Mountain bike racing

Mountain bike racing
Technical assistance area for cross-country events at the 2009 world championships
Highest governing bodyUCI
NicknamesMTB racing
Characteristics
ContactNo, although bodies do touch
Team membersIndividuals
Mixed-sexYes, separate competitions
TypeCycle sport
EquipmentMountain bike, downhill bike
VenueOff-road
Presence
Country or regionWorldwide
OlympicYes, men's and women's since the 1996 Olympics
ParalympicNo

Mountain bike racing (shortened MTB or ATB racing) is the competitive cycle sport discipline of mountain biking held on off-road terrain. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recognised the discipline relatively late in 1990, when it sanctioned the world championships in Durango, Colorado. The first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series took place in 1988. Its nine-race circuit covered two continents—Europe and North America—and was sponsored by Grundig. Cross-country racing was the only World Cup sport at this time. In 1993, a six-event downhill World Cup was introduced. In 1996, cross-country mountain biking events were added to the Olympic Games. In 2006, cross-country mountain biking events became part of the World Deaf Cycling Championships for the first time in San Francisco, USA.[1]

In the United States, there are three USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendars: Endurance, Gravity and Ultra-Endurance. USA Cycling runs the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships. There are mountain bike racing types that are not recognized by the UCI, such as mountain bike orienteering that is governed by the IOF.

  1. ^ "2006 World Deaf Championships Schedule". Archived from the original on 9 May 2006. Retrieved 19 March 2011.