2012 UCI MTB World Championships From Leogang

Over 350 international journalists have already accredited their attendance in order to get to the ultimate spots of truth for MTB athletes. Between August 29th and September 9th, the new UCI world champions will be nominated in the disciplines of downhill, fourcross, cross-country, trials and for the firsttime also in cross-country eliminator. More than 750 pro athletes will givetheir best to try to get to the top of the podium. We will see the Gwins, Athertons, Harts, Absalons in Saalfelden Leogang, but also local heroes as last year’s vice-world champion David Trummer from Austria, as well as the new Olympic Gold medalists Bresset and Kulhavy. All athletes can barely wait to face to the biggest challenge of the entire season.

Here is an overview of the most important competitions during the UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships:

Saturday, September 1st:
· Women and Men 4X World Championships (5:30pm)

Sunday, September 2nd:
· Women Juniors and Men Juniors Downhill World Championships (10:30am)
· Women Elite Downhill World Championships (1:00pm)
· Men Elite Downhill World Championships (2:00pm)

Wednesday, September 5th:
· Women Trials World Championships (10:00am – 2:00pm)

Thursday, September 6th:
· Cross-country Team Relay World Championships (5:00pm)
· Men Trials 20’’ World Championships (9:00pm – 10:45pm)

Friday, September 7th:
· Men Trials 26’’ World Championships (9:00pm – 10:45pm)

Saturday, September 8th:
· Women Elite Cross-country World Championships (11:00am)
· Men Elite Cross-country World Championships (2:00am)

Sunday, September 9th:
· Cross-country Eliminator World Championships (1:30pm)

You can find more detailed Information on: www.saalfeldenleogang2012.com

Real bike fans should take the opportunity to watch the events live on site, so not to miss any of the world class action. All trails and tracks, some of them completely rebuilt, some have been majorly reshaped, are fully equipped with speakers and four large projection screens. So no matter which event you are at, or where you are on the course you can follow all the action from start to finish.

Of course there will also be enough occasions to party. After the opening ceremony (which will be something for your eyes and ears), there is a diverse range of side events, which assures to keep everyone entertained. Here the most important:

Friday, August 31st: Ö3-Party with the „Jackson Eleven“-Combo in the event hall of the „Leoganger Bergbahnen“

Saturday, September 1st: Override Afterparty the Second with DJ Grandheight, on the area of the „Leoganger Bergbahnen“

Saturday, September 8th: BIKE Vibration feat. BUZZ Clubbing in the „Congress“ in Saalfelden

Let’s not forget, the Trials Nights: Both Trails World Championships finals will be at the same time bigevents and big parties. On Thursday night, September 6th and Friday night, September 7th the finals will take place in the city center of Saalfelden under flood lights, accompanied by DJ’s and hosts. Definitely another highlight you shouldn’t miss.

With a total 12 events on 12 days, the UCI World Championships will be held on a new, never before reached level, underlining the aspect of its spectator-friendly organization. Also a 12-day trip to Saalfelden Leogang will be very entertaining for every bike lover. Moreover most of the athletes should be highly motivated after the Olympic season, be it to keep their Olympic form, to go better than in London. In other cases the Worlds’ can be a platform for riders to become part of the world’s MTB elite. From a sporting point of view Saalfelden Leogang 2012 will be a milestone in the history of UCI events.

Learned from the difficulties of other major sporting events, the organizers have solved the problem of complete infrastructural excessive demand by establishing a deliberately user-friendly and understandable traffic management system. This gives quick and easy access to the competition areas. Also the common problem of struggle for parking should not be an issue in the hosting towns: In Leogang there are a total of 10 parking lots for cars as well as one big parking lot for busses – all in pedestrian-distance to the worlds trails.

Saalfelden established one huge parking lot near the city center, moreover all public parking lots and all mall-parking lots can be used.

All parking areas in Leogang and Saalfelden are available for free!

For the transfer from Saalfelden to Leogang and vice versa there will be a shuttle-service connecting both worlds spots. (also available for train-passengers. You can find the shuttle schedule on:
http://www.saalfeldenleogang2012.at/en/wm-info/gratis-bus-shuttle/

The organization committee, the UCI as well as all participating athletes are looking forward to the UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships and hope to see a great turnout from the national and international MTB community!

