UCI 2024 Snow Bike World Championships User Guide

: June 9, 2024
: UCI

UCI 2024 Snow Bike World Championships User Guide

1. INTRODUCTION

This document summarises the information needed by the national federations concerning the participation of their riders at the 2024 UCI Snow Bike World Championships.

Mainly intended for team managers, this document focuses on the purely sporting aspects of the 2024 UCI Snow Bike World Championships. If you have any questions concerning this document, please do not hesitate to contact the UCI.

2. PROGRAM

3. RIDERS CATEGORIES

According to the articles 4.1.002 to 4.1.006 and 4.7.002 competitions are open to competitors born in:

SNO EVENTS
Elite (Men & Women)

YEAR OF BIRTH
2007 and older (aged 17 and older)

4. COMPETITORS SELECTION

9.2.031 Categories for which the title of world champion will be awarded are as follows:

SNO Men Elite (aged 17 and over);
Women Elite (aged 17 and over);

5. PARTICIPATION QUOTA PER NATION

The participation quota per nation is 15 riders per gender.

The registration is valid for both Super G and Dual Slalom, meaning that each rider has to compete in both events. The Super G event is used as qualification race for the Dual Slalom.

6. RIDER’S REGISTRATION PROCEDURE

6.1 ONLINE RIDER’S REGISTRATION

When?
The system will open on the: Thursday 25 January 2024, 12:00 CET
The system will close on the: Wednesday 31 January 2024, 12:00 CET
Entries lists will be published on: Thursday 1 February 2024, 14:00 CET

How?
Through the UCI website clicking as follows:
• Link: https://regonline.uci.ch/
• Access: personal login and password of each national federation.

Remarks
• Each national federation must respect the participation quota per nation.
• The riders’ accommodation must be entered at the time of the online registration.

6.2 RIDERS CONFIRMATION AT THE EVENT
When?
Friday 9 February from 13h30 to 15h30

Where?
Chapiteau at the bottom of the Linga gondola

What?
All national federations have to show up at the time of the riders’ confirmation to ensure the participation of their riders. The accreditation pick-up for a rider cannot be considered as a confirmation of his participation.

Remarks

A rider declared unfit as a result of a nonconforming blood test may not be replaced.
Injury or illness will not be accepted as a valid circumstance unless the rider is declared unfit to start by the official UCI doctor.
At the time of the riders’ confirmation, team managers must present their national outfit to the commissaires.
9.2.037 Race numbers must be collected at the time stated in the championship Program. Riders’ licences and passports must be submitted to the commissaires panel.
1.3.076 A rider shall ensure that their identification number is visible and legible at all times. The identification number shall be well fixed and may not be folded or altered.

7. ACCREDITATION DELEGATION MEMBERS (INCLUDING RIDERS)

7.1 ACCREDITATION REQUEST
For whom?
The UCI has decided to grant the responsibility of the accreditations to the local organising committee. All the requests must be directed to them directly.

7.2 ACCREDITATION PICK-UP
When?
Friday 14h00-16h00
Saturday 08h30-09h30

Where?
At the Chapiteau at the bottom of the Linga gondola

Remark
• The accreditation pick-up for a rider cannot be considered as a confirmation of his participation. All national federations – by an appointed team manager only – have to show up at the time of the riders’ confirmation to ensure the participation of their riders.

8. START ORDER – START PROCEDURES

8.1 START ORDER
The start order of the Super G will be determined by drawing lot.
The Super G event is used as qualification race for the Dual Slalom.

9. TEAM MANAGERS’ MEETING

The team managers’ meeting will take place on Friday 9 February at 17h00 at the Chapiteau at the bottom of the Linga gondola.

10. RULES

Super G
Gates
A Super G gate consists of four slalom poles and two gate panels.

The gates must be alternately red and blue. The gate panels are to be approx. 75 cm wide and approx. 50 cm high. They are fastened between the poles so that the lower edge of the panel is approx. 1 m above the snow and should be capable of tearing or breaking away.

The gates must be at least 6 m and at most 8 m wide for open gates and at least 8 m and at most 12 m for vertical gates.
The distance between the turning poles of two successive gates must be at least 25 m.

The Courses
General Characteristics of the Courses
The terrain should be undulating and hilly if possible. The competition course should normally have a width of approximately 30 m.

Course Setting
Setting a Super G the following principles should be observed:
It is recommended to set the gates to make the best use of the terrain; Gate combinations are allowed only in small numbers. The distance between the successive turning poles can in this case be less than 25 m, but must be at least 15 m.

A Super-G should contain a variety of long and medium turns. Competitors should be absolutely free to choose their own line between the gates. It is not permitted to set only down the fall-line of the slope.

