After a break of one week, the Mountain Bike World Cup starts up again this weekend in Maribor, Slovenia for the first round of the Downhill series and the second for 4-Cross. Maribor first appeared on the World Cup schedule in 1999 and, while having hosting cross-country events, is primarily known as a Gravity venue.
Now THIS is a muddy 4X course. Rob Jones photo
The Slovenia site is famous for its fast courses that make good use of the local terrain, particularly rough, rocky sections and rooty, twisty runs through woods. For 2010 there are only minor changes to both courses. On the downhill, the riders have been re-routed to a different line through the rock garden, while the main change on the 4-Cross circuit is the removal of the banked wall riders used to hit halfway down. It is the weather which will have a major impact on racing with continuing rain that will last through the weekend. This has turned formerly fast, tight lines into muddy, slippery ones, particularly near the finish where construction of a new gondola has turned the area into a quagmire.
In the 4-Cross, world champion and defending Maribor winner Caroline Buchanan of Australia will be making her first appearance, having missed Houffalize while competing at a BMX World Cup. She has qualified fastest for Saturday's final. Czech rider Jana Horakova won the first World Cup leader's jersey of her career in Houffalize, and will be looking to extend her lead in the women's race, however, defending World Cup champion Anneke Beerten (Suspension Centre) will be looking to put her crash at Houffalize behind her.
Men's world champion Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) is once again the favourite for the men, after winning the opening round in Houffalize. Dutch rider Joost Wichman, who won at Maribor last year, will be looking to make the final he missed in the opening round, while Tomas Slavik (RSP 4 Cross Racing), Michal Prokop (Agang Racing) will be looking to improve on their previous second and third placings.
In the Downhill, one big name will be missing from the men's competition - defending Maribor champion Fabien Barel of France, who recently broke his leg in training. The rest of the top pros are expected to put on a fierce battle in the effort to become the first rider of the season to don the World Cup leader's jersey. On the women's side, Rachel Atherton (Commencal) is returning to competition after missing the 2009 season due to a training accident pre-season. She will be up against world champion Emmeline Ragot (Suspension Centre) and defending World Cup champion Sabrina Jonnier (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain), who won in Maribor last year.
On the men's side, the Santa Cruz Syndicate duo of Greg Minnaar and world champion Steve Peat will go up against the always competitive Sam Hill (Monster Energy-Specialized), who is particularly good in the mud. Hill will be racing for the first time this year after a mysterious injury kept him out of early season competition. In timed training, in the mud, top riders were turning in 3:12 - 3:15 runs - roughly 10 seconds slower than in the dry last year.
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