October 24, 2007 – Olympic Mountain Bike champion and four-time world champion Julien Absalon, will be part of the mountain bike commission after next year’s Oympic Games. Absalon will represent the riders and will replace Alison Dunlap, who has retired from the commission due to professional commitments.

During the Mountain Bike Commission meeting held in Brussels on October 19, members discussed the first season of the UCI Mountain Bike Nissan World Cup presented by Shimano and the 2007 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships held in Fort William, Scotland. The UCI is delighted to have Nissan as title sponsor for the World Cup and is also extremely pleased with the precious and lasting support received from Shimano.

The International Mountain Bike Calendar and the 2008 UCI Mountain Bike regulations were submitted to and accepted by the UCI Management Committee. The calendar is available on the UCI website and the regulations will be on-line within the next few days.

The main changes to the regulations are as follows:

Calendar
– An event will only be classed “Hors Class” if, in the last edition there were at least 30 riders representing at least 15 different nationalities at the start
– In its first year, a new event can only be classed 2 or 3

UCI Ranking
– The UCI ranking will be established over the period of one year (the ranking becomes continuous again: the points will count for one year)
– For stage races, only the general classification will count for UCI points (not the stages). These points will be taken into account in the XCO ranking
– UCI points will be attributed to all the riders in downhill semi-finals

UCI Mountain Bike Teams
– For cross country, a UCI mountain bike team must include a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 riders
– For Downhill and 4X, a UCI mountain bike team must include a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 10 riders
– Registration fee for the UCI mountain bike team: 2’500CHF.

World Cup
– A rider must have 20 UCI points in order to compete in XCO, Downhill and 4X (with the exception of UCI mountain bike teams (maximum 10 riders) and riders wearing national colours (maximum 6 riders)
– Late entries: a rider will be called to the start according to his ranking but will receive a higher fine than in the past (300 CHF)
– In Downhill, the first 10 women and the first 20 men in the World Cup individual standings must take the start of the semi-final but will in any case automatically qualify for the final. If they do not finish in the 10 and 20 best times in the semi-final, they will start the final just before the10 and 20 best riders from the semi-final.

World Championships
– Team Relay: the UCI points will be awarded to the nation, and not the riders

The UCI wishes everyone in the mountain bike world an excellent preparation for the next season and thanks them for their contribution to the 2007 season.