Save the date from August 29th to September 9th and head up to Saalfelden Leogang!

Become a fan of the worlds 2012 on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SaalfeldenLeogang2012

2012 MTB 4X World Championship

The first medals of the 2012 UCI Mountain Bike and Trails World Championships were awarded Saturday night in Leogang, Austria, for the men's and women's 4-cross. Anneke Beerten of the Netherlands won her second career title, while Switzerland's Roger Rinderknecht won his first title in the final race of his career.

The crowd favourite 4-cross did not disappoint the thousands of fans who lined the course. It was clear early on that the men's race was between the Swiss and the Czech riders. The two nations split the top four spots in qualifying, and dominated the heats on the way to the final. Rinderknecht was joined by countryman David Graf for the final, with Czech team mates Tomas Slavik and Michael Mechura taking the other two spots.

On paper, it should have been Graf who won, after qualifying first and winning every one of his heats; including beating Rinderknecht in the semi-final. However, Graf tangled with Slavik just after the start gate, when the Czech rider moved out of his lane, causing both riders to crash. Rinderknecht took the lead from Mechura out of the first corner, fought off an attack after the second corner and then rode clear to take the title. Mechura took silver, with Slavik the first to get up from the crash and grabbed bronze.

"This is the last race I am ever going to do in my career, so I really wanted it to be a special night," commented Rinderknecht. "I felt good all night. Didn't have the best legs ever, but I felt it was coming together. It worked out on the end. The other two guys unfortunately came together on the first straight, so it wasn't the battle to the line, but nevertheless I am extremely happy."

"I really cannot believe it. I really did not expect to do that good in the beginning. I knew I was in good shape, but I wasn't sure what to expect from my bike handling point of view. But I felt comfortable right away from the first practice, so I knew if everything went perfect it could be my night."

Beerten came into the eight rider women's race the favourite, and did not disappoint. After qualifying first, the Dutch rider won her semi-final to get into the championship race, and was joined by Romana Labounkova (Czech Republic), Celine Gros (France) and local Austrian favourite Anita Molcik.

Beerten got out of the gate fast and led Labounkova by the first corner. The Czech rider tried to stay in contact, but by the end of the second straight, Beerten was clear and on her way to her second 4-cross title. Labounkova held on for silver, with Gros taking bronze.

"Words cannot describe how I feel," exclaimed Beerten. "It is unbelievable. It started out as such a hard race, I didn't have the gate that I wanted, and I pulled it off in the first corner. I just thought to my self 'Don't brake, just go' and that's what I did. It seemed to work. I am so happy."

The downhill world championships are the Formula One of the mountain bike sport. The world’s best downhillers compete by shooting downhill at up to 70 km/h.

This discipline is not only a big thrill for the athletes but also for the audience. Stars of the downhill scene will guarantee a first-class spectacle.

The speedster-trail in the Leogang bikepark is 2.6 km long with an altitude difference of 524 metres. Its steep steps, bumpy tree roots, narrow curves and rapid sections are extremely demanding for the athletes.

A sophisticated riding technique, physical strenght, and - most importantly – courage are needed when riding downhill across blocked trails and fast sections. First adaptions of the world championship downhill trail were already made under Claudio Caluori’s guidance in autumn 2010.

On this track the whole biker is challenged – and finally only one can be the fastest.

2012 Leogang MTB Champ Schedule

DirtTV: Leogang World Champs Practice a Mountain Biking video by orpheusproductions

Aaron Gwin talks about racing in the mud, as well as Champéry 2011 and what he thinks about World Champs.

DirtTV: Leogang World Champs Practice Day 2 a Mountain Biking video by orpheusproductions

CRC Leogang World Champs - Pits Bike Check a Mountain Biking video by mtbcut

Gwin has been almost unstoppable in the World Cup, and officially his slower run at the World Championships was put down to brake failure, with winner Greg Minnaar, also one of only two men to deny Gwin in World Cups this season, sympathising about ‘mechanicals’. But in fact Gwin did extremely well even to finish after hitting the dirt hard, as our exclusive video footage above shows.

