The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recently published its 2024 calendar, including all UCI-sanctioned mountain bike races for the upcoming season. That includes a solid indication of what the 2024 Canada Cup calendar will look like for cross country, downhill and, for national championships at least, enduro.
Cross Country
For cross country racers, there are six XCO stops in the 2024 Canada Cup series. This includes a new double-header in Canmore, Alta in June. Racing starts in Ontario at Hardwood Hills, touches down in Alberta and Quebec before heading to Atlantic Canada for a stop in Dieppe, N.B. and Canadian XC national championships return to Kentville, N.S. After a lengthy break, St. Félicien, Que. hosts the final Canada Cup round. For racers that wan to go long, Thunder Bay, Ont. hosts XCM nationals in early September.
Downhill (and enduro)
On the gravity side, Canada Cup racing remains stuck entirely in B.C. in 2024. Dunbar Summer Series will kick off the downhill series in July with a trio of events. The summer camp-style series starts with a week of racing at Fernie, Panorama and Kicking Horse. Crankworx sticks with its new July dates for 2024. As in 2023, that week Whistler will be hosting the Canadian Open DH, likely on the new 1199 track again, as well as Canadian enduro national championships. A busy August sees SilverStar host a Canada Cup before the Canadian DH national championships land at Sun Peaks Resort on Aug 10-11. The Kamloops area’s return to downhill racing in 2023 was very well received, so this should be a popular event. UCI/Discovery have opened a solid break in the World Cup calendar to make room for the Paris Olympics next summer. That means Sun Peaks could also see some of Canada’s international downhill starts free to return home and vie for the maple leaf sleeve in 2024. The final national series race heads to Mount Washington for the annual Stevie Smith Memorial DH, which earns Canada Cup status next year.
While there is always room for changes, once UCI has given approval it is quite a bit harder to change race dates on a sanctioned event. 2023 did see some changes, including due to flooding in Quebec.
2024 Canada Cup mountain bike calendar
Cross Country
May 19 – Hardwood Canada Cup – XCO (UCI C2)
June 8 – Baie-Saint-Paul, Que. – XCC…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…