At places where outside gate must be removed, in exceptional cases decided by the Commissaires’ Panel the turning gate serves as a gate.
Where the terrain allows it jumps may be set.

Start
Start at intervals of no less than 40 seconds
Execution of the competition

A Super G will be carried out in one run.
Disqualifications / Did Not Finish

Reasons for disqualification are the following:
– Not passing through a gate correctly

If a red flag is happening, the rider must stop and will be able to do a re- run

Dual slalom
The Dual slalom is a competition where two competitors race simultaneously side by side down two courses. The setting of the courses, the configuration of the ground and the preparation of the snow are to be as equal as possible.

Technical data
Minimum vertical drop should be: 50m
Minimum direction changes should be: 15
Minimum length of the competition course should be: 160m

Jumps
Jumps are permitted.

Choice and Preparation of the Course
Choose a slope wide enough to permit two courses, preferably slightly concave (permitting a view of the whole course from any point). The terrain variations should be the same across the surface of the slope. The course layouts should have a similar profile.

The Organiser must provide transport for the athletes back to the Start in the shortest time possible.
The competition course must be entirely closed off. It is recommended to fence off reserved places intended for coaches, competitors and servicemen.

The Courses
Each course is designated by a series of gates, each gate is composed of two slalom poles with a Giant Slalom gate panel stretched between them and fastened in such a way so as to tear or break away. Poles and panels are red for the course on skier´s left and blue for the course on skier´s right. The bottom of the panel must be approx. 1 m above the snow.

The same course setter sets both courses and makes sure they are equal and parallel and must ensure that the courses flow is smooth and that there is variety in the turns and that the courses have rhythm changes.

After the last gate, the separation between the two courses must be marked to direct each competitor towards the middle part of their respective finish.Over the full width of the competition course, the snow should be consistently hard, similar to course preparation for Slalom, so that it is possible to offer similar race conditions on both courses.

Distance between the two Courses
The distance between two corresponding gates (from turning pole to turning pole) should be no less than 8 m. The distance between the centre of the start doors should be the same as between the two courses.

Start
Start Doors
Two start doors approved by the UCI must be used. The doors must be capable of simultaneous and/or delayed opening and connected to the timing devices.
The start signal can only be given after the Jury has given permission to start.

Start Command
The Starter ensures that the competitors are ready by asking “Red course ready – Blue course ready – Attention” – and then activates the starting signal which opens the start doors.
If one or both start doors fail to open the start must be repeated.

Finish
The finish areas should be symmetrical. The finish line must be parallel with the start doors.
The finish line is split in two parts and marked. Each of these must be at least 8 m wide.
It is necessary to visually divide the finish to keep the competitors separated after the finish line.

Timing
In Dual slalom it is possible to measure either the difference in time (at Finish) or the individual run times (Start to Finish). If run times are recorded, the difference in time has to be calculated from the run times (in 1/100th seconds). The Commissaires’ Panel has to announce at the Team Managers Meeting, which timing method will be used.

Execution of a Dual Slalom
Qualification

All Dual Slaloms must have a qualification for all eligible competitors. The starting order for the Qualification shall be determined by UCI.
The fastest 32 competitors from the qualification will advance to the first round (round of 32) of the Elimination Heats. In case of a tie for the 32nd position, the competitor with the higher bib number qualifies.

Elimination Heats
Each Elimination Heat between two competitors consists of one or two run(s). The competitors change courses for the second run (Run-rerun).
Formation into Heats
The competitors receive bibs numbered 1 to 32 as classified from the Qualification run (rank 1 = Bib 1) and keep them until the end of the competition.

Round of 32
In the round of 32, sixteen heats of competitors are formed according to the Brackets list.
Start order: following the order of the Bracket list, from top to bottom. All heats race in succession their first run (only one run). For each pair the competitor, who is listed first or respectively on top of the pairing, will start on the red course.

The following rounds follow the Bracket list from top to bottom.

The losing 16 competitors are ranked according to the total time of their run and rerun of the round of 32, followed by competitors without a total time ranked according to time from the Qualification run. (17th – 32nd).

Competitors having a bye must start.

Round of sixteen
The sixteen qualified competitors start according the Bracket list in heats from top to bottom.
There are eight that qualify for the quarter-finals.
The losing eight competitors are ranked according to the total time of their run and rerun of the round of sixteen, followed by competitors without a total time ranked according to time from the Qualification. (9th – 16th).

Quarter-finals
The eight qualified competitors start according to the Bracket list in heats from top to bottom.
The losing four competitors are ranked according to the total time of their run and rerun of the Quarter-finals, followed by competitors without a total time ranked according to time from the Qualification. (5th – 8th)

Semi-finals and Final
The four qualified competitors start according to the Bracket list in heats from top to bottom.
The losers of the semi-finals race their first run before the finalist’s race their first run, then the semi-finalists race their second run and then the finalists race their final run.

