How to watch 2023 mountain bike world championships in Canada
When to tune in and what new streaming service you'll be forced to pay for this week
Photo by:
Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool
2023 will mark the first-ever combined UCI Cycling world championships. That’s road, track, mountain bike, BMX and whole bunch of other stuff you might not have heard of, all racing (or dancing artistically) for the right to wear the rainbow stripes all in 11Â days in Scotland.
That means there is a whole lot happening every single day over the 11-day event that runs from Aug. 3 – 13. To separate the dirt out from all the noise, here’s the breakdown of when mountain bikers are racing and how you can follow the action from at home in Canada.
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Schedule: Mountain biking at 2023 UCI Cycling world championships
The detailed schedule of mountain bike events is below. It’s a busy schedule, with off-road events spanning almost the full 11 days of racing and only a single day off on the Monday. Mountain biking also sits quiet on the final Sunday of racing on the 13th. Downhill racing kicks off 2023 worlds while cross country highlights the second weekend. Mid-week, there are oddities like eMTB racing and the XC team relay.
All mountain bike events at world championships run men’s and women’s races on the same day. The full schedule for all cycling disciplines is online in great detail and on the event website. Events that are broadcast live in Canada are indicated.
Day 1Â – Thursday, Aug. 3
Junior Downhill Qualifying – Nevis Range, Fort William
Day 2 – Friday, Aug. 4
Junior Downhill Finals
Elite Downhill Qualifying
Day 3 – Saturday, Aug. 5
Elite Downhill Finals [LIVE]
Day 4 – Sunday, Aug. 6
Cross Country Marathon (XCM) – Glentress Forest, Tweed Valley
Day 6 – Tuesday, Aug. 8
Elite Short Track Cross Country (XCC) Qualifying – Glentress Forest, Tweed Valley
Day 7 – Wednesday, Aug. 9
XC Team Relay – Glentress Forest, Tweed Valley [LIVE]
E-MTB XCO – Glentress Forest, Tweed Valley [LIVE]
Day 8 – Thursday, Aug. 10
Junior Cross Country Olympic (XCO) – Glentress Forest, Tweed Valley
Elite Short Track Cross Country (XCC) Finals [LIVE]
Day 9 – Friday, Aug. 11
Under-23 Cross Country Olympic (XCO) – Glentress Forest, Tweed Valley
Day 10 – Saturday, Aug. 12
Elite Cross Country Olympic (XCO) – Glentress Forest, Tweed Valley [LIVE]
How to watch 2023 UCI Cycling world championships in Canada
If you want to watch UCI Cycling world championships in Canada you will have to subscribe to Flobikes. The online broadcaster has the exclusive rights in Canada. That will, though, get you access to road, track, BMX and all other disciplines, too.
Flobikes’ live broadcast does leave something to be desired, though. Coverage is limited to elite events plus the XC Relay and, for whatever reason, eMTB XCO racing. That means the FloBikes cameras will be off for all junior, under-23, and downhill qualifying rounds as well as the XC Marathon. That is, to be blunt, a real shame for Canadian fans as Cycling Canada is sending strong medal contenders in all of those events. The UCI does, sometimes, show replays of these events on its YouTube channel for countries where there is no broadcast. So check there, if you don’t want to play around with VPNs to find a non-Canadian broadcast.
If there’s a silver lining to FloBike’s limited coverage it is that it will likely make fans appreciate how much more coverage Discovery is providing for the World Cup series this year. While some fans are still nostalgic for Rob Warner’s crooning on the mic, and there have been some technical difficulties with Discovery’s live coverage, any race coverage of juniors and under-23s is better than nothing at all.
We can’t tell you that, if you know how to use a VPN, you can probably tap into better coverage from RAI, BBC or Eurosport in other markets. But those networks have the broadcast rights if you happen to be in Europe and looking to watch racing live online.
FloBikes detailed mountain bike broadcast schedule: 2023 UCI Cycling world championships
Here’s what time FloBikes is showing what events. All times are in Eastern.
Aug. 5: 7:10 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. EDT – Women’s Elite DH – Final
Aug. 5: 9:00 a.m. – 12:25 p.m. EDT – Men’s Elite DH – Final
Aug. 9: 7:10 a.m. – 9:40 a.m. EDTÂ Mixed Team Relay (XCR)
Aug. 9: 9:40 a.m. – 1:20 p.m. EDT E-MTB Women & Men Elite (EMTB XCO)
Aug. 10: 12:25 p.m. – 1:25 p.m. EDT Men Elite Cross-country Short Track (XCC) – Final
Aug. 10: 1:25 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. EDT Women Elite Cross-country Short Track (XCC) – Final
Aug. 12: 6:10 a.m. 8:40 a.m. EDTÂ Women Elite Cross-country Olympic (XCO)
Aug. 12: 10:10 a.m. –Â 12:40 p.m. EDT Men Elite Cross-country Olympic (XCO)
