PRACTICE RAW | Crans-Montana UCI Cross-country World Cup

Could this be the most technical course on the world cup circuit? We were trackside today catching all the action from the courses most challenging features!
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The UCI Mountain Bike World Series unites mountain bike’s major formats under a single brand for the first time. The new UCI Mountain Bike World Series includes the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup for Cross-country Olympic (XCO), Cross-country Short Track (XCC), Cross-country Marathon (XCM), Downhill (DHI), Enduro (EDR) and E-enduro (E-EDR).
Comprehensive coverage from the races captures the excitement through exclusive interviews, analysis, reactions and event highlights. In-between events and through the off-season there are regular features covering technical and rider-based topics. All embedded with the latest mountain bike action from the world's best riders.
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[@benlubbock166]

Finally the Downcountry bike has a home ! Or is the the birth of CrossEnduro 😂 either way it looks great to me.

[@keepon239]

People have a lot to say about this course. For one fan here, I can say this is the first time I've been hyped to watch XC practice.

[@baildon15]

This is exactly what XC needs challenging downhill sections there’s still going to be lots of opportunities to overtake on the uphills! going to be an great I’m going to actually watch the live race with a course like this 🙏🏻

[@paulbateson9055]

Perfect for Pidcock. 😊

[@BikingNL000]

Really shows the difference between those that can ride, and those that could only keep up because they had the leg power. Great! Exactly what was needed!

[@TheTrailRabbit]

"keeping up because they had the leg power" is a bizarre complaint to have about bike racing.

[@zwtvchannel]

@@TheTrailRabbitIt’s XCO dude…. Not marathons where it’s 95% fire roads & 5% half assed single track. They need to have courses like this to make a level playing field.

[@tomasbozko9392]

:D

[@tyrellcobb4665]

I guess fewer road pros will be dropping in to pick up a medal or two during their off-season lol.

[@Mockle07]

@@TheTrailRabbit MTB XC should be about skill, not just being a good climber.

[@Mockle07]

This is exactly what XC should be!Love it.

[@TheTrailRabbit]

enduro?

[@Mockle07]

@@TheTrailRabbit 😂 this is nothing like enduro! It’s a technical XC track that tests a rider’s technical bike handling skills as well as their climbing and fitness.

[@patrickmccormack1427]

​@TheTrailRabbit all that tech makes up for one or 2 sections of one stage at an enduro race.

[@CJmtb91]

@@TheTrailRabbit enduro you're hitting sections like this mostly blind since you can't memorise everything and get limited practice, all while going 3x faster and having to ride like that for 10+ stages that are each longer than two laps of this course.

[@williammorris4419]

yeah until it rains. Forecast is for rain ther the next three days.

[@wenlambotomy6231]

Finally an xc course worthy of full suspension and dropper seat posts.

[@reflexion420]

Lucas Schwartbauer still on a rígid post

[@joehoeper4648]

Totally - sick to see. Creative course design- I'm into it

[@Chunky246]

Those logs gonna be fun in the wet :)

[@martin.B777]

At least the logs have carved pattern for a better grip. ;)

[@tizzadh]

those wood platforms with dirt on it and watter...will be interesting...hope it will be not rainny on race.

[@runrunrun51]

@@tizzadh looks like there's a chicken line on the left but not sure😱

[@JCDNZ01]

Finally some mountainbiking! This is going to sort the roadies from the riders!

[@davehause8571]

Who are the roadies?

[@StoaDiscipulus]

@@davehause8571 Pidcock for example

[@wingtip76]

what do you say now??😂😂

[@kayleightuck]

Assume you're a pro athlete and also racing at a pro level?

[@erich8258]

Everyone commenting about how this course finally brings real MTB to XC hasn't been watching for the last few years. It's easy to be tough while sitting on the couch watching youtube, but I doubt that most of these people could make a single lap on any of this year's World Cup tracks.

