BIG news for British downhill racing ladies and gents.
British Cycling have just made the official announcement for the 2018 HSBC UK National British Downhill Series dates and venues.
The 2018 HSBC UK National British Downhill Series will be a 5 round series with races in England, Wales and Scotland.
It will be organised by three separate event organisers and will take place between April and September.
There will also be a one-off British National Downhill Championships, held in Scotland.
2018 British National Downhill Series dates and venues:
- Cwm Carn 7th 8th April
- Fort William 12th 13th May (Cat 1 UCI race)
- Rheola 30th June 1st July
- Rhyd y Felin 11th 12th August (Cat 1 UCI race and clashes with MSA World Cup)
- Bringewood 22nd 23rd September
National Champs will be at Glencoe on the 21st 22nd July.
Today’s announcement is the end of a big question mark above British national downhill racing.
When the British Downhill Series closed shop at the end of 2017 many riders worried that there wouldn’t be any interest from other organisers to fill the gap.
Whilst the proof, as always, will be in how the events are delivered this is at the very least a great sign that British downhill racing is alive and well and there’s an appetite to keep a strong national series.
What do we think then?
The spread of venues is, we think, strong.
Cwm Carn feels like a safe pair of hands to us. It offers a newish venue from an organiser – Welsh Gravity’s Charlie Williams – that is already putting on well organised, well attended events. Much of the track is well established and ‘surfaced’ meaning it’ll be rideable regardless of the conditions. Rumour has it there’s going to be a new top section built for the event, which we’re excited to see.
The two events in Wales and Bringewood will be organised by MIJ Downhill. Those guys have been putting on events for years and should be pretty familiar with their three venues. We’re stoked to see Rheola back on the menu.
Organising National level races will be a step up for them but, with the support BC’s Gravity Commission, feedback from the riders and collaboration with the other event organisers they should do a fine job.
Last but not least, the Scottish round and National Champs will be the only events outside of Wales. Fort William offers UK riders a chance to step up to World Cup level riding and also offers international riders a warm up for the World Cup later in the year.
2017’s Fort William BDS was attended by a tonne of big gun elite racers and many used it to test 29″ downhill bikes ahead of the main event. Seeing that event on the calendar is good. We’ve got no doubt that the Scottish Downhill Association will do a fine job.
National Champs at Glencoe is an interesting one, also organised by the SDA. The venue is always a tough one and our last couple of trips there have been a bit of a nightmare. Picking a summer date for the race is smart so, fingers crossed, we’ll have some decent weather and an exciting, technical race.
UCI points
Fort William and Rhyd y Felin will be category 1 UCI races with points up for grabs. British Cycling have deliberately timed Rhyd y Felin to clash with the Mont St Anne. We like that. It gives riders that would normally get destroyed by big dog racers a chance to get some points and have a go at World Cups. Smart move BC. 
And a call to arms…
All that’s left now is for the riders and the industry to support the series.
We’ll be there for the full series. We’ll be fielding a full race team, we’ll have pits in the race village and we’ll be covering the events with photo, video and live coverage. We’re fully behind behind the British National Downhill Series and National Champs.
We’re going to challenge the UK’s elite riders and the bike industry to do the same.
Elite racers. Please enter at least three races. Enter early, enter all the events in one go, turn up and get stuck in to racing to win.
Support the British races that helped you to get to the level you’re at now. When you’re there, fire up some Instagram posts and help show the World the UK race scene is STRONG!
Bike industry. We know marketing budgets are small and times are tough.
Please, consider event sponsorship as a good way to sell your bikes alongside athlete sponsorship. Support the races with any sponsorship opportunities that you can afford. Push your athletes to race at least three events and support them with a strong presence for your brands at the races.
We understand that it’s easier to support riders than races but no races means no riders.
You can read the full story on BC’s site here.
What do you think of the 2018 race series line up?
Tell us in the comments below!
