MTBA Announces 2017 National XCO and DHI Series


Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) is excited to announce the 2017 National Series dates and locations for Cross-Country Olympic (XCO) and Downhill (DHI).

MTBA CEO Shane Coppin announced the 2017 National Series would see a split in DHI and XCO rounds.

“The upcoming 2017 season welcomes a range of new event partners and locations which we hope will be both exciting and enjoyable for all participants”, Mr Coppin said.

The 2017 XCO National Series will commence with a double-header in Orange, NSW on January 7th & 8th, hosted by Orange Mountain Bike Club. Kinross State Forest is one of NSW mountain biking’s best kept secrets. The mountain biking trails include over 20km’s of purpose built singletrack through lush pine forest and over varied terrain. The area offers a large percentage of singletrack suited to riders of all abilities, with a good combination of easy flowing smooth sections teamed with some more technical short and sharp hills, fast descents and a few fun surprises thrown in along the way.

The DHI National Series commences the following weekend of January 14th & 15th in Awaba State Forest, NSW. Awaba’s Monkey DHI track has long been considered the best downhill track in NSW. Hunter Mountain Bike Club has been one of the MTBA National Series strongest supporters and is looking forward to again supporting this event.

Rounds 3 & 4 of the XCO National Series will be held in Armidale, NSW on the weekend of January 28th & 29th with the series’ second double-header, hosted by New England Mountain Bike Club. Described as a “beautiful thing”, the University of New England Sports facilities provides the village and purpose built mountain bike tracks that are sure to provide great racing for the National Series.

February racing kicks off with the second round of the DHI National Series in Thredbo, NSW from February 3rd to 5th. Thredbo Mountain Bike has hosted a round of the National Series since 1992 and that legacy continues with Thredbo constantly upgrading its track and keeping it fresh. As a place to ride downhill, there are few destinations in Australia that get close to Thredbo with the Kosciusko Express chairlift providing the gravity assistance.

MTBA travel south to Mt Taylor, VIC for the final XCO double-header round on February 11th & 12th, supported by the East Gippsland cycling community. All new courses will be offered utilising existing sections of the XCO trail, portions of the all mountain and downhill track and some all new trails. The venue is looking forward to getting the World Trail treatment that will place it on the top shelf for racing venues in south-east Australia.

Round 3 of the DHI National Series will be held at Mt Beauty, VIC from February 17th – 19th. The park offers iconic tracks including Big Hill which has burned a place in the hearts of the downhill community. MTBA is very excited by the opportunity to return in 2017 for this event, hosted by Team Mt Beauty.

The final rounds of the National Series will be held in Toowoomba, QLD between March 10th & 12th. For the third year in a row, MTBA is taking the National Series to Jubilee Park, home of Toowoomba

Mountain Bike Club. This round of the National Series will also support the 2017 Oceania Continental Championships. The final round of the series will bring together both XCO & DHI, providing a spectacular end to the 2017 National Series, just one week before the National Championships in Canungra, QLD. This also provides a great opportunity for riders and their families to combine two great MTB events with a QLD holiday. MTBA are investigating opportunities to incorporate a family friendly destination activity to tie the two events together.

Our 2017 National Season provides a great mix of established and new locations”, said MTBA President Russ Baker.

“It will be great to return to Mt Beauty – the home of the 2006 National Championships – after many years. The season also offer riders the opportunity to earn valuable UCI points for those who plan on heading overseas for the World Cups.”

A full breakdown of the 2017 XCO & DHI National Series is below:Screen Shot 2016-07-08 at 5.19.43 PM

MTBA reserves the right in conjunction with host venues to upgrade UCI category listings for the 2017 National Series. Any changes to UCI category listings will be communicated to members through the MTBA website and social media platforms.

The 2017 National Series will see more than 1,250 riders from across the country compete in events in seven different regional locations.

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