Great news downhill fans – it has been confirmed that there will be a National British Downhill Series in 2018.
MIJ Downhill, the Welsh race organisers, have announced on their Facebook that their will be a National British Downhill Series in 2018 and that they will host rounds 3, 4 and 5.
They’ve confirmed that there will be 5 races in total and that venues and dates will be announced soon.
The news confirms that the new series will be run by a number of race organisers, rather than a single organiser as in previous years. It will also reduce the number of events from six down to five and, given MIJ’s involvement, it’s likely that half the series will be in Wales.
2017 was announced as the last year of the British Downhill Series – the long standing national downhill series, organised by Si Paton and British Cycling.
The end of the series meant uncertainty for racing in the UK. With the BDS running for so long riders were concerned that a new organiser could be found and, in response, British Cycling invited tenders from race organisers. Today’s news is the first we’ve heard of tenders being awarded to event organisers.
We’ve reached out to British Cycling and to MIJ for more information but we’re yet to hear back.
