines included were cross-country, downhill, four-cross, and trials. The event was the 20th edition of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships and the 24th edition of the UCI Trials World Championships.
The 1999 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships were the 10th edition of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships and were held in Åre in the North of Sweden. The events included were cross-country and downhill.
The 2008 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships were held in Val di Sole, Italy from 17 to 22 June 2008. The disciplines included were cross-country, downhill, four-cross, and trials. The event was the 19th edition of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships and the 23rd edition of the UCI Trials World Championships.
The 2007 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships were held in Fort William, United Kingdom from 4 to 9 September 2007. This was the first time the World Championships had been held in the United Kingdom. The Fort William site in the Scottish Highlands had been used regularly for rounds of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup since 2002.
The 2006 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships were held in Rotorua, New Zealand from 22 to 27 August 2006. The disciplines included were cross-country, downhill, four-cross, and trials. The event was the 17th edition of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships and the 21st edition of the UCI Trials World Championships.
The 2005 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships were held in Livigno, Italy from 31 August to 4 September 2005. The disciplines included were cross-country, downhill, four-cross, and trials. The event was the 16th edition of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships and the 20th edition of the UCI Trials World Championships.
The 2004 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships were held in Les Gets, a ski station in the French Alps, from 8 to 12 September 2004. The disciplines included were cross-country, downhill, four-cross, and trials. The event was the 15th edition of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships and the 19th edition of the UCI Trials World Championships.
The 1990 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships were held in Durango, Colorado, United States. These were the first World Championships in mountain biking to be organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The disciplines included were cross-country and downhill.
The 2003 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships were held in Lugano, Switzerland from 31 August to 7 September 2003. The disciplines included were cross-country, cross-country marathon, downhill, four-cross, and trials. The event was the 14th edition of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships and the 18th edition of the UCI Trials World Championships.
The 2002 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships were held in Kaprun, Austria from 24 August to 1 September 2002. The disciplines included were cross-country, downhill, four-cross, and trials. This was the first UCI world championship in which four-cross was included, replacing the dual that had been run at the previous two championships.
The 2001 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships were held in Vail, Colorado, United States from 12 to 16 September 2001. The disciplines included were cross-country, downhill, dual, and trials.
The 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup was a series of races in Olympic Cross-Country (XCO), Cross-Country Eliminator (XCE), and Downhill (DHI). Each discipline had an Elite Men and an Elite Women category. There were also men's and women's under-23 categories in the XCO and junior men's and women's categories in the DHI. The cross-country series had six rounds and the downhill series had seven rounds.
The 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships was the 28th edition of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. As in 2016, the championships in the various disciplines were held at separate events. The world championships in four-cross were held at Val di Sole, Italy, on 24 and 25 August 2017, alongside UCI World Cup events in cross-country and downhill. The world championships in cross-country and downhill were held in Cairns, Australia, from 5 to 10 September 2017.