[@peplonelyrider415]

The 80% of Mtb fans (we are the majority) on Monday work on other issues, so from this route to others of pure mountain there are nuances, but of course this is a show and the gift of money has its share of guilt. Greetings from Spain

[@TasteLikeChicken]

Agree absolutely …and, 98.7% couldn’t ride a single XCO DH section on a super squish DH bike or a climb on a HT

[@JedEdelstein]

have never watched an XC practice raw...UNTIL this track bc its sick

[@ET_Bikes]

Looks amazing. More courses like this !

[@MudmanDH]

So happy to see that XCO today is completely different from that London Olympic MTB track 🤙🏻🤟🏻✌🏻

[@runrunrun51]

Paris track is gravel all way except a kind of rock chute...they covered every roots every inch of dirt with gravel...not exciting...

[@Mockle07]

@@runrunrun51 To ensure PFP gets her gold medal 🙄🥱

[@FuknNoName]

Saying that but London was a battle right to the very end. Nino opened the door for Jaro and it was game over. He was soooo close

[@robinmabila8713]

@@runrunrun51 Paris 2024 will be the worse XCO ever I'm afraid.

[@ShiftyXC]

Frame breaker. Love it!

[@DrCrimp-sg5pb]

Finally some proper mountain biking where not only cardio is necessary to win.

[@TheTrailRabbit]

right like "cardio" was all you ever needed. might as well just take the best zwifter and put them in XCO since that's all you need. now you can think about how dumb what you typed sounds.

[@DrCrimp-sg5pb]

@@TheTrailRabbit you got my point come on

[@erich8258]

@@DrCrimp-sg5pb Your point was ridiculous. You must not have seen the last few years of the World Cup. Most courses are really tough.

[@PhilAndersonOutside]

@@DrCrimp-sg5pb I'm not sure I do? While this course has more modern downhill sections, I haven't seen the uphill sections, and those may be like many other courses where the person with the biggest engine that day creates more gaps than anyone will on these downhills. Maybe you've seen this entire course more than I have, but the courses at Nove Mesto, Snowshoe, and Mt. St. Ann are quite technical on their own already.

[@selder03]

This is a proper XC course.

[@gastonetchegoyenmiguel]

This is going to be carnage!!!!

[@andydt82]

Looks fun…on an enduro bike!

[@TiagoM83]

Locura, amazing race track, the most technical of the year🔥

[@danielsanchezcarvajal6254]

Looks very nice 👍🏻 Jenny Rissveds is on with the track 💯

[@gustavocestari5314]

Vai Ulannnnnnnnn..... Valeu Avancini.

[@VelosaJr]

amazing! More of these raw videos please

[@JimLacey357]

DHXCO 💪

[@todopalletrusticocoelemu5279]

Genial 🔥 se vé más técnica que la del valle del sol 💪 éxitos

[@tomtom2694]

Love to see that! 🤩

[@nem3th]

Its about time, as more and more XC bikes are comes with 120mm travel as standart and there must be bigger tyres on either.

[@jasonboulle]

Wes Anderson directed the shot at 12:14

[@kvasmj]

That root shot at 6:30ish in is outstanding

[@olivierhiers4224]

Is it still XC? I used to ride the Grundig World Cup 9pre-2000), might be more akin to today's technical gravel skill level, i get it. I am unsure about the direction XC is taking nowadays. Is it interesting? Yes, certainly. I love enduro racing and the Red Bull series too, but this is quite different. It would be akin to setting a downhill time trial in the Tour de France to weed out riders based on technical skills alone. I love XC racing. It should be technical and challenging on the body, but do we need jumps and drops? Not in my opinion. None the less it is great content

[@ageng.raditya]

This is what make it different with the gravel track

[@plutopedro1]

Bjorn !!!! This is your kind of course, use the force !

