Oceania, the Americas an Europe will play host to the first ever UCI Continental Mountain Bike Series next year to provide the stepping stone to World Cup racing.
The UCI have announced three Continental Mountain Bike Series for downhill and cross country in 2025, to provide a stepping stone between national and World Cup racing.
At the time of writing this schedule is not complete. European downhill events will be added as they are confirmed. Crankworx events double up as three Continental downhill races in Oceania as well as the Silver Star round in the Americas series, with the Portuguese round of the iXS EDC being a double header in this respect as well. Whilst the US Pro Downhill Series for 2025 hasn’t been confirmed, they raced in Zirconia this year, so it’s likely that they’ll be double-heading too.
Finish top five at any of these events to get a chance to race a single World Cup, finish top five overall in any of the Continental Series standings in to qualify to race the following season in its entirety (from 2026). What is not clear is whether or not current World Cup riders will be permitted to race this events, or have the points awarded to Continental Series riders if they do. There’s not currently in the UCI regulations for Continental Series races that could stop UCI World Series Team riders edging out all the riders trying to finish top five in a single race or in the series.
“Developed in close collaboration with the Continental Confederations, the Continental Series will provide riders from the different continents with new opportunities to qualify for the UCI World Cups, which are part of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series. A rider finishing in the top five of a Continental Series event will be eligible to participate in a round of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, while the top five riders in the overall standings of the various Continental Series will have the right to participate in all rounds of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series in the following season. These additional opportunities will contribute to the global expansion of the discipline.
The events in the “Continental Series” (CS) will be similar to the Hors Classe (HC) events in terms of points awarded. This will provide riders around the world with another chance to earn valuable points for the UCI Individual Ranking.“
There is also a distinct lack of Africa and Asia, however, a cursory glance at the UCI calendars show little or nothing downhill related outside of South Africa. Whilst there’s also full full suite of Continental Continental and National Championship races in Africa, we can find little detail on series that could qualify for a Continental Series race. The Asia Mountain Bike Series covers XCO races in the Phillipines and Japan but doesn’t feature in a Continental Series and we can find few details on any downhill events.
2025 UCI Continental Mountain Bike Series
Oceania:
- January 11: Dunedin (NZ) XCO
- Janaury 19: Coronet Peak (NZ) DH
- February 14-16: Christchurch (NZ) DH
- March 1: Canberra (AUS) XCO
- March 2: Canberra (AUS) XCO & DH
- March 5-9: Rotorua (NZ) DH
- May 21-25: Cairns (AUS) DH
Americas:
- January 31-February 2: Valdivia (CHI) XC
- February 15-16: Cartago (CRC) DH
- February 19: Salinas (PUR) XC
- April 5-6: Zirconia (USA) DH
- May 2-4: Congonhas (BRA) XC
- June 11-13: Canmore (CAN) XC
- June 27-29: Midway (USA) XC
- July 26-27: Santiago De Los Caballeros (DOM) XC
- August 2-3: Silver Star (CAN) DH
- August 15-17: Manizales (COL) XC
- October 16-19: Lima (PER) DH
- November 27-30: Temuco (CHI) DH
Europe:
- February 22-23: Banyoles (ESP) XC
- March 23: Rivera (SUI) XC
- April 5-6: Santiago De Besteiros (POR) DH
- May 10-11: Haiming (AUT) XC
- June 28: Cheile Gradistei (ROU) XC
- August 22-24: Les Menuires – La Croisette (FRA) XC & DH
