2024 UCI MTB DH World Series - everything you need to know

The UCI MTB DH World Series kicks off this weekend. Here's who to watch and how.

Lance Branquinho

May 3 2024

Downhill racing is the original mountain biking race format. Although Olympic mountain biking gold medals are awarded for XCO short-circuit sprint racing, gravity mountain biking remains the most extreme, spectacular and risky form of competitive mountain biking.

It’s worth remembering that the first mountain bike race was a downhill event, not a timed point-to-point endurance race or closed-circuit laps. The Repack mountain bike race, hosted on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais in Northern California, is effectively where the modern bike was born in the 1970s.

Once component standards or new technologies have won a UCI DH race, they are validated and ready for broad acceptance. This has proved true for hydraulic brakes, all carbon-fibre components (from rims to frames and cockpits) and wheel size.

The 2024 UCI DH World Cup starts this weekend in Scotland with the first of seven events. The venue for this weekend’s racing is considered by many to be the finest in all of gravity mountain biking: Fort William.

Starting at the pantheon of downhill racing

Despite lacking the towering Alpine Pyrenean or Tyrolian peaks of Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland or Andorra, gravity mountain biking has become enormously successful in the United Kingdom. Dedicated riders and visionary trail builders have shaped some of the world’s best downhill tracks into the Scottish and Welsh topography, helping create a generation of world-beating British riders.

Those who wish to measure the success of gravity mountain biking in the United Kingdom need only experience the Fort William World Cup event. Despite its isolated locations in the Scottish Highlands, Fort William draws the largest and most passionate crowds in any given UCI World Cup season.

The energy and enthusiasm of all those downhill racing supporters in one venue are infectious, rendering Fort William’s most challenging feature – the weather – largely irrelevant. Driving rain can create havoc on the Fort Willam track, turning the coarse conditions into a quagmire, but spirited fans lining the entire course compensate for even the worst possible weather.

A course that humbles all

Even the worst Scottish weather cannot dampen the spirits of downhill racing fans who congregate at Fort William, but it creates many challenges for riders. Adding to the test of mastering the most fatiguing track in UCI World Cup downhill racing.

At 2.8km, Fort William is the longest track riders’ race, dropping 475m from the start chute to the final timing laser at the bottom.

The top section is exposed mountainside, without trees to shield riders from unpredictable Scottish winds, and large boulder fields that create early upper body fatigue with a succession of intense square-edged hits. This is followed by tight switchbacks through Fort William’s forest section, where wet roots and rocks can easily swipe a front wheel from under any rider if it has been raining.

Who’ll win?

Greg Minnaar is the indisputable master of Fort William. The tall and powerful South Africa has more wins at downhill mountain biking’s most regarded venue – a total of seven.

Minnaar’s upper body strength makes him impervious to the top section’s punishing boulder fields. In contrast, his excellent fitness and pedalling strength (even in his 43th year), ensure momentum through the lower motorway section, when most other riders just hang on to make the finish line.

For the 2024 season opener, Minnaar is on a new bike and leading a new team, after departing Santa Cruz for Norco. The winningest downhill mountain bike racer of all time will be keen to showcase that his ageless abilities can transfer to a new bike with high-pivot rear-suspension technology, something Minnaar never used during his time at Santa Cruz.

British riders Charlie Hatton and Laurie Greenland will be favourites for a win at Fort William, while the current World Champion, France’s Loïc Bruni, is nearly always a podium certainty if he doesn’t suffer a mechanical on his race run. Bruni’s countryman, Amaury Pierron, has sent down some of the wildest runs in UCI World Cup history and will be keen to prove his speed after an injury-interrupted season last year.

For the women, everyone will try to match the speed, endurance, and skill of Austria’s Vali Höll, who won half of all the UCI World Cup races last year.

Fort William anchors the 2024 season

A win at Fort William is mindfully worth two anywhere else during any UCI World Cup season, because of the event’s esteemed history and implied confidence. Having the 2024 season start at Fort William gives riders who do well here the opportunity to build their UCI World Cup campaign with confidence and momentum.

Following Forth William, riders will journey to a debut UCI World Cup racing venue: Bielsko Biala, Poland. A new track and venue will even the odds for riders and create new excitement for fans. Following the Polish round will be the spectacular views of Leogang, Austria.

The UCI World Cup moves to Val di Sole, Italy, for round 4, followed by Haute-Savoie, France, for round 5. Both these venues have racing dates in peak summer, which should deliver dusty and powdery conditions, creating spectacular racing.

After a three-month mid-season break from the second week in July to early September, the UCI World Cup’s final two rounds are in Loudenvielle, France, with the season closer in Mont-Saint-Anne, Canada.

3-5 May: Fort William, Scotland (DH)
17-19 May: Bielsko Biala, Poland (DH/EDR)
7-9 June: Leogang, Austria (DH/EDR)
14-16 June: Val di Sole, Italy (DH/XCO/XCC)
25 June - 7 July: Haute-Savoie, France (DH/EDR/XCO/XCC)
6-8 September: Loudenvielle, France (DH/EDR)
4-6 October: Mont-Saint-Anne, Canada (DH/XCO/XCC)

*UK-based downhill racing fans can watch the Fort William event on Eurosport television, or use Eurosport and Discovery+ streaming apps on their mobile devices. All Junior and semi-final Elite category racing is freely viewable on YouTube and the UCI Mountain Bike World Series website. If you want to watch the Elite finals live, you’ll need a valid Eurosport or Discovery+ subscription.

Author block

Lance Branquinho

Lance Branquinho is a Namibian-born media professional who graduated to mountain biking after injuries curtailed his fascination with trail running. He has a weakness for British steel hardtails, especially those which only run a single gear. Lance is an award-winning writer who has contributed to myriad piblications all over the world including Cyclingnews, Bike Perfect, MBR, Topgear, TopCar and Car magazine.