[@richardw.3684]

All the Enduro & Downhill riders are tuning in to watch XC race now, lol.l live seeing riders challenged and the best will still place high

[@DaniloCarreiro]

Vai Avança!!! 👽🇧🇷

[@devincook3278]

Love it! This is how cross country should be.

[@matpewsey]

I would love to ride this course…. On my enduro bike 😂

[@erics7531]

Looking forward to reading all of the complaints when they put a long uphill section on the DH course.

[@MrGWils]

Plenty of injuries the weekend coming!

[@mtbalpinecounty]

Simple.. Sit back, knees bent, let the bike do the work. They are so 1 channeled into the perfect single track. Ride here in South Lake Tahoe CA. Usa and you would be schooled. Fact 101..💪

[@butchgreene]

Never seen an XC course that built in face shattering/collarbone dusting columns between the passing lanes on a rock garden....and cheese grater/skin and muscle ripping cement circles off of log chute landers. Not to mention no 3rd rail at the bottom of that bridge out of a muddy turn so your wheels don't shoot off in between the vertical beams. If any of the trail designers are reading this, it would take less than 2 minutes to take a "baseboard" on that bridge that butts against the tread to catch wheels so they don't shoot off in the dew and mist.

[@dulmi2317]

until people just take advantage of it and bounce off of it, and suddenly it's not there anymore. surprise!

[@Mockle07]

These are supposed to be the elite mountain bikers the world has to offer! Watch some of the recon videos already up on KZbin… even the average riders are absolutely flying through all of this with no problem. It the riders can’t handle this they shouldn’t be doing World Cup mountain biking.

[@SPECIALIZED95711]

I guess you've never ridden a real, local mountain bike trail, lol. This is still nothing compared to most local trails, and these are Elite riders, just as many already wrote, it's about real mountain bike skills then who has the most road bike endurance,lol.

[@SeatTime]

Time for dropper posts with more mm's. As well, most coming off the bigger drop in the rock section are almost slamming their front end down. I'm guessing they don't want to sail off of it, but at the same time it looks like they're using their brakes too much or continuing to pedal too close to the edge (they're not getting setup enough).

[@SeatTime]

The rider in the baggy shorts looked the best off the log drops out of everybody else. His balls could hang loose, letting the breeze in.

[@AlekseyKluban]

Amazing work was done to build such a cool track ❤ I wish to try those down+plus stone sections noy sure for up ones 😂

[@tomw0815]

This drop is scary.

[@FRIENDLY....]

Very good....

[@McSchwabl]

Finally XC gets technical. It needs to be otherwise roadies will just show up and win everything cause they are a lot fitter

[@goodbyetonto]

Yeah, who needs competition...yuck

[@emili1p317]

This is the most impressive and visual track for now, and it is certenly not easy to ride,but others track are very technical too. Have a look on val die Sole. It is very technical, not by the jumps or steep sections, but there are so many Roots and rocks

[@bennosblogandmore9723]

I would think it would be a good strategy to practice the course for a few laps on a trail bike with some pads to get the timing and lines down before going full lycra send.

[@benoitjonqueres4186]

la hardline du cross country! :)

[@NerdsonDirtMTB]

Jeebus some "dirt roadies" are gonna get messed up on this course!

[@jazzunit8234]

Hit it Sammy Maxwell!!! 🤘

[@jorgemolpeceres7708]

This circuit is insane... Hopefully the race is in dry conditions....

[@jimrutherford2773]

Interesting. I've seen XC racing changing more radical every few years, and I've followed the sport over 3 decades.

[@samblenkharn8099]

Dropper-posts are a huge game changer, and bigger wheels too. To ask riders to roll off drops like the big one (riders' left) at the top of that rock chute, back in the days of fixed high seatposts and 26" wheels, plus clipped into small pedals, just wouldn't really have been tenable. Not to mention everyone as running 2.1" tyres or narrower then as well! Overall I welcome courses that stretch the riders' technical abilities. I really want to see Pidcock on this one, if he's going to race here.

