Dalby Forest organizers pleased with return of World Cup

The UCI mountain bike World Cup will return to Dalby Forest in Yorkshire, United Kingdom, for the second consecutive year in 2011. Next year's event has been granted a slightly later slot on the calendar, on May 21-22, 2011.

The World Cup was held for the first time at Dalby Forest in late April, 2010. Organizers see the return next year as a "ringing endorsement of the work of British Cycling and its partners in promoting the first ever world cup in Yorkshire".

"For this year's Dalby World Cup, we brought together vast expertise from within the sport, the Yorkshire region and from partners such as the Forestry Commission but the event was very much new territory to us all," said Jonny Clay, British Cycling's Cycle Sport & Membership Director and Event Director of the World Cup, after hearing the news.

"The UCI's decision to award the event to us again is the ultimate endorsement of the great joint effort of British Cycling and its partners that went into staging the event and also cements Dalby Forest's and Yorkshire's growing reputation as one of the best mountain biking destinations in the world.

"We are delighted that we have been given the opportunity to continue the long term legacy projects that this year's World Cup began and we look forward to seeing the world's best riders here in the United Kingdom once again."

Planning for the 2011 Cross Country Mountain Bike World Cup gets underway straight away with organisers promising to continue the innovative approach to the cross country discipline. In 2011, cycling fans can expect to see the return of the Pro Sprint Eliminator and Dalby Dare.

Irina Kalentieva (Topeak Ergon) and Nino Schurter (Scott Swisspower) both won the elite women's and men's cross country races at the inaugural Dalby World Cup.

The UCI announced the 2011 World Cup schedule late last week.

Organizers are recruiting sponsors for the 2011 event. Interested parties should contact British Cycling's Cycle Sport Marketing Manager, Paul Rowlands on 07921 612091.