From Ski Sunday to Snow Bike Saturday, on February 7th, for one day only, the third annual UCI Snow Bike World Championships will take place in the French Alps. Here’s what you need to know, plus a bit of an analysis of why the event attracts so much controversy and negativity in some quarters, and a sprinkling of snow bike racing history, too, which is often seemingly lost in the great whiteout of analogue times.
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What, where, when, and who?
Saturday 7th February at 10 am CET (9 am GMT), the third edition of the UCI Snow Bike World Championships will take place at the French ski resort of Chatel, the same host venue as the previous two editions. Chatel is located in the Portes du Soleil region of the Alps, a place well known for top draw summer MTB riding and racing, with resorts such as Morzine and Les Gets not too far away.
On the schedule will be the heats and finals of the Men’s and Women’s Elite Super-G, and then later the same day for the Dual Slalom, which will wrap up the racing for the official rainbow jerseys and associated bling at around 6 pm CET, after which I imagine there will be one heck of an après-bike party going down off camera.
Super-G is pretty much the same as ski racing: a timed, fairly short downhill run on snow, with riders tackling a flagged course with long, sweeping turns – hitting speeds of over 100kph at times. The Dual Slalom is run off in knockout-to-finals style, with the leading 32 riders from the Super-G taking part, and it happens at dusk. Riders choose their rig in advance, with many riding a downhill bike with spiked tyres, which can be no longer than 6mm, and the same bike must be used for both races.
In 2024, there were 43 men and seven women racing, and last year there were 49 men and 14 women on the start grid. As for this year, at the time of writing, there is no information on riders or numbers, though we would expect a marginal increase in numbers. Thus far, most big names in gravity racing have seemingly stayed at home by the fireside polishing their bearings for the summer season, though, we have seen the likes of Danny Hart, Sabrina Jonie, Henry Kerr, and a few more race in the past, and former top downhill racer Cedric Gracia also rides and is involved in the organisation of the race.
The male podium last year was dominated locally based freerider Vincent Tupin (Vinny T), Pierre Thevenard (who beat Ireland/Scotland’s Henry Kerr to win in 2024, while Danny Hart was 5th), Leo Grisel and Gracia; all French, while Switzerland’s Lisa Beauman won both women’s titles in 2025.
As we understand it, TNT Sports won’t be broadcasting the racing, though it should be live on the UCI YouTube channel, and highlights will follow. If it is actually broadcast elsewhere, it may be geo-restricted, and you’ll need a VPN to watch live.
Why all the controversy?
It has to be said that the Snow Bike Championships have attracted a fair amount of controversy and negativity within the MTB racing scene, with fans (err, commenters), and in some media corners too. What are their gripes? We’ve heard and read all sorts, from “this isn’t mountain biking”, “I don’t get it, it’s just a novelty”, “why are the UCI wasting resources and shifting priorities”, etc.
Where do we start with pulling that lot apart? This bit is simply my opinion, as I cannot speak for everyone; to an extent, in some places I get the gripes, but surely anything that gets us more, and very different mountain biking entertainment on our small screens in mid-winter has to be good?
As for not being mountain biking? That’s a strange one for a sport that’s only officially (or rather UCI sanctioned as a championship) existed since 1990, and one with no clear sub-genre ID when it all started years before that, and kind of made up and found its individual disciplines as it went along, and then introduced manmade race courses and formats? Sure, it’s not the kind of riding most of us do, but pre 1990 we didn’t do the same kind of riding and events we do today either, or at least not the vast majority of us don’t.
As for the UCI and its priorities and resources? Well, it’s mid-winter, with no World Cup racing in sight yet. Plus, in general, a hefty fee is charged for the hosting of a World Championship or World Series round of any bike race, and then, all being well, come the TV and branding fees at some point, although I have no idea if that is the case here. Chatel has hosted all three editions so far, and it is a premium kind of place, so it’s highly unlikely any financial resources would be diluted, perhaps far from it. But I could be wrong.
Legitimacy, that is a tricky one, and riders who focused their careers on four-cross and dual slalom World Cup racing years ago may well feel a bit disgruntled as their disciplines and the titles are no longer a thing. That said, there are also a few other MTB and cycling disciplines with official World Championship status that could perhaps also warrant the same critique on that score.
Does it devalue the main World Championship disciplines in value terms? Umm, maybe yes, maybe no – depending on how you look at things; sure, there is no way it does, or likely ever will hold anywhere near the prestige or stature as a Downhill or XCO World Championship, and given its very nature and requirements, snow bike racing is unlikely to ever become as big as the summer disciplines. I guess, to a pure mountain biker, maybe it could be seen as unworthy, while a non-biker likely knows no difference, so a hard one to balance on that score.
Should it have had World Championship status from the get-go? That’s not really for us to decide, but had a series of a few events around the same period, in the same Alpine region, been strung together, and then been nurtured first, perhaps that would have been a more acceptable approach all round? Though that’s unlikely to have come to fruition, or at least we would not be writing about it here, or to have ever seen or given the discipline a chance. Plus, without official UCI branding and status, would the tourist boards and potential sponsors have come onboard in the first place, or would it have turned out to be a local fun event?
Just as a footnote, snow biking and racing in snow have been around almost as long as the sport itself, just not in a mainstream way. From the first Iditabike ultra marathons of the late 1980s, to downhill snow racing in the Rockies in the early 90’s, snow bike racing in various locations in the Alps during the 90s, to a race down the Cresta Run and the X-Games, full-on snow and ice races once thrived, with most run outside of the UCI. Sadly, we just never heard about or saw many of them, as there was no true broadcast platform for this back then.
A few years ago, there was also the Snow Epic XC-style stage race, which turned into the Gstaad Snow Bike Festival for a while. Having watched that, I would have given my frostbitten right toe to ride, and wouldn’t it, maybe, even be great to add in a cross-country and short track snow race to make for a fuller World Championships at some point? Ahh, how about some moguls for fun too?
If you haven’t watched the World Championships before, do tune in to the live coverage or catch the highlights – what’s not to like about Vinny T literally icing the edges at 100+KPH on snow?
You might also like:
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- “I love running races for people that enjoy doing races… I never want to stop doing it.” Scott Fitzgerald at Southern Enduro on the state of MTB racing in the UK, and how riders can keep the scene alive
- “There will always be haters in life, though I think there is a shift for acceptance”: What happened to eMTB racing and can it be fixed? Tracy Moseley weighs in
