Schladming WC 4x Preview

This weekend sees the 2009 UCI MTB World Cup series finale take place in Schladming, Austria. This is the sixth year in a row the world cup has returned to Schladming and it has become a much loved venue amongst the riders and fans alike due in part to the awesome downhill track but also the great set up with the track finishing in the centre of town and this is reflected by the high rider entry. You can be sure the Hohenhaus Tenne will be going off once the racing is done with the riders enjoying a few Schladmingers and a well earned end of season blow out!

This year's 4x track has been lengthened considerably over last year's and should take around 50 seconds to get from top to bottom. The track looks fast and contains plenty of loose (some flat) turns, an s-bend with logs and a pro line with two huge doubles which should make for great racing. Here's a few pics courtesy of Phil Saxena.

First straight on the 4X track

Log turn on the 4X track

The Pro Line on the 4X track, check out that first jump

The series overall has already been wrapped up by Jared Graves but he'll want to finish the season on a high and he hasn't won here in past. The previous winners are:

2004 Karim Armour
2005 Brian Lopes
2006 Kamil Tatarkovic
2007 Brian Lopes
2008 Romain Saladini

Joost Wichman is also safe in second but with Roger Rinderknecht absent through injury, Romain Saladini, Dan Atherton and Michal Prokop will all be looking to leapfrog the Swiss rider and snatch third in the overall.

Alongside the British World Cup regulars on the entry list of Dan Atherton, Scott Beaumont, Bernard Kerr, Will Evans, Pat Campbell-Jenner, Lewis Lacey, Tom Dowie, Duncan Ferris, Scott Roberts and Will Longden are debutants Max Lenthall (fresh from winning the Junior NPS4X overall) and Dave Roberts (brother of Scott and a skillful rider). Also in attendance are the South African pair of Ollie Jones and Stefan Garlicki riding for Evans Cycles and well known on the domestic 4x scene.

Qualifying will be tough with around 120 riders vying for a top 64 in the seeding run and place in the knockout stages. You can see live timing of the qualifying on the UCI website starting at 1730 UK time. The finals will be going out live on Freecaster on Saturday at 1800 UK time.