The 2004 UCI World MTB Championships are getting under way in the ever-popular destination of Les Gets, France. Which means that there’ll be loads of British spectators to cheer on UK riders…

The first couple of days are devoted to course inspections and practice in all disciplines. The first rainbow jersey event is the faintly obscure XC Team Relay on Wednesday. The new XC course is a 6.3km loop on the Chavannes slopes, offering 30% singletrack, technical sections and 200m of climbing per lap.

There’s a very good chance of a British rainbow jersey in Friday’s Under-23 World Championships, with Liam Killeen fresh from a strong fifth place at the Olympic Games. And then the main XC Elite attraction takes place on Sunday.

As we speak, the downhill racers are wandering up and down the famous Mont-Chéry DH run, veteran of five World Cup races, looking at lines and probably rubbing some chins and saying, “Mm, looks doable”.

The course has been extensively remodelled for the World Championships and promises to be more spectacular than ever. The riders will tackle a 485m vertical drop over 2km, with 50% of that distance in singletrack and a two-thirds/one-third split between “fast sections” and “technical sections”. With plenty of practice during the week, you can bet that all the racers will have the course dialled. Thursday’s seeding runs will give an idea of who’s dial goes to 11 and then there’s more practice before the finals on Sunday. Could this be the year that Steve Peat finally grabs a rainbow jersey? Or could Gee Atherton nab it? And of course there’s Ffion Griffiths and Helen Gaskell challenging for top spot. But not, alas, Tracy Moseley – she dislocated her shoulder in practice at the finals of the Maxxis Cup and tore some rather important muscles, so she’s out. She did manage to win the Maxxis series by pushing her bike down the course to record a time of 27 minutes, though.

Then there’s the 4X on a Phil Saxena-designed course that should be a test for the best. Qualifiers are on Friday, finals on Saturday.

It’s also the UCI Trials World Championship (although other Trials World Championships are available). Women hop around on Friday, juniors and men on Sunday.

Everything you could possibly need to know is probably on the official website at www.lesgets2004.com, and keep checking here for updates and results…