Two more World Cups to determine Olympic MTB participation

In just a few weeks, mountain bike fans will know exactly how many athletes each nation will send to the 2012 London Olympic Games. What happens in the meantime are two back-to-back UCI Mountain Bike World Cups, one in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic on May 11-13 and one in La Bresse, France on May 18-20.

On May 23, 2012, the UCI will establish the UCI Olympic Qualification Ranking, and by June 1, it will have confirmed the number of qualifying spots for each nation.

The final rankings are based the total number of points a nation has for the combined periods of 2010-2011 as of May 23, 2011 and 2011-2012 as of May 23, 2012.

Men

For the men, the top five ranked nations will send three athletes each while nations ranked sixth through 13th will send two athletes each. Nations number 14 through 24 get one rider each.

Here is how it looks as of May 1:

Countries likely to send three male mountain bikers
Switzerland
France
Czech Republic
Germany
Spain

Countries likely to send two male mountain bikers
Italy
Netherlands
Austria
Poland
Belgium
South Africa
United States
Canada

Countries likely to send one male mountain biker
Australia
Japan
Great Britain
Sweden
Argentina
Brazil
Hungary
Russia
Denmark
Portugal
Cyprus

The five top-ranked powerhouse nations are no surprise and are not too likely to change. The division between sending one and two male riders is much tighter with just 200 points separating Canada (sending two as of current rankings) and Australia (sending one as of current rankings).

Countries like New Zealand are not too far below the cut-off for sending one rider, but if they do not qualify by this primary criterion, they may be able to send a rider by a second qualifying criterion. If a nation does not already qualify athletes via the aforementioned international rankings system, it can send one male athlete each if it is in the top two ranked nations in the continental regions of Africa, American, Asia or Oceania.

Women

For the women, the top eight ranked nations get to send two riders each while those ranked ninth through 18th send one each.

Here is how the women's standings look as of May 1:

Countries likely to send two female mountain bikers
Canada
France
Switzerland
Poland
Slovenia
Norway
Germany
United States

Countries likely to send one female mountain biker
Russia
Czech Republic
Italy
New Zealand
Ukraine
Austria
Great Britain
Sweden
Netherlands
Denmark

In the women's rankings most of the powerhouse mountain bike countries are ranked about where expected although Australia and Spain are not qualified as per current nations rankings per criterion one. However, per criterion two, the top ranked nation, not qualified by virtue of nations rankings above may send one female rider each if ranked first in Africa, American, Asia or Oceania.

The United States women have reason to be nervous about whether they will get to send one or two women to London. They sit perched just on the two-women side of the cut-off currently, but places sixth through ninth in the rankings are all within 500 points of each other.

What happens next

Once the nations rankings are finalized, countries have until June 15, 2012 to confirm they will use all earned spots and if there are any unused spots, they will get re-allocated on June 29, 2012. Entries are due to the London 2012 Organising Committee by July 2, 2012.

Complete nations rankings as of May 1, 2012 are below.  See also the Cyclingnews guide to Olympic Mountain Biking.

