2023 National MTB Championships go to Thredbo!
Two of Australia's biggest mountain bike events have combined - bringing a party for all mountain bikers to Thredbo in February 2023.
Big news! Thredbo has just announced their partnership with AusCycling to host ten consecutive days of mountain bike racing this February, combining the 2023 National MTB Championships with the 2023 Cannonball MTB Festival presented by Boost Mobile. You can find the whole schedule online.
Thredbo isn't a stranger to top-shelf mountain bike racing, but it has been a long time between drinks since a National Championship was held at the gravity mountain bike resort. Lots has changed in mountain biking over the decades, and plenty has changed on the ground at Thredbo as well, with new trails opening and more to come this summer.
Entries are now open for the 2023 National Championships.
With the nationals linking up with Cannonball MTB Festival, there are 10 days of racing back to back. The Downhill and Pump Track National Championships fit within the Cannonball event schedule that runs 13-18 February, with the Cross-Country National Championship events running from 9-12 February.
AusCycling Executive General Manager of Sport, Kipp Kaufmann, said “We are excited to be bringing the National Championships to one of Australia’s premier mountain bike destinations. The integration with Cannonball will make it a week to be remembered by participants and fans alike.”
Thredbo's MTB Business Manager, Tim Windshuttle said not only is it exciting to have the National MTB Championships return to Thredbo for the first time in 20 years but combining the Downhill and Pump Track titles into the world-renowned Cannonball MTB Festival schedule is set to very popular. The winners take the Cannonball titles and the National Titles!
“The collaboration will see the best gravity riders in the country take out the titles for both Cannonball and the National Champs in one race. It's going to make for some unbelievable racing with so much on the line. We can’t wait to have the whole Australian MTB industry in town to experience everything that the Thredbo Mountain Bike Park has to offer,” said Mr Windshuttle.
Entries are open NOW for the Cannonball Festival
Our take on the National Champs at Thredbo
Coming off two years of National Championships being held at Maydena Bike Park, a location for Downhill was always going to have big shoes to fill. And with chairlifts and gondola's running for lift assistance to a number of gravity trails, Thredbo fits the bill.
The course will likely be the Cannonball Run, a long and demanding run that has evolved with Australian mountain bike riding and racing over the decades. The two courses at Maydena were said to be good prep for fast and demanding tracks ahead of riders plying their craft overseas. While the Cannonball run is very different, the length and how rough it is will play a similar role.
It remains to be seen what the cross-country course may be. Cross country entries were down in the 2022 National Championships, and Downhill were up – in part due to the difficulty for travel to Tasmania in early 2022. So if Thredbo reveal their planned course it will likely help get representation in XC back where it was in 2021 and earlier, and make the Champs a huge success.
Fingers crossed the XC lap can take in some time in the village for good atmosphere, and the trials course can be setup close to the village as well. Given the constraints of building trails in the National Park we expect it will need to be built from existing trails and man made additions for the race week.
Either way, this will be a big 10 days of mountain biking at Thredbo! Keep an eye on the event page for details.