[@davehause8571]

This makes Mammoth's Kamikaze downhill look tame.

[@Mvees]

Awesome ! proper MTB. Finally XC racing isn't gravel bike racing

[@Sr.lanita]

Cuando quieres ahorrarte algo de presupuesto y utilizas la misma pista para el dh y xc jajajaja naaa... Fuera de coña, se ve bastante técnico, me gusta🤟🤟

[@patrickmccormack1427]

See one of the best had knee pads on. They arent getting that much if any aero. They make great knee pads these days.

[@brandonnewell4081]

Tracks like this will result in me watching XC races, and normally XC is not my thing. Will we see kneepads in an XC race???

[@TheTrailRabbit]

you already have downhill and enduro, let XC be XC.

[@zwtvchannel]

No pads! Just paper thin clothing 💪🔥

[@brandonnewell4081]

@@TheTrailRabbit I didn't ask for this...just saying it'll make me watch.

[@elpedalmtbalbacete6909]

Olé.... 🚴🇪🇦👌🏻

[@sandrocusihuaman2397]

This is CRAS-shsses MONTANA. ✌️✌️💪💪💪🙌🙌🙌😁😁😁

[@tonyboughman8050]

Please show the interesting uphill sections of track.

[@Mvees]

🤣

[@ImaCullen]

Surely at this course, a dropper would be a big advantage.

[@oscarorozco6305]

Downhill guys looking at this course like 🥳🥳😂😂

[@mvm006]

It´s son funny watching these Roadies trying to do Mountain Bike, light Mtb.

[@wingtip76]

I guess you feel stupid now hey?😂😂

[@luizfrediane8791]

Avancini analisando as linhas 🇧🇷

[@viana4639]

Crazy 🤪🤐

[@paulwintermute1495]

UCI is doing the impossible. Making XC cool 😎

[@patcoll7455]

Spinal injury alert. Knee & elbow pads required...Reckless who ever signed of on this circuit.

[@lngrs07]

Time for some riser bars on the xc bike

[@NZMtbGuy]

I’ll remember this as the day XC needs Fullface

[@mtb71]

Brilliant course

[@youling1997]

I would just put on some pads for practice. They aren’t even that uncomfortable to wear

[@airgang]

pelo visto a pista de araxá subiu o nível de dificuldades do mundial este ano!!

[@rustychain9518]

It seems as though it would make sense to wear pads during practice.

[@raulperez1109]

Ya no existe la chikkenline?

[@pollonero3]

why don't they use the seat dropper on such a technical trail?

[@CWBmtb]

The only people complaining are the ones that can't ride. Awesome track!

[@Leo_Montoya]

Nah we can all ride it but its now looking more like a enduro track not a Xc track. It’s more dangerous for the sponsored payed riders.

[@davehause8571]

I definitely agree with you, I couldn't ride this track. I bet many who say they can, can't either.

[@williamsimpson8115]

This is a sick course, will favour the real XCO riders who put the time in on the MTB and don’t just sit on the road bike.. I do feel like we might all need a new 140mm XCO bike with new standards on everything by the end of the season.

[@wingtip76]

Yeah, well, you're wrong look who won😂😂

[@williamsimpson8115]

@@wingtip76No I’m not this proves my point completely. Pidders is one of the best XCO racers and Cyclocross riders in the world , the current XCO Olympic champion … He now rides road as well but without question comes from an off-road background … This type of technical proper off road course is exactly what sorts the real MTB riders from those that are just really fit

[@nicholkid]

Surprised that rock drop didn't look as difficult as I imagined

[@Naah732]

Is it me or the middle line on that drop is faster

[@indiedog1981]

This is the UCI XCO Hardline version 😅

[@ricardomartinezmor2490]

mirando también se aprende

[@deonbean6426]

PFP sitting this one out to or maybe another blood transfusion this week.

