November 29, 2012 – The 2013 RockyRoads UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano will kick off in a new venue, Albstadt, Germany. For its first time on the World Cup calendar, this city in the Swabian Alps will host the opening rounds of Olympic cross-country (XCO) and cross-country eliminator (XCE) on May 18-19. The season will get under way for the downhill (DHI) specialists three weeks later in the traditional venue of Fort William, Great Britain.

In 2013, the World Cup will comprise eight rounds in eight different countries, with five rounds of XCE and six each for DHI and XCO.

2013 RockyRoads UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano:
– May 18-19 – Albstadt (GER) XCO / XCE
– May 25-26 – Nove Mesto na Morave (CZE) XCO / XCE
– June 8-9 – Fort William (GBR) DHI
– June15-16 – Val Di Sole (ITA) XCO / XCE / DHI
– July 27-28 – Vallnord (AND) XCO / XCE / DHI
– August 10-11 – Mont-Sainte-Anne (CAN) XCO / DHI
– September 14-15 – Hafjell (NOR) XCO / XCE / DHI
– September 21-22 – Leogang (AUT) DHI.

Internet viewing figures soar for mountain bike events
Mountain Bike’s leading world series really pulled it off in 2012, attracting unprecedented viewing on the internet.

Official figures show that the 2012 RockyRoads Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano proved extremely popular among fans, with internet views increasing by as much as four times on last year.

In total, 1.46 million internet users watched videos, either live or replays, of the competition on the internet. The final figure is no doubt even higher, since the videos from the Windham (USA) and Val d’Isère (FRA) rounds have not been included in the count, for technical reasons.

The Mont-Sainte-Anne (CAN) round in June recorded the strongest growth. The cross-country event went from 25,927 views last year to 102,309 this year. The growth rate is the same for downhill, from 38,388 to 110,055 views.

Downhill events were most successful, with 860,745 videos viewed during the 2012 World Cup. The most followed event was the downhill race at Fort William (GBR) in June, which received 166,219 views.

To this date, UCI has fulfilled its mission, which aimed to give a new impulse to video coverage of the UCI RockyRoads Mountain Bike World Cup. This achievement is to be credited to the partnership contracted this year with Red Bull Media House (RBMH), which supplied media services including High Definition television production, Webcasting and content syndication.

“The significant increase in media coverage of the UCI RockyRoads Mountain Bike World Cup shows that this discipline holds great media potential,” said Nicole Gruber, Commercial Manager at UCI. “Our partnership with Red Bull Media House has been very successful and we worked hard together to develop responses to the interest which Mountain Bike creates. We used more and better filming, production and promotion techniques on site.

“We want to go further”, adds Nicole Gruber, “specifically behind the scenes at events. We want to develop media coverage of Mountain Bike even more in the coming years.”

UCI extends partnership with Universal Sports Network
Universal Sports Network will continue to air major UCI events in the United States through until 2014 thanks to an extension of an existing partnership between the American cable television channel and the International Federation.

The deal gives Universal Sports multiplatform rights, including exclusive TV and Internet rights to the UCI Road World Championships as well as the World Championships and World Cup events for track, mountain bike and cyclo-cross.

Universal Sports Network also covers several UCI WorldTour events and is the leader of cycling coverage on television in America, where our sport’s fan base continues to grow.

“Cycling is an integral part of our programming line-up, and this agreement allows us to continue servicing the growing community of cycling enthusiasts in the US,” said David Sternberg, CEO of Universal Sports.

UCI World Championships awarded
UCI World Championships for different cycling disciplines have been awarded up until 2016 by the UCI Management Committee.

At its meeting in Maastricht, the Netherlands, in September, the Management Committee approved the following updates to the UCI International calendar:
– 2013 UCI World Cycling Tour (UWCT) Final: Trento (ITA)
– 2014 UWCT Final: Ljubliana (SLO)
– 2014 UCI Indoor World Championships: Brno (CZE)
– 2015 UCI MTB Marathon World Championships: Valgardena (ITA)
– 2015 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships: Nottwil (SUI)
– 2016 UCI Road World Championships: Doha (QAT).

– 2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Louisville (USA), 2 – 3 February
– 2012-2013 UCI Track Cycling World Cup presented by Samsung – Aguascalientes (MEX), 17 – 19 January
– 2012-2013 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup – Roubaix (FRA), 2 December; Namur (BEL), 23 December; Heusden-Zolder (BEL), 26; December; Roma (ITA), 6 January; Hoogerheide (NED), 20 January
– Santos Tour Down Under (AUS), 22 – 27 January 2013