It is a series of events open to a wide range of cyclists, from the beginner who has limited training time and has personnal performance objectives (Sport category), to the cyclist who has many years of competing under the helmet, member of a club or professional team and who trains on a regular basis (Expert-Élite categories). The Quebec Cup series is oriented towards initiation to mountain bike by involving development categories such as Coccinelle, Bibitte, Pee Wee, Minime and Cadet, but is also oriented towards high levels of performance with the Elite category. Quebec Cup events are open to cyclists from outside Quebec.
In 2010, a cyclist's 5 best results over 10 endurance races (XCO/XCT) are tallied into final series standings for Pee Wee, Minime and Cadet categories. For Junior, Senior and Masters categories, the 6 best results over 10 races will be tallied into the final standings. As for dowhnill races (DHI), the 5 best out of 7 races will count for the final standings.
Cyclists wishing to appear on the final standings must take part in the aforementioned number of races, as stipulated above. Only canadian racers will be eligible for final rankings. Note that participation to the finals is not mandatory to appear on the final standings, but will count for 120 points: 20 points for participating and 100 points for the race (first place)
In 2010, the Pee Wee, Minime and Cadet categories will have the chance to take part in a 4-event series dcedicated to XCSprint events. These 4 events will be linked by a series standing of its own.
Mountain bike events can take multiple forms : cross-country olympic, cross-country marathon, criterium, hill climb, individual time trial, relay, sprint,individual downhill, Four Cross, dual slalom and trial. Here are caracteristics specific to each type of events :
An Olympic format Cross-Country race track must be between 5 km and 9 km long. It is preferrably shaped in the form of a clover. The duration of an Olympic Cross-Country race must fall in different time brackets depending upon the category of racers. The Olympic Cross-Country track must include, whenever possible, parts of paved or forest roads, fields and dirt or gravel roads and contain important differences in level. The distance traveled on paved roads must not exceed 15% of the total course lenght.
The course must not use a part of the track twice. Duration and lenght of a Marathon Cross-Country event must respect the following two criteria :
| Minimum time | Minimum distance |
|---|---|
| 3 hours | 60 km |
The Cross-Country Point-to-point race track must be between 25 km and 60 km long. The event starts from one location to finish in another. A big loop with shared start/finish areas is allowed. The start is a group start.
The start and finish locations are the same. Natural and artificial obstacles are allowed only if total security can be provided.
An individual event held on a track inspired by Cross-Country Olympic, its track is between 5 km and 25 km long and shaped like a loop or with different start/finish locations.
Team event held at Quebec Games. Each team registers the amount of athletes needed based upon male and female requirements. Each team member cycles the announced distance. The winning team is the one whose last member crosses the finish line first.
The mountain bike Sprint event is similar to what is held in Cross-Country Ski (Olympic Games) and allows to bring mountain biking closer to spectators and facilitate press coverage. In so doing, the Sprint event boosts sponsor interest for athletes and organizing committees. The course can hold paved sections up to 50% of the total distance, which is between 1,2 km and 2 km depending upon degree of difficulty.
Timed event whose course must be laid out entirely on a dowhill slope. It must hold different sections: narrow and large trails, forest roads, rural tracks, forest roads and rocky sections. It must also have a variety of fast and technical sections. The emphasis here is not put on the cyclist's ability to pedal, but on his or hers technical skills.
The Four cross is an eliminatory event where four racers start in the same course at the same time, on a downhill track. The very nature of this competition understates that there can be a certain amount of contact between racers. These contacts are tolerated by the race officials if they stay within the spririt of the event, a spirit of equity and fair play towards other racers. Idealy, tracks are laid out on moderately pregressive slopes. It also must include a series of jumps, bumps, berms (banked curves), holes, natural tabletops and other man-made obstacles. There can also be flat curves. No uphill section forcing pedaling should be in the track. The course must be large enough to hold the four racers side by side and allow overtaking.
For more information, consult The cycling guide whick will trace a portrait of the sport in its whole.
