February 14, 2011 (Munich, Germany) – With only a few weeks to go until the Freeride Mountain Bike (FMB) World Tour kicks off with the Vienna Air King, the FMBA is now ready to announce the FMB World Tour event calendar.

After a thoroughly successful first season in 2010, the FMB World Tour is prepared and ready to start the new season. As was to be expected, event applications were plentiful and the FMBA is happy to announce that this year’s World Tour will have even more events at which riders can collect vital points for their overall ranking. All in all, 21 events in Europe and North America are taking part in the upcoming tour with the diamond and gold events being equally distributed between the two continents. One of the tour’s highlights is without doubt the final event in Nuremberg. The much awaited Red Bull District Ride is coming back after a five-year break and represents a more than worthy final and occasion for the crowning of the FMB World Tour Champion.

The registered riders will be able to collect points at every event. How many points is determined by the event’s category and, of course, the rider’s result. As opposed to last year, when riders could take the points from their top four events to the ranking, this year, the rider’s five best event results count. Events are divided into bronze, silver, gold and diamond categories depending on a number of criteria such as difficulty level, course design, prize money and judging. Points will only count if the rider is a registered member of the FMBA – so if you want your results to count towards the overall FMB World Tour ranking don’t forget to register before the tour’s first event: Vienna Air King on April 2nd and 3rd in Austria here. If you are not a rider but want to support the FMBA in their efforts to bring the freeride mountain bike sport to the next level, become a member and just follow the same link above.

This is the 2011 FMB World Tour calendar:
– Vienna Air King – April 2-3 – Vienna, Austria – Silver
– Rocket Air – April 8-9 – Thun, Switzerland – Silver
– Ranchstyle – May 6-8 – Grand Junction/Colorado, USA – Silver
– FISE Slopestyle June 1-4 – Montpellier, France – Silver
– SKS Slopestyle at iXS Dirtmasters – June 2-5 – Winterberg, Germany – Silver
– Jump Ship – June 10-12 – Victoria, BC, Canada – Silver
– 26TRIX – June 16-19 – Leogang, Austria – Gold
– Balaton Bikefest – June 22-26 – Balatonfüred, Hungary – Bronze
– Natural Games – June 23-25 – Millau, France – Bronze
– DIRT TOWN Jelenia Gora – June 25 – Jelenia Gora, Poland – Bronze
– Claymore Challenge – June 25 – Highland MTB park, USA – Gold
– Urban Bike Challenge – June 30 – Westendorf. Austria – Bronze
– Dirrty Bialystok – July 1 – Bialystok, Poland – Bronze
– Chatel Mountain Style – July 1-3 – Chatel, France – Gold
– Dakine Air Strike at Dakine Freeride Festival – July 9 – Saalbach, Austria – Silver
– Slopestyle at Kokanee Crankworx – July 23 – Whistler, Canada – Diamond
– Big in Bavaria at BIKE EXPO – July 21-24 – Munich, Germany – Gold
– Crankworx Colorado – July 30 – Winter Park Resort, USA – Gold
– Bearclaw Invitational – August 6 – Mt. Washington, Canada – Gold
– Goatstyle – August 11-13 – Silver Star Resort, Canada – Silver
– Red Bull District Ride – September 9-10 – Nuremberg, Germany – Diamond

The FMB World Tour is happy to begin the new season with strong partners and thanks TSG, Specialized and SR Suntour for their support. For more information on the FMB World Tour partners go to:
– www.ridetsg.com
– www.specialized.com
– www.srsuntour-cycling.com

For more information about the FMBA and FMB World Tour, please go to www.fmbworldtour.com or http://www.facebook.com/FMBWorldTour.