No more 4X anymore

In the competition for the worlds’ most unpopular governing body the UCI have pulled a master stroke by getting rid of one of its disciplines.

In yet another immensely unpopular move by the Union Cyclist International, who are the governing body for on and off road cycling. A lot of consideration is given to the Olympic disciplines (road, track, Cross country even BMX) however the gravity sports (4X and Downhill) seem to be considered the black sheep in the family and are pushed to one side, but have they gone too far by removing the 4X world cup? Is it time for a new governing body for mountain biking or at least the gravity sports one that will actually stick up for them, promote them and make them as widely and easily accessible and watchable as other disciplines.

The excuses for pulling the 4X World Cup are pretty pitiful, claiming the financial and environmental expense of building the tracks and that riders may want to concentrate on BMX in the Olympic year. First off will the UCI be demanding all support cars in the Tour De France and other road races have to run on Hydrogen or be Electric in order to save the environment? There are already World class 4X tracks out there that at most need to be tweaked not built, not only that but more are being built anyway due to the sports rising popularity such as the mini 4X track at Stockwood, Bristol just completed by Architrail. I’d guess most 4X riders aren’t intending to compete in the Olympic BMX competition, yes there is some cross over but there are only a few places in the Olympic competition and there are BMX riders who don’t ride 4X who obviously would be competing for the spots on the start ramp.

Another excuse is that not enough people go to the competitions; surely this is poor marketing rather than lack of popularity. I had heard that the marketing director for 4X had never been to a race before the World Champs 2 weeks ago. The races at The Fort William have always been popular as shown by the iconic images of the kids in the tops of the trees, and what happens to events such as Fort William which once had XC, 4X and Downhill and next year will be down to just the Downhill? Will people still travel hundreds of miles for one event? The Downhill there is secure for the next couple of years but with no 4X World Cup will we see rapidly declining numbers and therefore lose some of the world famous atmosphere that makes the event what it is.

Taking to the trees to see the action.

The 4X Alliance have now issued a statement shown here, pointing out other issues such as the lack of consultation and the fact that sponsors riders and teams all had deals in place for the 2012 season, and the support they have received from fans and race organisers as well as their quickly implemented decision to set up their own World series, which more than likely will take place in places such as Fort William, though personally I can see the UCI getting petty about it happening at the same time as the World Cup Downhill. However this could turn into a step forward for 4X as it will be free from the constraints of the UCI and able to move in the direction riders and teams want to take it.

Obviously struggling with popularity.

This all comes on the back of announcing the major sponsor for next year’s Mountain Bike World Cup series and World Championship as RockyRoads, a web based magazine that no-one’s ever heard of and that I struggled to find in a google search to put a link on this blog (you do get a lot of cake recipes though....). Is the loss of the 4X World Cup part of the deal? This deal had current media providers worried for their future coverage rights and while some fears of exclusive rights for the title sponsor have been allayed, Freecaster have decided it’s too costly to show next year’s World Cup series, this surely doesn’t help the popularity of the sport never mind discouraging sponsors from placing advertising.

One last piece of bad news is about Downhill racer Matti Leikohnen who was badly injured in a crash in the Nordic Downhill Championships, more on this from his teams website as well as a link to the facebook page where you can leave messages of support.