Weekend Race Guide: Bielsko-Biala World Cup Downhill

This weekend UCI MTB World Series will visit Bielsko Biala, Poland for the first time ever with a downhill-enduro double header.

To learn how to keep up with all of the downhill action, check out our helpful weekend guide below.

The format and schedule of racing will be much the same as in Fort William with the track walk on Thursday, practice on Friday, qualifying and semi-finals on Saturday, and finals on Sunday.

For a more in-depth explanation of the format, see BIKE’s Fort William Weekend Guide.

Thursday

Track Walk

Riders will inspect the course on foot.

Afterward, there will be a rider's meeting, followed by a press conference.

Friday

Training Runs

After Walking the course on Thursday, riders will get their first training runs on the course. In the morning, racers will practice without the timer. Riders generally use the untimed practice session to dial in their lines, riding, and re-riding sections. This is why there are often riders milling about on the side of the course in raw practice videos.

See a preview of the Bielsko-Biala downhill course below.

In the afternoon, the racers will do their timed training. Though timed training means nothing in terms of overall points, fans can sometimes glean some helpful context of who is riding well. The eventual winner, Vali Höll, was fastest in timed training in Fort William. Loic Bruni on the other hand was three seconds off in training before taking off the gloves in finals,

Saturday

In today’s World Cup paradigm, Saturday is a crucial day for riders to perform. Racers must place well in both qualification and semi-finals to even have a chance at competing in the big show on Sunday.

Qualification

On Saturday afternoon, racers will compete in qualifications. The top 60 men and 15 women in qualifying move on to the semi-finals, while the top 25 junior men and top 10 junior women advance straight to race day.

See the provisional schedule for qualification below.

12:00 pm CEST (6;00 am EST)- Elite Women

12:30 pm CEST (6:00 am EST) - Elite Men

2:00 pm CEST (8:00 am EST) - Junior Women

2:15 pm (8:15 am EST) - Junior Men.

Many established riders are protected in the qualification round, meaning they will advance to the semi-finals regardless of how they finish. The UCI describes the protected riders in qualification as follows:

1. Riders with season long race numbers (i.e. ranked in the top 5 women elite and
the top 10 men elite of the final UCI World Cup standings of the previous season)
2. The best ranked riders from the current UCI World Cup standings, that are not
included in point 1 above, until a total of 10 women elite and 20 men elite are
reached

This means that the following riders will race the qualification round with protected status for the semi-final.

Protected Elite Men For Semi-Final : Loic Bruni, Jackson Goldstone*, Loris Vergier, Finn Iles, Andreas Kolb, Bernard Kerr, Benoit Coulanges, Troy Brosnan, Dakotah Norton, Luca Shaw, Greg Williamson Matt Walker, Danny Hart, Ronan Dunne, Jordan Williams, Amaury Pierron, Remy Meier-smith, Reece Wilson, Rémi Thirion, Dylan Maples.

Protected Elite Women For Semi Final: Valentina Höll, Nina Hoffmann, Marine Cabirou, Monika Hrastnik, Camille Balanche, Tahnée Seagrave, Gloria Scarsi, Anna Newkirk, Mikayla Parton.

Additionally, the top 3 ranked junior men and women will be protected, and automatically advance from the qualifying round to finals.

Protected Junior Men : Asa Vermette, Luke Wayman, Daniel Parfitt

Protected Junior Women: Heather Wilson, Sacha Earnest, and Eliana Hulsebosch

Stay tuned for the official start list.

Semi-Finals

After qualification, the qualifying elite men and women will go back up to race the semi-final. In the semis, the field will be further narrowed down. The top 30 men and top 10 women advance.

The schedule for the semi-finals in Bielsko-Biala will be as follows

3:00 pm CEST (9:00 am EST) - Elite Women

3:30 pm CEST (9:30 am EST) - Elite Men

To ensure that the fastest racers don't miss finals due to a mechanical or a crash, the UCI designates the highest-ranked racers protected status, guaranteeing them a spot in the finals. See the criteria for protection for finals from the UCI below.

1. Riders ranked in the top 3 women elite and top 3 men elite of the final UCI WorldCup standings of the previous season

2. The best ranked riders from the current UCI World Cup standings, that are notincluded in point 1 above, until a total of 5 women elite and 10 men elite are reached

Protected Elite Men For Final: Loic Bruni, Jackson Goldstone*, Loris Vergier, Troy Brosnan, Finn Iles, Luca Shaw, Dakotah Norton, Benoit Coulanges, Greg Williamson, and Andreas Kolb.

Protected Elite Women For Final: Vali Höll, Nina Hoffmann, Marine Cabirou, Tahnée Seagrave, and Camille Balanche.

Sunday

Finals

After the course opens in the morning for practice runs, riders will race the finals. To accommodate the live broadcast, finals feature longer start intervals. To find where to watch the live broadcast of the World Cup, see BIKE’s viewing guide below.

Related: How To Watch UCI Mountain Bike Racing In 2024

Fans can catch the broadcast live at the following times. Note that these times are subject to change.

Junior Women: 11:30 CEST(5:30 EST)

Junior Men: 12:00CEST (6:00 EST)

Elite Women 1:15 CEST (7:15 EST)

Elite Men 2:00 CEST (8:00 EST)

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