MTB Racing History
The members of the Velo Club Mount Tamalpais in California generally receive the credit for establishing mountain biking as a sport. They invented the Repack Downhill race, held regularly between 1976 and 1979 just across the famous Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. The races attracted riders from near and far, and the media soon started taking an interest.
Nowadays mountain bike racing is a diverse sport with multiple different disciplines within it. The main ones are Downhill (DH) and Cross-Country (XC) which later was diverted into Cross-Country Olympic (XCO) and Cross-Country Marathon (XCM). Cross-Country sub-disciplines include Cross-Country Short Track (XCC) and Cross-Country Eliminator (XCE).
The first national mountain bike championships were held in 1983 in the USA. But the sport quickly grew in popularity in Europe and Australia. The first mountain bike World Championships, recognised by the International Cycling Union (UCI), were organised in 1990. Olympic recognition followed, and mountain biking made its debut as an Olympic discipline at the Atlanta Games in 1996, with a cross-country event for men and women.
Current UCI Disciplines:
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Cross-country Olympic: XCO
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Cross-country marathon: XCM
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Cross-country point-to-point: XCP
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Cross-country short track: XCC
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Cross-country eliminator: XCE
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Cross-country time trial: XCT
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Cross-country team relay: XCR
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Cross-country stage race: XCS
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Downhill individual: DHI
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Downhill marathon: DHM
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Four cross: 4X
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Enduro: EDR / EDR-E
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Pump track: PUM
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Snow Bike: SNO
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E-Mountain Bike: E-MTB
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Trails
Non-UCI Disciplines:
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Slopestyle
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Dirt Jump: DJ
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Freeride: FR
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Dual Slalom: DS
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Super D: SD
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MTB Rally
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MTB Orienteering: MTB-O
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24h MTB Endurance
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All Mountain: AM
1976 Repack Downhill
Alan Bonds won the first ever MTB race on record, the Repack Downhill on
Mount Tamalpais near Fairfax, CA on October 21st 1976.
In 1983, Repack became the first NORBA sanctioned DH race and Jimmy Deaton was the winner.
1983 US Nationals
The first US NORBA (National Off-Road Bicycle Association) Nationals in 1983, would also be the first ever official MTB National Championships.
The race was held in the hills outside Santa Barbara, California.
Steve Tilford (Raleigh) and Jacquie Phelan (Cunningham) won the titles.
Between 1989 and 2003, the US National Champions were crowned at the end of a multi-race series (NORBA National Championship Series), rather than a single race.
Click through the gallery for the Bicycle Sport magazine article, written by John Day and photographed by James Cassimus.
1987 European and NORBA World Championships
In 1987, there were the two first unofficial Mountain Bike World Championships.
The European competitions (Championat du monde VTT) took place in Villard de Lans, France and was won by Ned Overend (USA) and Mary Lee Atkins (USA).
Ned: " Jacquie met about ten Canadien racers and invited them all to stay with us, they ate all the food , used all the hot water and plugged up the plumbing in the bathroom, but it was still fun times."
US competitions took place at Mammoth Mountain, California, the following weekend.
It was again Ned Overend (USA) who won the American World Champion title in the Men’s Cross-Country category and Sara Ballantyne won the Women's title.
The Downhill category was won by Joe Sloup (USA) and Cindy Whitehead (USA).
Podium photo by Ned Overend
Click through the gallery for the Mountain Bike Action magazine article, written and photographed by Zapata Espinoza.
1988 Grundig MTB Challenge
The Grundig Challenge was the first Mountain Bike World Cup Series in 1988, preceding the UCI MTB World Cup.
The idea for the series originated from Heini Albrecht out of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER), who found support from Grundig in the person of Heinz Barthel. Grundig was a world leading manufacturer of home appliances and consumer electronics.
The Grundig Challenge grew from four venues in 1988 to five venues in 1989 and nine venues in 1990, including Cross-Country and Downhill events, such as the iconic Kaprun (AUT) downhill race.
In 1991, the Grundig Challenge continued as a series for another year, but it eventually conflicted with the newly formed FIAC Cross-Country World Cup schedule, which was also sponsored by Grundig.
The Grundig UCI World Cup sponsorship lasted over 10 years until 1997.
1990 Grundig Challenge advertisement sticker
1990 UCI MTB World Championships
In 1990, the first official UCI Mountain Bike World Championships were held in Durango, CO (USA).
The Women's Cross-Country was won by Juli Furtado (USA), while Ned Overend (USA) won the Men's race.
In Downhill, Cindy Devine (CAN) was the fastest Women and Greg Herbold (USA) won the Men's category.
Click through the gallery for photos from various photographers, such as Zapata Espinoza and Tom Moran.
1991 UCI MTB Cross-Country World Cup
The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is a multi-round mountain bike racing series that is sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale.
In 1991, the World Cup was organized by FIAC (Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme), a subsidiary governing body created by and operating under the umbrella of the UCI.
The first XC World Cup race was held in Bassano del Grappa (ITA) in 1991 and won by Tim Gould (GBR) and Juli Furtado (USA).
John Tomac (USA) and Sara Ballantyne (USA) were crowned overall winners after 9 rounds.
Click through the gallery for photos from Sian Hughes
1991 World Cup overall winner
1991 World Cup overall winner
1991 Round 1 winner
1991 World Cup overall winner
1993 UCI MTB Downhill World Cup
The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is a multi-round mountain bike racing series that is sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale.
In 1992, the "Grundig Downhill Super Cup" was created as a stand-alone Downhill Series, with four rounds in Europe and the goal of achieving World Cup status the following year.
The first UCI DH World Cup race was held in Cap d'Ail (FRA) in 1993 and won by Nicolas Vouilloz (FRA) and Giovanna Bonazzi (ITA).
Jürgen Beneke (GER) and Regina Stiefl (GER) were crowned overall winners after 6 rounds.
Click through the gallery for more photos
1993 World Cup overall winner
1993 World Cup overall winner
1993 World Cup overall winner
1996 Olympic Games
Olympic mountain bike racing made its debut at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia (USA), featuring cross-country events for Elite Men and Elite Women.
Bart Brentjens (NED) and Paola Pezzo (ITA) made history as the first-ever Olympic mountain bike gold medallists.
The Atlanta Games also marked the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games.
Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, the longest-standing corporate partner of the Olympic Movement, has supported the Games since 1928.
Six years earlier, Coca-Cola was also the main sponsor of the inaugural 1990 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Durango, Colorado (USA), marking another milestone in the sport’s history.
Click through the gallery for more photos from mark Dawson @ www.fattirefotos.com
