This coming September at UCI MTB Worlds, the first ever Pump Track World Champions will get crowned in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Until then, truly all around the globe, Red Bull is running a series of events where competitors can show their momentum carrying skills, and earn a free spot on the start line for Worlds.
Red Bull Pump Track World Championships & global qualifier series
Qualifiers begin in Rosendaal in The Netherlands in the second week of March, then head to Asia, Oceania, Africa, South America, North America, with return stops all along the way before finishing up back in Europe. Red Bull developed the worldwide series, alongside global pump track builder Velosolutions so no matter where you show up to race, it’ll be on a premium track.
As of now, 23 qualifying rounds have been scheduled on the provisional calendar. The competition won’t net the pump-iest man & woman a UCI rainbow jersey, even though it does culminate with the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Lenzerheide.
But pump tracks have already popped up all over the world. As Gstaad-Scott team manager, well-known DH course previewer, and of course one of the brains behind Velosolutions, Claudio Caluori says – the series “give(s) riders from around the world the chance to be a world champion and make their country proud.”
The top 4 men and top 4 women from each round will advance to the final World Championship. And Red Bull will make sure the winners from each round duke it out in the finals, awarding them at each round an all-expenses-paid trip to Lenzerheide.
The provisional calendar includes the following dates, with a few dates and locales still to be confirmed:
- 10/11 March – Rosendaal, The Netherlands
- 31 March – Kerobokan, Bali
- 07 April – Manila, The Philippines
- 07 April – Wellington, New Zealand
- 21 April – Hyderabad, India
- 28 April – Durban, South Africa
- 28 April (tbc) – Kotaix, Puerto Varras, Chile
- 01 May – Roma, Lesotho
- 5 May – Neunkirchen, Austria
- 19 May – Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- 19 May – Riga, Latvia
- 26/27 May – Leavenworth, WA, USA
- 10 June – Pärnu, Estonia
- 23 June – Aranyaphrathet, Thailand
- 30 June – Carpentras, France
- 30 June – Glasgow, Scotland
- 7/8 July – Brugg, Switzerland (tbc)
- 14 July – Gross-Umstadt, Germany or Wals, Austria (tbc)
- 4 August – Nanaimo, Canada
- 5 August – Akaigawa, Japan
- 19 August (tbc) – Balzers, Liechtenstein
- 25/26 August (tbc) – Siror, Italy
- 07 September 2018 – Lenzerheide, Switzerland (Final)
