Sion, 18 July 2024. In September 2025, Valais will welcome the 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. This is an opportunity for the canton to position itself as a leading destination for mountain biking. Valais 2025, Valais/Wallis Promotion and the host destinations are joining forces to launch a strong campaign for 2024 and 2025. Together they have produced a series of videos featuring professional athlete Kriss Kyle who explores Valais on his mountain bike accompanied by well-known personalities, such as Camille Balanche and David Constantin.
Valais has been prioritising cycling and mountain biking since 2017 by launching its cycling/mountain biking strategy. This initiative, which led to Valais’ candidacy for the 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, aims to develop cycling and mountain biking in the canton and to position Valais as a leading destination by implementing targeted measures. This means mountain biking has become a key element in the strategy of Valais/Wallis Promotion and various destinations in the canton.
Exploring the host destinations of the 2025 UCI World Championships.
Valais/Wallis Promotion, Valais 2025 and the host destinations have pooled their resources to launch a national campaign under the slogan “Come mountain biking. And find your inner self.”. This campaign does not just highlight mountain biking, but also Valais’ cultural activities and fine cuisine. Damian Constantin, Head of Valais/Wallis Promotion, believes this initiative is an achievement: “It’s the first time we’ve succeeded in bringing together so many actors for a campaign of this kind. We firmly believe a strong message tailored to each destination and the event will achieve an even greater impact for Valais. This is a key step in implementing the canton’s joint vision initiated by the cycling/mountain biking strategy.” Complementing the national campaign, a series of inspiring videos explores Valais through the host destinations of the 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.
Mountain biking and more.
Entitled “Valais. The Secret Spot of Biking,” this series of videos aims to showcase the extraordinary playground Valais has to offer. The canton has tremendous potential which is sometimes overlooked. This means there are lots of mountain biking secrets to share. It features Kriss Kyle, a mountain biking star from the UK, who sets off to discover the wonders of Valais on his e-bike. In each episode, he is accompanied by a famous personality who shows him the best spots in the region. He explores mountain biking trails but also enjoys other key activities in each location. “I’ve been fortunate enough to go biking all over the world, but to visit these incredible places is mind-blowing. Biking has enabled me to visit lots of places, meet many people along the way and explore other cultures. I’ve ridden everywhere, but Valais really is at the top of the list,” he remarks. Julien Hess, Head of Valais 2025, explains these videos are a taster of what athletes and visitors can expect in 2025: “Each video is filmed in a host destination of the 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. This will provide the general public and the athletes with an insight into all the great things Valais has to offer – magnificent scenery, extraordinary trails and a wide range of additional activities to try out. This will provide even greater incentive to visit in 2025.” The date of the championships is approaching and all of Valais is determined to do everything it can to make this event an unforgettable experience for the competitors, hosts and everyone in Valais.
A unifying project.
Hosting all the disciplines of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in the same region over a two-week period is a unique opportunity and a first in the history of mountain biking. Valais will be in the spotlight, giving it a higher profile than ever before for this sport. That’s why it is vitally important for the actors in the region to join forces to ensure the success of the event and to take advantage of this opportunity to create a lasting legacy in terms of both sport and tourism.
Don’t miss any of the videos in the “Valais. The Secret Spot of Biking.” series.
- Trailer with Kriss Kyle, UK mountain biker and Specialized ambassador.
- Episode 1: Région Dents du Midi/Champéry with Camille Balanche, Swiss Downhill mountain biker and Valais 2025 ambassador, UCI Downhill World Champion in 2020, runner-up in the 2023 UCI Downhill World Championships.
- Episode 2: Verbier with Ludo May, a Valais mountain biker and ambassador of Verbier
- Episode 3: Crans-Montana with Lucas Huppert Swiss slopestyle mountain biker, 3rd in a round of the Crankworx World Tour and , an American slopestyle mountain biker, who has won the Crankworx World Tour multiple times.
- Episode 4: Val d’Anniviers with Camille Rast, a Valais skier, several top 10 finishes in the Alpine Ski World Cup and ambassador of Val d’Anniviers
- Episode 5: Leukerbad with Lukas Dennda, a Valais e-mountain biker, top 10 in the UCI E-Mountain Bike World Cup.
- Episode 6: Zermatt with Nathan Taugwalder, an athlete and ambassador of Zermatt
- Episode 7: Aletsch Arena / Bellwald with David Constantin, Valais actor and director, alias Bax from the Swiss series
See all episodes at: valais.ch/secret-spot
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