The Austrian UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Leogang has his official kick off today, with 402 athletes from 32 nations arriving and getting some practise on the 4X and DH tracks.

This is the first time Leogang has been used for a UCI World Cup event, so it’s a completely new game for all the competing pros. First statements reveal the impressions that the riders from all over the globe gained on their first training and course inspection day in sunny Austria.
 
Downhill legend Cedric Gracia inspected the course on Thursday afternoon and was pretty impressed. He describes the set up as following: ”If you want to compare the track to a better-known one, then I can only think about Fort William. That means pretty fast sections, also some to pedal, as well as a lot of turns. But the root sections at the bottom and especially the fast berms in the upper section of the track make the difference: They let you keep the speed and have fun on the numerous small doubles up there!”
 
Also the brand new 4X track designed and built by Guido Tschugg owns a few special features, like World Cup leader Jared Graves explains: ”The track is unique and very challenging. It looks really good and is definitely a type course I would like to see more often – especially the bigger gaps are really nice. I am looking forward to the qualifying and the race.”
 
Visitors on site and all fans can look forward to the 4X World Cup on Saturday, when the world’s best racers are shredding down Bikepark Leogang’s brand new Fourcross track. Watch all the action live from home on: http://freecaster.tv/live/mtb from 7:00pm (CET) on.
 
The official UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Leogang website www.mtb-worldcup.at features all the information related to the event and the side program.