This weekend sees the latest round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in France, with a 13-strong Scottish contingent racing between two disciplines.

The importance of this round cannot be understated, with this Sunday being the last opportunity for the elite XC riders to measure themselves in a racing environment before taking off for the Tokyo Olympic Games later this month. In the Elite Women’s race, Isla Short, the current world number 31, produced a spirited ride to finish sixth at last weekend’s Internazionali d'Italia Series at La Thuile, and she’ll hope to build on that ride on Sunday.

The future is bright, as in the Under 23 ranks the Scottish Cycling colours will be worn by Anna Flynn and Anna McGorum in the women’s race, with Charlie Aldridge and Rory McGuire in the Men’s U23 event. That male pairing will be aiming to better the encouraging 14th and 22nd places in the Czech Republic round of the World Cup, whilst Flynn and McGorum were a very credible 20th and 22nd respectively last time out in the elite event at La Thuile.

The Downhill event gets underway this afternoon, with Saturday playing host to the final; in the Men’s Elite event reigning World Champion Reece Wilson will be action, joined by Greg Williamson  and Jamie Edmonson, with fellow Scot Mikalya Parton racing in the Women’s Elite event. In the junior categories Pheobe Gale and Bethany McCully will be hoping for a great result in the women’s field, with Ryan Brannen the sole Scot in the Junior Men’s event.

All the action this weekend is available to watch via Red Bull TV, with live timing available on the UCI website. Don’t forget Scottish Cycling will be keeping you up to date with results via our social media platforms.