The disappointed American was 83rd, while South African Minnaar enjoyed a long-awaited follow-up to his Rainbow Jersey in 2003: “It’s been nine years, man!” he exclaimed.

"It was very hard, but I didn’t make any mistakes"

The hunger to win can bring out the best in downhill riders, and women’s winner Morgane Charre was the prime example.

“It was very hard, but I didn’t make any mistakes,” said the shocked Frenchwoman, who beat a raft of riders who’ve won World Cups this year and past titles, including the form rider of the year Rachel Atherton, whose back injury from a practice crash earlier in the weekend left her struggling back in fifth.

2012 Leogang World Champs 4X Qualifying Results

Leogang DH World Champs Pro Men Timed Session Results

Leogang DH World Champs Pro Women Timed Session Results

Leogang DH World Champs Junior Men Timed Session Results

Leogang DH World Champs Junior Women Timed Session Results

The first weekend of the 2012 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships in Leogang, Austria, concluded on Sunday with the crowd favourite Downhill. Morgane Charre (France) took her first world title in the Elite women's race, while Greg Minnaar (South Africa) returned to the top step of the Elite men's podium after a nine year absence. Holly Feniak (Canada) and Loic Bruni (France) won the Junior women's and men's titles, respectively.

The women's race was expected to be between defending champion Emmeline Ragot (France) and Rachel Atherton (Great Britain), the two riders who have been battling it out all season in the UCI World Cup. However, Atherton was not a factor in the race, suffering from an undisclosed injury and finishing fifth. After Canadians Micayla Gatto and Casey Brown came close to breaking the four minute barrier, Charre obliterated it, taking the lead time down to 3:50.654 with six riders remaining.

Countrywoman Floriane Pugin came within 1.617 seconds, with last year's Junior world champion Manon Carpenter then getting a tenth of a second closer. Ragot was next, but she could only get within 1.2 seconds, leaving Atherton the only rider who could deny Charre the championship. Atherton was within two-hundredths of a second after the first intermediate time check, but faded badly in the second half of the race, allowing the 22 year old Charre to step into the rainbow jersey.

"I did not expect this," admitted a visibly shocked Charre. "I thought that Emmeline [Ragot] would beat me for sure, or Atherton. I had a very good run and pedalled a lot, with only little mistakes, but I have never had a result like this before."

In the men's race, there were a dozen strong contenders, and Minnaar's victory came down to the wire. Australia's Bryn Atkinson set the first sub-3:30 time, with nearly 50 riders to go. Sam Dale (Great Britain) quickly took off three-tenths of a second and held the Hot Seat for 20 riders before he was replaced by Florent Payet (France), with a drop of two seconds in the lead time.

Australian Mick Hannah took the leading time below 3:24 with ten riders to go, but was immediately replaced by Canada's Steve Smith, who was bumped by Gee Atherton (Great Britain) with two riders left to finish. Minnaar came in next, half a second ahead of Atherton, but everyone knew that the final rider, American Aaron Gwin, could quite easily upset the standings. Gwin has won an incredible nine World Cups in 13 races over the past two seasons, so everyone was waiting to see what he could do.

However, it became apparent early in his run that Gwin was suffering mechanical problems, eventually finishing a distant 83rd. Minnaar jumped to his feet from the Hot Seat as he was mobbed by well wishers, ecstatic to win his second world title.

"It’s been nine years and this run it was tough," commented Minnaar. "I had a lot of pressure today, I was super nervous. To be honest, I tried to nail the top section, just after the bridge I lost a lot of speed, I had to pedal hard. But I held it together, in a way same as in the Pietermaritzburg World Cup earlier this season. I couldn't believe I crossed the line in first."

"I am a bit bummed for Gwinny, he seems to have a mechanical, I am not sure what happened. It is not exactly the best way for me to win, or how I'd like to win, but we are all out there trying our best. We all have mechanicals from time to time, that's part of racing."

2012 Downhill MTB World Championship Mens Final Results

2012 Downhill MTB World Championship Womens Final Results

2012 Downhill MTB World Championship Junior Mens Final Results

2012 Downhill MTB World Championship Junior Womens Final Results