Downhill mountain biking (DH) is a genre of mountain biking practiced on steep, rough terrain that often features jumps, drops, rock gardens and other obstacles. Jumps can be up to and including 12 meters, and drops can be greater than 3 meters.
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.
John Tomac is an American former professional cyclist who competed from 1985 to 2005. He was a versatile rider who competed in multiple disciplines including; BMX racing, cross-country, road racing, trials riding and downhill racing. Tomac became a mountain bike racing icon in the late 1980s as the sport began to develop beyond its formative years. At the time of his retirement in 2005, he had won more mountain bike races than anyone in the sport. In 1991 he was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and, in 2004 he was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame.
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 23 world cup career victories. Sponsors: Santa Cruz, O’Neal, CLIF, and Shimano.
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 140mm to 160mm 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.
Cross-country eliminator(XCE) is a mountain bike race format in which four riders compete against each other over a very short course. In each heat, the two fastest riders get to the next round, while the two slower riders are eliminated from the race. It is similar to four-cross, except that the course is not downhill.
The 2013 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup includes three disciplines: cross-country, cross-country eliminator and downhill.
Anton Cooper is a New Zealand cross-country cyclist who races for the Trek Factory Racing XC Team. He is the 2015 World Under 23 Cross-country Mountain bike champion and the 2012 World Junior Cross-country Mountain bike champion. One of the two contenders for the country's 2016 Summer Olympics quota spot, he developed chronic fatigue earlier in 2016 and the nomination went to Sam Gaze instead.
The 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup includes three disciplines: cross-country, cross-country eliminator and downhill.
The 2015 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup included two disciplines: Olympic Cross-Country (XCO) and Downhill (DHI).
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 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 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 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.
The 2018 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships was the 29th edition of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. It was held from 5 to 9 September 2018 in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. The four-cross competitions were held in Val di Sole, Italy from 5 to 6 July 2018
The 2021 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships were held from 25 to 29 August 2021 in Val di Sole, Italy.
