Scotty Laughland previews the UCI World Championships XCO Course

Scotty Laughland standing on the UCI World Championship XCO course
(Image credit: UCI)

The UCI has released a course preview for the fresh XCO course that will be the battling ground for the world's best cross-country mountain bike racers come August.

At the time of writing, it's only 27 days till the UCI Cycling World Championships kicks off and we are treated to the biggest cycling event ever. While there will be no end of exciting bike racing, at Bike Perfect we are most looking forward to the cross-country and downhill racing. 

Although the majority of the UCI Cycling World Championships will be centered in and around the city of Glasgow, there are a few events dotted across Scotland. The cross-country racing will be hosted by Glentress Forest in Peebles. Located just south of Edinburgh, the Tweed Valley has been a hotspot of UK mountain biking and the new XCO course has been freshly built to host the World Championship race on the 12th August.

The course consists of two notable climbs and features natural and man-made technical sections. The first steep natural incline will surely be a critical point on the course and could be the launching point for winning moves on the big day. 

The descent is packed with steep technical rock sections, mandatory gaps, drops, and jumps which look to be challenging enough to ride on their own, never mind when your heart rate is red lining and you have the world's best breathing down your neck.

It's certainly going to be an unmissable race and is sure to draw huge crowds as riders will be excited to see the riders battle for World Championship glory. For more details including ticket information and race schedules, head over to Cyclingworldchamps.com.

Graham Cottingham
Senior reviews writer, Bike Perfect

Graham is all about riding bikes off-road, based in Edinburgh he has some of the best mountain biking and gravel riding in the UK on his doorstep. With almost 20 years of riding experience, he has dabbled in downhill, enduro, and gravel racing. Not afraid of a challenge, Graham has embraced bikepacking over the last few years and likes nothing more than strapping some bags to his bike and covering big miles to explore Scotland's wildernesses. When he isn’t shredding the gnar in the Tweed Valley, sleeping in bushes, or tinkering with bikes, he is writing tech reviews for Bike Perfect.

Rides: Cotic SolarisMax, Stooge MK4, 24 Bicycles Le Toy 3, Surly Steamroller

Height: 177cm

Weight: 71kg