Nations Rankings as of May 1

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Elite men nations ranking as of May 1
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Switzerland4987pts
2France4659Row 1 - Cell 3
3Czech Republic4139Row 2 - Cell 3
4Germany3347Row 3 - Cell 3
5Spain3223Row 4 - Cell 3
6Italy2750Row 5 - Cell 3
7Netherlands2418Row 6 - Cell 3
8Austria2090Row 7 - Cell 3
9Poland1912Row 8 - Cell 3
10Belgium1888Row 9 - Cell 3
11South Africa1826Row 10 - Cell 3
12United States1797Row 11 - Cell 3
13Canada1754Row 12 - Cell 3
14Australia1554Row 13 - Cell 3
15Japan1342Row 14 - Cell 3
16Great Britain1329Row 15 - Cell 3
17Sweden1239Row 16 - Cell 3
18Argentina1129Row 17 - Cell 3
19Brazil1092Row 18 - Cell 3
20Hungary1038Row 19 - Cell 3
21Russia1023Row 20 - Cell 3
22Denmark1002Row 21 - Cell 3
23Portugal948Row 22 - Cell 3
24Cyprus894Row 23 - Cell 3
25Ukraine879Row 24 - Cell 3
26New Zealand826Row 25 - Cell 3
27Greece780Row 26 - Cell 3
28Turkey660Row 27 - Cell 3
29Norway654Row 28 - Cell 3
30Chile604Row 29 - Cell 3
31Finland578Row 30 - Cell 3
32Estonia562Row 31 - Cell 3
33Slovakia554Row 32 - Cell 3
34Israel520Row 33 - Cell 3
35Colombia503Row 34 - Cell 3
36Iran471Row 35 - Cell 3
37Serbia465Row 36 - Cell 3
38Mexico457Row 37 - Cell 3
39Costa Rica438Row 38 - Cell 3
40Kazakhstan391Row 39 - Cell 3
41Slovenia342Row 40 - Cell 3
42Namibia310Row 41 - Cell 3
43Venezuela308Row 42 - Cell 3
44Malaysia306Row 43 - Cell 3
45China295Row 44 - Cell 3
46Ireland294Row 45 - Cell 3
47Latvia288Row 46 - Cell 3
48Hong Kong, China286Row 47 - Cell 3
49Puerto Rico285Row 48 - Cell 3
50Croatia281Row 49 - Cell 3
51Romania278Row 50 - Cell 3
52Georgia275Row 51 - Cell 3
53Lesotho273Row 52 - Cell 3
54Zimbabwe270Row 53 - Cell 3
55El Salvador270Row 54 - Cell 3
56Bulgaria220Row 55 - Cell 3
57Indonesia220Row 56 - Cell 3
58Thailand135Row 57 - Cell 3
59Korea60Row 58 - Cell 3
60Brunei Darussalam60Row 59 - Cell 3
61Guam55Row 60 - Cell 3
62Guatemala47Row 61 - Cell 3
63Ecuador28Row 62 - Cell 3
64Nepal24Row 63 - Cell 3
65Bolivia22Row 64 - Cell 3
66Singapore21Row 65 - Cell 3
67Chinese Taipei17Row 66 - Cell 3
68Lebanon12Row 67 - Cell 3
69Mongolia2Row 68 - Cell 3
70Belarus1Row 69 - Cell 3
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Elite women's nations ranking as of May 1
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Canada4480pts
2France4091Row 1 - Cell 3
3Switzerland3745Row 2 - Cell 3
4Poland3230Row 3 - Cell 3
5Slovenia3101Row 4 - Cell 3
6Norway2989Row 5 - Cell 3
7Germany2791Row 6 - Cell 3
8United States2572Row 7 - Cell 3
9Russia2513Row 8 - Cell 3
10Czech Republic2374Row 9 - Cell 3
11Italy2267Row 10 - Cell 3
12New Zealand2209Row 11 - Cell 3
13Ukraine2016Row 12 - Cell 3
14Austria2013Row 13 - Cell 3
15Great Britain1907Row 14 - Cell 3
16Sweden1796Row 15 - Cell 3
17Netherlands1765Row 16 - Cell 3
18Denmark1696Row 17 - Cell 3
19Hungary1489Row 18 - Cell 3
20Australia1230Row 19 - Cell 3
21Spain1184Row 20 - Cell 3
22Turkey1107Row 21 - Cell 3
23Japan957Row 22 - Cell 3
24Slovakia873Row 23 - Cell 3
25Mexico799Row 24 - Cell 3
26Brazil760Row 25 - Cell 3
27Argentina686Row 26 - Cell 3
28Israel666Row 27 - Cell 3
29Estonia584Row 28 - Cell 3
30Chile573Row 29 - Cell 3
31Belgium561Row 30 - Cell 3
32China550Row 31 - Cell 3
33South Africa549Row 32 - Cell 3
34Portugal546Row 33 - Cell 3
35Serbia544Row 34 - Cell 3
36Colombia535Row 35 - Cell 3
37Costa Rica488Row 36 - Cell 3
38Finland414Row 37 - Cell 3
39Malaysia405Row 38 - Cell 3
40Cyprus402Row 39 - Cell 3
41Venezuela326Row 40 - Cell 3
42Ireland317Row 41 - Cell 3
43Puerto Rico300Row 42 - Cell 3
44Latvia292Row 43 - Cell 3
45El Salvador270Row 44 - Cell 3
46Greece270Row 45 - Cell 3
47Croatia269Row 46 - Cell 3
48Namibia200Row 47 - Cell 3
49Ecuador179Row 48 - Cell 3
50Zimbabwe110Row 49 - Cell 3
51Lesotho110Row 50 - Cell 3
52Bulgaria110Row 51 - Cell 3
53Korea105Row 52 - Cell 3
54Vietnam85Row 53 - Cell 3
55Chinese Taipei75Row 54 - Cell 3
56Thailand60Row 55 - Cell 3
57Dominican Republic45Row 56 - Cell 3
58Nepal45Row 57 - Cell 3
59Romania38Row 58 - Cell 3
60Malta25Row 59 - Cell 3
61Lithuania12Row 60 - Cell 3

 

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