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Road To 2012
Preseason Team Talk: Phil Dixon On Rule Changes, U23 Racing And Olympic Qualification

Posted April 20 2011
Words And Photography By Luke Webber

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With the opening round of the 2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup just days away, British Cycling's Olympic Mountain Bike Coach, Phil Dixon, is making final preparations for a season which will likely define the number of British riders on the start line of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

But in 2011 the goalposts of cross country mountain bike racing have moved significantly with changes to race regulations, categories and ultimately strategy when it comes to achieving British Cycling's Mountain Bike Programme target; to qualify a minimum of one man and one woman to the 2012 Olympic Games.

Shorter courses, shorter race durations and an additional age category are all changes reported in late 2010 and implemented in the UCI's 2011 Rulebook - the full effect of which will be felt at the first World Cup of the year on Saturday in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

Despite the changes, Dixon is confident that his team of riders are prepared to set a revised benchmark for the coming season - one which will be compared to the level of the opening World Cup in Dalby 2010.

Last year in Yorkshire Liam Killeen was taking his first steps on a significant comeback to the ranks of the worlds greatest mountain bikers, finishing in fiftieth place in April before progressing to seventh in September at mountain biking's most prestigious annual event; the UCI World Championships.

Annie Last riding to an under-23 silver medal at the 2010 World Championships (Gary Perkin)

Other standout rides included Annie Last's third-place in the women's under-23 category and Steve James' podium position in the Junior event - and Dixon believes the British Cycling Team will produce similarly exciting performances throughout 2011.

Summarising, Dixon says "the whole team are in good shape; everyone has put together some good winter training but South Africa is just the first stage of a long season."

Perhaps the element Dixon is most looking forward to however, is having the team back together; and that includes mainstay Liam Killeen.

"It's so important to have Liam staying with the team, because by having riders like him, Annie Last and Dave Fletcher around, the younger riders - those on the Olympic Development Programme and the early stages of the Olympic Academy - can watch and learn how a rider of that standing operates and the young riders can apply this to their own development."

Having a selection of riders in the mix is key to British Cycling's Olympic Mountain Bike Coach

The youngest rider making the trip to South Africa is Kenta Gallagher; a first year Academy rider whose job is race at the highest profile events in 2011 and adapt to becoming a full time athlete. While there is a Junior World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, neither Katy Winton nor Grant Ferguson will travel, instead continuing training in the UK before embarking on every European World Cup round and the European Championships.

Dixon believes international competition at a young age is an essential element for the progression of a rider - who will get to experience the most challenging courses and competition - and building on last years experiment of taking ODP riders to every World Cup, the international programme has become a permanent fixture

Second year Junior Grant Ferguson will return to race at the Dalby World Cup in May

MAKING THE OLYMPIC POINT
Prior to the international season starting however, Dixon's riders were pounding the domestic circuit, collecting UCI points at the British XC Series and testing themselves against tough international competition.

And indeed, the early season campaign for Olympic qualification points has been successful - British women securing 325 points and British men 206 points at the two opening rounds of the British XC Series, while Dave Fletcher scored fourth position in the opening round of South Africa's National Cup.

Annie Last: two second-places at two British XC Series races and readying for World Cup competition

However, the real scoring opportunities in 2011 come at the World Championships and the World Cup Series; and it's in this Series where there have been some significant changes.

New for 2011 are stand-alone under-23 category races for both men and women; both carrying a separate haul of UCI points, while the points available in the Senior World Cup races remain the same.

The top-ten ranked under-23 men and the top five under-23 women in 2010 were invited to join the Senior World Cup ranks, with the remaining number to take part in an entirely separate under-23 race.

In points-terms, the winning under-23 rider will score the same total as the eleventh-placed senior finisher. And with five of a possible 15 under-23 riders joining the senior ranks, an opportunity for developing under-23 riders to gain front-of-race experience and perhaps crucial UCI points has emerged.

THE BRITISH IMPACT
As far as the British impact is concerned, Annie Last was one of the invited under-23 riders to the Senior category. She has accepted and will race in the women's senior World Cup all season, before being enforced to switch back to the under-23 age range for the World Championships, a race in which she collected second place last year.

                          
                           Lily Matthews will build into the season and ultimately, the Worlds

Lily Matthews will not race in South Africa due to ongoing rehabilitation of a broken arm sustained during winter training, instead building on form with races in Holland and Houffalize, but will return to race the World Cup as an under-23 in Dalby Forest. Because of the injury and disruption to training, Dixon expects Matthews to make a steady start to the season, with later races such as the World Championships the focus.

Finally, both Dave Fletcher and Kenta Gallagher will race the under-23 event in all World Cups this season.

RACE CHANGES
The other significant changes to the World Cup come in the form of the lap distance - now reduced to between four and six kilometres - and the race duration. Here the UCI have significantly cut the men's race length to match the women's; both recommended to last between one hour 30 and one hour 45 minutes.

Both measures have been taken in an attempt to make XC racing a viable option for TV broadcast and more spectator friendly - as outlined by UCI President Pat McQuiad earlier this year.

The exact effect of all these changes will be seen on Saturday, when you'll be able to watch the races live from 10am, Saturday on Freecaster and follow British Cycling on the Road To 2012 - with exclusive reaction from the camp post-race.