This weekend, the UCI will crown the world’s first snow bike world champions.
Taking place over two days from 10-11 February in the popular French ski resort of Chatel, 50 international competitors from diverse riding backgrounds will be taking to the start line for this new gravity cycling discipline.
Among the list of entrants are some big names from the world of downhill and enduro racing. But why has the UCI adopted this new discipline and could it become cycling’s latest Olympic sport?
What the heck is snow biking?
In the past, snow biking has referred to anything from adapted motocross bikes or snowmobiles to fat bikes and mountain bikes with skis instead of wheels.
The new UCI Snow Bike World Championships will involve none of the above. Riders will compete on regular mountain bikes fitted with studded tyres, which will be “regulated according to the condition of the piste”. The UCI recommends downhill bikes, although they are not mandatory.
The racing formats at the new championships borrow from the world of skiing.
On Saturday, riders will compete in the Super G race. Super G, which stands for ‘super giant slalom’, is already an established downhill skiing discipline.
The Snow Bike World Championships equivalent bears resemblance to downhill racing as we know it. It will involve a timed run down a 1.9km-long piste, dropping 600 metres and navigating through slalom gates as the riders descend.
Competitors will enter the course at 40-second intervals. They must pass through the gates, which are six to eight metres wide and spaced around 25 metres apart. Missing a gate results in disqualification and the fastest rider to complete the course wins.
Sunday’s Dual Slalom race sees riders go head-to-head on the snow, battling it out on two parallel 500m courses, with jumps and other technical features. Riders complete each side of the run, with the lowest combined time winning and moving on to the next round. There are five rounds in total.
Ambassador of the discipline and former junior downhill world champion, Cédric Gracia, has described the Snow Bike World Championships as “something totally new in the world of cycling. It's about technique, analysing the snow, reflection and strategy”.
Gracia is also keen to build the hype around the UCI’s latest discipline: “It's going to be incredible,” he predicts.
Who’s racing?
This weekend’s Snow Bike World Championships will see 43 men and 7 women take to the slopes.
Among the entrants are some big names from the downhill and enduro world cup. Racers such as Danny Hart, Morgane Charre and Veronika Widmann, as well as young guns including Antoine Vidal, Lisa Baumann and Francescu Camoin, will all be battling for the title.
French downhill legend Sabrina Jonnier is also signed up, as is ambassador Gracia. Despite most of the competitors coming from an enduro and downhill background, freerider Vincent Tupin (also known as Vinny T) is also in the mix.
The wide range of riding backgrounds of the entrants provides a rare opportunity to see how riders from different disciplines fare against each other. And although the established MTB pros have an advantage on paper, this entirely new racing environment means anyone has a chance to win the maiden Snow Bike World Championships.
So, why has the UCI taken an interest in snow biking?
With the cross-country and downhill season typically spanning April to October, the winter season sees a distinct lack of world-level mountain bike competitions.
We suspect the UCI plans to roll out a Snow Bike World Cup series, which will offer a new racing format to see fans through the winter, to retain people’s interest in cycling through the winter months.
With the offset schedules, there’s potential for downhill and enduro racers to make a name for themselves in the snow bike world, benefitting from televised coverage at an otherwise quiet time of the year.
Will snow biking become an Olympic sport?
Currently, cross-country is the only Olympic mountain bike format. But there has been speculation snow biking could become the first Olympic gravity-riding discipline.
While there have been speculation over downhill making it into the Olympics, the summer games are already jam-packed. For downhill to make an appearance, it’s likely another cycling discipline would have to duck out.
Additionally, the requirements for a downhill track don’t lend themselves very well to the model of the Olympic Village, which adds logistical barriers.
Slalom and Super-G ski racing, however, are already part of the Winter Olympics schedule.
Therefore, snow bike would be a relatively simple addition to the Winter Games.
This wouldn’t be the first time the UCI has had its eyes on the Winter Olympic Games. It previously lobbied for cyclocross racing to be included in the Winter Games.
However, the Olympic charter mandates Winter Olympic sports be held on snow or ice. This put a stop to the negotiations, despite enthusiasm from cyclocross organisers, who saw its inclusion as a way to attract more money to the sport.
Whether or not it makes sense to invent a new discipline to gain a spot in the Winter Olympics and represent gravity mountain biking in a way that no one asked for is up for debate.
However, the snow bike format would open up a new world of exciting winter racing and, despite its initial weirdness, it looks pretty fun.
Where can I catch the action?
Action from the Snow Bike World Championships will be aired on Eurosport, where subscribers of the broadcasting service will be able to catch the event highlights on 23 February at 12pm CET.
