Press release
UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2025: The countdown is on!
Sion, 13.9.2022. In exactly three years, Valais will host the 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, bringing together seven mountain bike disciplines for the first time in UCI history. On Tuesday morning, the CM MTB Valais 2025 association presented the project accompanied by the host destinations and world-class athletes Jolanda Neff and Camille Balanche. A fresco of the event logo was inaugurated in front of the town hall in Sion.
In the heart of Sion, the association CM MTB Valais 2025, consisting of Valais/Wallis Promotion, the Valais Cycling Federation, Swiss Cycling and the host destinations officially launched the preparations for the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2025. In exactly three years, Valais will host an event that will go down in history. For the first time, world championships in seven mountain bike disciplines will be held at nine venues within two weeks in the same region. "It is both a challenge and an opportunity to be the first to organise a major event in this format. Valais is perfectly suited for it. We are happy to be able to organise this big mountain bike festival," says Julien Hess, director of the association CM MTB Valais 2025.
Homologating new trails, designing new routes.
On Tuesday morning, Julien Hess presented the project at Sion town hall, accompanied by representatives of the nine venues; Crans-Montana (cross-country), Région Dents du Midi (downhill), Grächen (E-MTB), Leukerbad (enduro), Verbier and Val d'Anniviers (marathon), Monthey (pumptrack), Zermatt (short track) and Sion (opening ceremony and entertainment). Afterwards, a fresco of the official logo of the 2025 World Championships was inaugurated on the Place de la Planta by all participants symbolically laying a paving stone.
The ceremony was also attended by Jolanda Neff, Olympic cross-country champion, downhill World Cup winner Camille Balanche, up-and-coming Valais athlete Thibaud Contesse and former Valais mountain biker Michel Rey. "It's great that after Lenzerheide 2018, we can bring mountain biking even closer to the population with a World Championship in another Swiss region," said Jolanda Neff. Camille Balanche is also very excited: "A World Championship in our own country in this new format is like an excellent showcase for our sport, especially for those disciplines that are less in the media spotlight." By staging this event, Valais is reinforcing its desire to position the region as a leading mountain bike destination. Several major projects will be implemented by 2025 to make the canton even more attractive for mountain bike fans all year round. Among other things, it is planned to homologate new trails and design three regional routes. The first, Valais Alpine Bike, has already been available on Switzerland Mobile and wallis.ch since this spring. Steve Morabito, president of the Valais Cycling Federation and the CM MTB Valais 2025 association, explains: "From 2023, the focus will be on sustainable projects to encourage young people to cycle and to get women interested in biking. In addition, we want to form a Team Valais2025 for the purpose of promoting young locals."
The World Championships are a perfect fit for Valais.
The organisation of these combined world championships will give a new dynamic to the development of mountain biking. Thomas Peter, CEO of Swiss Cycling, is excited about the prospects: "Switzerland is one of the leading mountain bike nations. Biking has been gaining in popularity for years with the continuing sporting successes. And the fact that a world championship of historic relevance will now be hosted in Switzerland will further strengthen this trend."
The Valais offers topographical conditions for all performance levels and disciplines, making it the perfect place to hold these seven World Championships in a single region. "With over 2000 kilometres of marked mountain bike trails, the region attracts national and international guests. We have therefore advocated from the outset that this competition be organised in our canton. Such a major event will showcase the advantages of Valais and raise the canton's profile as a mountain bike destination," explains Raphaël Favre, Director Brand Activation of Valais/Wallis Promotion.
Interested parties can now follow the progress of preparations for the event via www.wallis2025.ch, and the official World Championships website will be updated regularly.
More information: www.wallis2025.ch
Contact:
Association CM MTB Valais 2025
Steve Morabito
president@valais2025.ch
079 299 03 11
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