MTB World Cup Lenzerheide: Switzerland has a new World Cup destination

After the last Mountain Bike World Cup and the last MTB World Championships held in Switzerland were held in French-speaking Switzerland (Champéry), these major events are now coming to German-speaking Switzerland. In 2013, the vacation region of Lenzerheide deservedly won the bid to host these events. This means that the canton of Graubünden and Lenzerheide will be richer by some important international sporting events.

by Rolf Fleckenstein

The name "Lenzerheide" has a good reputation among mountain bikers at home and abroad. Apart from the beautiful alpine landscape, the vacation region has been dedicated to mountain bikers for years and has ensured that mountain bikers feel at home up here with events such as Trek Bike Attack or Grischa Trail Ride and modern lift and railroad facilities. Swiss Cycling must also have recognized this when it gave the Lenzerheide vacation region the go-ahead in 2013 and proposed the bid to the UCI, which also found Lenzerheide's candidacy to be good. "The work of the past years and the consistent implementation of the bike strategy in the entire destination have paid off. The vision of mountain bike world championships in the home of biking is coming true," Bruno Fläcklin, tourism director of the vacation region, commented on the decision at the time. 2015 gets underway This year marks the beginning of the era of the Mountain Bike World Cups, which will be held in Lenzerheide in 2015-2017, and the Mountain Bike World Championships, which will take place in 2018. For Swiss fans, this means that they will be able to experience their bike idols up close at an international event in their home country. For the Swiss bikestars, it means that they can prove what they are capable of in front of their home audience. The current Swiss mountain bike stars in cross country include Nino Schurter, Fabian Giger, the Flückiger brothers, Jolanda Neff and Kathrin Stirnemann. International stars include Julien Absalon, Manuel Fumic, José Antonio Hermida Ramos, Catharine Pendrel and Gunn-Rita Dahle. In downhill, fans can look forward to stars Gee Atherton, Josh Bryceland, Greg Minaar and Rachel Atherton. In July, mountain bike action at its best is on the agenda in Lenzerheide.