Touted as the Rumble in the Jungle, the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup will bring the world’s top riders including Australian World Champion cross country rider Paul van der Ploeg to Cairns for three days of action on April 25-27.
The 2016 UCI Mountain Bike World Cups and the 2017 UCI World Mountain Bike and Trials Championships also will be held in the Smithfield Conservation Park, a 20-minute drive north of the Cairns Airport.
Boasting a unique rainforest environment and spectacular views of the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics rainforest, the Park has a variety of trails for all riders from families to those wanting a technical challenge.
2014 cairns uci world-cup dh course preview
Cairns local Mick Hannah shows off the freshly built downhill course at speed
Spectators at the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup will be able to watch a number of events from the Event Centre including the Cross Country Eliminator, the Downhill finish and some exciting sections of the Cross Country. Both the Downhill and the Cross Country Olympic courses will be accessible and it will be worth the hike to the live site on the Cross Country course.
MC Matt Keenan from SBS will do a running commentary of the action which can be seen on a big screen at the Event Centre. Vendors and a bar also will be set up along with the World Cup Expo, where people can mingle with the riders and check out the latest mountain biking gear.
Those wanting to participate in the World Cup festivities can ride in The Tablelands Classic at Atherton on April 25. It is just one of the region’s many mountain biking events which include the gruelling Crocodile Trophy, RRR Mountain Bike Challenge and the Gravitate Mountain Bike Festival.
Almost 40 mountain bike trails adding up to 550 kilometres of riding can be found at ridecairns.com.