In cooperation with our partner Red Bull Media House, TV production continues to improve: the number of cameras keeps on growing, special cameras are being used and production techniques have become more sophisticated … These efforts to upgrade the production infrastructure are bearing fruit. That is confirmed by the growing interest shown by major TV channels, in particular: Canal+, ZDF, SVT, SRG, Ceska Televise, Universal Sport, ESPN Brasil, Eurosport Asia Pacific, SBS Australia, Rogers Sportsnet Canada, etc.
For the second year in a row, Red Bull Media House will be responsible for the live coverage of all ten Mountain Bike World Cup events on its Internet site which can be accessed free of charge from anywhere in the world: http://www.redbull.com/BIKE
1st leg in Albstadt (GER) from 17th to 19th May: highlights
- Media success: nearly 90 journalists from the written press accredited.
- New feature: the Cross Country Eliminator (XCE) competition leads to a ranking system and the leader of the World Cup dons the traditional leader’s jersey provided by Santini.
- Sporting challenge: action-packed elite events highly suspensefull. New faces have appeared at the top end of the Mountain Bike scene such as the Australian Daniel Mc Connell, winner of the Olympic cross-country event in Albstadt even though he had previously never finished higher than 19th in a World Cup event.
2nd leg in Nove Mesto Na Morave (CZE) from 24th to 26th May: highlights
- Popular and media success: 15,000 tickets sold; Czech TV presence on site with a studio; huge national interest in the discipline, thanks notably to the title won by Jaroslav Kulhavý in the 2012 Olympics in London.
- Infrastructure: fully refurbished biathlon stadium site, experienced local committee organising a UCI World Cup leg for the third time.
- Sports challenge: an exceptional battle in the Elite Men’s event between Nino Schurter (Switzerland) and Julien Absalon (France), first Women’s World Cup victory for Tanja Zakelj, surprise win for Kenta Gallagher in XCE.
