April 26, 2008 (Offenburg, Germany) — Spring has arrived in Germany’s Black Forest after months of rain, wind, and cold, just in time for round two of the Nissan UCI MTB XC World Cup, which takes place this Sunday. Offenburg lies in a touristy wine region, and plays host to this event for the second year, offering a 5.1km course that is exciting and fun for spectators and competitors alike. The loop twists, turns and drops through a wooded area, and includes some challenging, big drops, technical passages, and roots. The climbing is disguised by winding singletrack and obstacles, but it will definitely take its toll on riders.

This week’s weather has seen a warming trend, with temperatures hitting the high “˜teens in the afternoon, but often followed by overnight showers that keep the trails slightly slick and muddy in sections. The course has been extensively maintained. Workers have put down a lot of gravel to aid drainage, which should allow for good traction even if it does rain. The course dries up quite quickly, and forecasts are looking good for the next two days — sunshine and temperatures into the low 20s. If all goes well, it’s a recipe for a good, fast set of races on Sunday.

Organizers have designed a spectator’s walking track, which leads fans to major points of interest along the course, including the Dual Speed, North Shore, Wolf’s Drop, and Snake Pit. The World Cup Village is set up with food, beer, and wine tents, as well as a grandstand and TV screens. Announcers will give play-by-plays in the stadium as well as on course. There will definitely be pretzels, beer and sausages aplenty, along with scores of German cycling enthusiasts.

The women will start at 10:30 am local time / 4:30 am EDT and complete one start loop (1.1km) followed by six full laps. There are 121 women on the start list, including those who were on the podium last weekend: Ren Chengyuan (Chn), Irina Kalentieva (Rus) Topeak-Ergon, Marie-Hélène Prémont (Can) Rocky Mountain, Marga Fullana (Spa) Massi and Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Women’s MTB Team. Canada will have a huge contingent — nine women in the race, including Prémont, Catharine Pendrel (Can) Luna Women’s MTB Team, Kiara Bisaro (Can) Opus, Alison Sydor (Can) Rocky Mountain, Sandra Walter (Can) X.O-Felt Women’s MTB Team, Wendy Simms (Can) Kona, Amanda Sin (Can) Scott-3 Rox Racing, Mical Dyck (Can) Trek-VW and Emily Batty (Can) Team R.A.C.E.

The men start at 2:00 pm local time / 8:30 am EDT and race around one start loop plus eight laps. There are 238 men registered, with all the top guys accounted for. Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea, Nino Schurter (Sui) Swisspower MTB Team, Christoph Sauser (Sui) Specialized, Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Cannondale-Vredestein and Cedric Ravanel (Fra) Lapierre International are the top-five ranked men in the World Cup standings after Houffalize. Several Canadian men will contest, including Geoff Kabush (Can) Maxxis, Max Plaxton (Can) Rocky Mountain, Seamus McGrath (Can) Fuji, Ricky Federau (Can) Team Ricky, Derek Zandstra (Can) Scott-3 Rox Racing, Mat Toulouse (Can) Maxxis and Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona.

Final race details will be finalized at the Managers Meeting tonight. Stay tuned to pedalmag.com on Sunday for live updates and photos.