Control of the Runs
The Commissaires’ Panel determines the method of control of the runs.
Disqualifications / Did Not Finish
Reasons for disqualification are the following:

changing from one course to another
interfering with an opponent, accidentally or not
Not passing through a gate correctly
Stepping back

Penalty Time
The penalty time will be 0.50 sec. In all cases the time difference for the start of the second run of each pairing can never be higher than the penalty time.
The competitor who is disqualified first or does not finish in the first run of a heat will start the second run with a penalty time. If both competitors are disqualified or did not finish in the first run the competitor who completed the most gates before disqualification or did not finish is the winner of the first run.

If both competitors do not finish the second run, the result of the first run counts. If both competitors were tied after the first run, the winner of the second run or the competitor who completed the most gates in the second run will advance to the next round. If only one competitor is disqualified or does not finish in the second run of a heat the competitor is eliminated.

If both competitors are tied after the second run the competitor who wins the second run advances to the next round. In case of a tie in both runs the competitor with the lower bib will advance to the next round.

If both competitors are tied after the second run in the Final and/or the Small Final, competitors will be ranked equally (tie). They will be ordered by descending bib number.

11. EQUIPMENT

National federations shall submit to the commissaires’ panel of events as specified in art. 1.3.059, a sample of their national team clothing for validation. The design, colour, place and size of the advertising spaces of the validated equipment must be identical for all athletes participating to the applicable events.

Riders of the same national team must wear identical racing shorts during the same event, except for advertising space included in a lateral band 9 cm wide, which may differ from one rider to another.

This means that national federations must also provide their riders with national racing shorts.
The team managers must therefore present the national jersey and pants to the commissaires’ panel at the riders confirmation.

1.3.057 Advertising matter, as detailed in the “UCI jersey visual guidelines” brochure published on the UCI website, shall be used at the national federation discretion – UCI Jerseys Visual Guidelines.
Advertising matter on jersey and shorts may vary from one rider to another. The design of the jersey and shorts may vary from one category of lrider to another.

Advertising on protective leggings worn for downhill mountain bike, trials and BMX events is not subject to the advertising restrictions on shorts.

Additionally, the rider’s name may appear on the back of the jersey.

The above measures also apply to other items of clothing worn during competition (rain jackets, winter jackets, etc.).

4.3.011 Jersey
The jersey shall be a long-sleeved shirt whose sleeves extend down to the rider’s wrists. Jerseys used in downhill events should be of a type specifically designed and sold for use in BMX Racing or Mountain Bike downhill events. Jerseys designed for road cycling, skinsuits, or one-piece suits comprising the jersey and the pants/shorts are not permitted for use in downhill events. The jersey must be either close fitting around the waist or must be tucked into the pants before the start to not cause interference.

Pants
Long pants or short pants combined with suitable knee and shin protection are authorised. Such long or short pants should be of a type that is specifically designed and sold for use in BMX Racing or Mountain Bike downhill events. Long pants of the type described above must be of one-piece construction and made of tear-resistant material. They should cover the entire length of both legs until just above the shoe or ankle. Short pants of the type described above must be of one-piece construction and made of tear-resistant material. They should be worn together with suitable leg protection, that covers the entire knee and the entire shin until just above the ankle.
4.3.012

A full-face helmet must be worn properly both when racing and when training on the course. The helmet must be fitted with a peak. Open-face helmets may not be worn.

As per the regulations in France, riders must wear the following protection:

back, elbow, knee and shoulder protectors made of rigid materials;
full finger gloves.

The same bike must be used for both events.
The use of studded tyres is authorised following these conditions:

maximum height: 6mm
maximum one nail per spike

Random checks will be set up.

12. OFFICIAL CEREMONIES

The following points apply to the official ceremonies:

Within 10 minutes following the end of each speciality (unless otherwise provided and duly recorded in an official communiqué), the World Champion, as well as the second and the third placed riders shall be ready for the official ceremony that shall be conducted under the responsibility of the President of the Commissaires’ Panel.
Riders shall appear in racing attire, wearing their national jerseys but bare-headed and without headband or glasses, until they leave the official ceremony enclosure.
A World Champion may not wear the jersey identifying his title and bearing the regulation advertisement of his main sponsor(s) until, at earliest, the day following that on which he received it.
Any infringement of the provisions of articles 9.1.044 to 9.1.050 above shall be punished by a fine of CHF 2,000 to CHF 10,000 minimum. A higher fine may be imposed depending on the advantage derived from the offence.