The first-ever Enduro World Cup season is just around the corner and it promises to be an exciting year for fans and competitors. With new rules, regulations and a fresh format, the EDR World Cup will be different from the former Enduro World Season (EWS). So, if you’re new to the sport or just looking to refresh your knowledge, this guide will give you all the information you need to understand the ins and outs of the premier Enduro racing series and how to enjoy it to the fullest.
What you need to know about the 2023 Enduro World Cup:
- EWS is lifted to World Cup status and is now called EDR
- 7 races held in Australia and Europe
- Single-day races with multiple timed stages
- Race highlight shows are free on Youtube. There are no live broadcasts.
At the time of publishing, there are still many unknowns concerning rules, points system, qualifying, broadcasting, and the World Championship Trophy of Nations. This article will be updated accordingly as soon as new information is confirmed. For more information on World Cup racing, check out the Full Guide to all 6 disciplines of the UCI MTB World Series.
Let’s start off with an overview of the entire UCI EDR season and go deeper from there.
Race Calendar
There are 7 UCI World Cup Enduro races scheduled in 2023. The race season starts on March 25th in Maydena and Derby, Tasmania with back-to-back rounds, and finishes on September 17th in Les Gets, France. There are no more races in the UK or North America.
2023 UCI Enduro World Cup Race Schedule
2023 UCI Enduro World Cup Schedule
The two initial rounds in Tasmania, Australia kick off the entire UCI World Series. Tasmania is one of the few locations having already hosted Enduro World Series races. With the majority of races held and completely new and unknown venues, it promises to be an exciting initial season for EDR racers and fans.
Now being part of the UCI MTB World Series there are a couple of venues where the EDR schedule overlaps with Downhill and Cross Country events on the same weekend. Most notably, the famous Chatel-Les Gets-Morzine region will host every UCI MTB discipline during a 10-day period.
How to watch Enduro World Cup races
All UCI Enduro World Cup races are broadcast via highlight shows on-demand for free on the UCI World Series Youtube channel. This includes shows for EDR (formerly EWS) and e-Enduro. A live broadcast is not possible due to the stage racing format. (Source: UCI Press Release)
Riders are still allowed to film the race weekend on their own helmet cameras. For complete and up-to-date race coverage you can follow some of the best riders on the planet on Youtube.
Both past EWS champions Jack Moir (MoiMoiTV) and Jesse Melamed upload footage of their race weekends regularly. Make sure to give them or your favorite riders a follow to stay up-to-date on EDR action.
Must-know changes from EWS to Enduro World Cup
The Enduro World Series (EWS) changed into the UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup (EDR) in 2023. With that, the operation and organization responsibilities moved over to ESO Sports, a sister company of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).
All EDR races will be single-day events as opposed to some of them being a longer two-day race weekend. Overall event results still are determined based on each rider’s cumulative time on the timed stages.
New for 2023 is the start order for the final stage, which is based on the new points system. More on that further down in this article.
(Source: UCI EDR Rulebook 2023)
Ebike Enduro World Cup
The e-MTB Enduro World Series (EWS-E) also got elevated to World Cup Status. It’s now the Ebike Enduro World Cup (E-EDR). With both rounds in Tasmania being EDR exclusive, the E-EDR will only be taking place across 5 races in Europe.
E-Enduro is similar to regular Enduro, but the race course is adapted to suit the capabilities of electric-powered mountain bikes, including more challenging technical uphill sections
2023 MTB Enduro World Championships
There are no press releases out yet for the race formerly known as the EWS “Trophy of Nations”, the inofficial EWS world champs.
Neither EWS has confirmed or denied a 2023 edition of Trophy of Nations, nor the UCI has announced an Enduro World Championship. The World Championships of the other main disciplines Downhill and Cross Country have been anounced already. They’ll take place in Fort William, Scotland.
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What is Enduro mountain bike racing?
Enduro racing (EDR) includes several timed downhill sections (Special Stages) and non-timed connecting sections (Liaison Stages). Riders start the downhill stages individually at specific intervals. The total time of all stages is used to determine the winner. Outside mechanical assistance is only allowed between certain stages.
To get to the starting point of each Special Stage, riders either ride on their bikes or use specified mechanical assistance such as chairlifts or trucks on the Liaison Stages. The regulations determine the route and means to travel between Special Stages in training and on race day.
While the Liaison Stages are not timed, riders still must ride uphill on pace to arrive at the start of the next Special Stage within a certain timeframe to make their alloted starting time.
By the way, if you’re wondering what’s up with the constant whistling by race marshals, I got the answer for you here. Hint: It’s regulated in the official UCI rulebook.
EDR Points System
There will be a new point system will be introduced for each timed Special Stage at each Enduro race of the 2023 World Cup. Riders will be ranked based on the points they earned from all Special Stages. The rider with the most points will start last in the final Special Stage of a race.
Here are the event points by overall finishing position:
For those riders who wish to take part in the racing instead of just watching it, here are the main hurdles to consider:
How to enter a UCI Enduro World Cup
The following three criteria have to be met in order to enter an Enduro World Cup event:
- Enduro World Series memberships and UCI licenses are mandatory for eligibility
and event entry. - In order to race in the UCI Enduro World Cup, riders must either be on an official
UCI MTB ENDURO TEAM or have the minimum required number of Enduro World
Series Global Ranking points. - The age category for the UCI Enduro World Cup is 17 years old or over. Holders of
elite licenses or masters licenses may also participate.
There’s an online registration for license holders provided by the UCI.
(Source: UCI EDR Rulebook 2023)