[@claudiobatista8867]

Quanto que eles faz a média de velocidade

[@Krazyfrog_69]

Mtb races in my opinion should be made in places were nature provides the features to ride. That is what "mountain bike" means. Am i wrong?

[@XYZ181A]

You are right ❤

[@wojciechpac3943]

why nobody does proper drops... whyyyyy??

[@terenceprieto3964]

Solo en el juego de los Lemmings había más crueldad premeditada por el diseñador del nivel. Aquí no llevan paracaídas. Doy por seguro que Pauline no asiste a esta copa del mundo, me equivoco?

[@sfer1]

Pauline está un excelente nivel y ésta es probablemente su última y mejor oportunidad de ganar el oro olímpico. Yo no correría esta carrera si fuera ella. Es un riesgo innecesario tan cerca de los JJ.OO.

[@Chops00]

Looks like these guys have never hit a drop before.

[@IK47-d2l]

Man, these rocks scare the shit out of me

[@monkeays]

I wish I was able to watch the actual race and ot have to wait for 6 mins of highlights....

[@waynebritten]

It's what a xco should be,as that's what is riden everyday when out on the trails.

[@frienduro24]

The camera loves Kate Courtney

[@wingtip76]

And that's all she's good for.

[@frienduro24]

@@wingtip76 she has not podiumed in years, yet she’s highlighted more than most of the other XC riders. Including men and the 2 USA girls going to the Olympics. Which is shitty. Why aren’t they backing them more? I don’t get it

[@losted00]

🔥

[@asun3630]

Honeslty, why not wear pads? They are super light now. You wear rain protection. I seek out stuff like this in SoCal on the XC bike. It is interesting watching Euros adjust to our mountains and soil. Like USA roadies racing in Europe. Either way this is dangerous at race pace. Man made features a little heavy. Wood features dope! Course feedback rough for Montana, this is a first for me that I see this many riders dislike a course. Safety a huge concern with Olympics right there. Brazil is a perfect example of a great course with dope features, but it wont potentially kill you like Montana.😅

[@creepingjesus5106]

Looks like a DH course from 25yrs ago.

[@kylejosephson]

Whats with the photo shopped bike in the cover photo? Handlebars are turned lol

[@IVAN-iv2op]

OK lo spettacolo ma bisogna pensare alla sicurezza dei piloti

[@fili86raceface]

xc che diventa enduro e gli voglio pure fare montare le gomme da 2.50

[@ibh2022]

Just cancel the cross country world cup and pump the money into EDR, this course is a blur between XC and an enduro stage and im pretty sure you'd get round it quicker on a 170/165 full susser 😂

[@claudioriotti-riotmtbexp]

All those rocks and strange looking logs sections... bah. Also, a lot of the riders are so stiff that their necks are going to break.

[@Albe719]

The rock drop has no margins of error. This is so unsafe, this would be like having a MotoGp track with 200kmh corners with barries 2 meters from the track. Apparently track builders do not remember Annefleur Kalvenhaar fatal crash in 2014 Meribel World Cup, when she died after hitting a stone with her head after falling from a bridge on the course. Risk is of course part of the game, that doesn't mean that XC should not evolve, and i was actually excited about some features like the jumps introduced in Brazil. Also bikes are improving year by year and they go more and more faster but not protections, riders are always riding basically naked. I'm an Elite XC rider and i've been racing MTB for more than 10 years, do you think riders and team owners are happy to risk a severe injury beacause track builders had the incredible idea of leaving no margin of error on the landing of the drop? Do you think making this rock drop instead of a normal one with dirt on the landing is changing the outcomes of the races?

🍿🍿

[@DJ-bi7tt]

Lordy...they better hope there's no rain. Oops...they did have rain - good luck to all.

[@GaborEID]

Haha, Puck with the knee protectors is *prepared*

[@Eloise.H]

Hope it will rain, would be funny i think

[@jaredcampos7359]

Crash Montana 🤟🚵‍♀️