FMB World Tour 2020: Covid-19 Update

As you can imagine, the Covid-19 situation has also influenced the FMB World Tour in ways that we could not have imagined.

The FMBA is constantly evaluating all options within this delicate time in order to give FMB World Tour athletes the best possible solutions.

Please see below for more information.

1. Cancelled/Postponed events

Due to current national/regional regulations, a high number of FMB World Tour events, on all levels, have been cancelled for 2020 – including Swatch Rocket Air (Gold) in Thun, Switzerland, GlemmRide Slopestyle (Gold) in Saalbach, Austria and Silver Star (Silver) in Canada, which was meant to be a new North American contest on the FMB World Tour calendar in 2020 – or postponed, as is the case for Red Bull District Ride (Diamond) in Nuremberg, Germany.

In most cases, events have been cancelled and will take a break this year. In the case of Red Bull District Ride, which normally takes place every three years, options are being evaluated to organize this contest in 2021.

Keep an eye on the FMB World Tour website and social accounts for latest news regarding this developing situation.

2. Crankworx FMBA Slopestyle World Championship update

As with all major sporting events around the globe, the Crankworx FMBA Slopestyle World Championship is also affected. Following a very successful Crankworx Rotorua as the first stop of the 2020 SWC season, with riders showcasing an extremely high level, the SWC has also needed to rework its’ schedule.

Crankworx Innsbruck, which was slated to take place in the 2nd week of June, has been rescheduled to early October. Event dates are currently set from September 30 – October 4th. More details regarding the event will follow soon.

This means that Red Bull Joyride at Crankworx Whistler is the next event on the SWC calendar, scheduled for August 15.

3. Crankworx Rotorua – Torquato Testa

Following internal discussion between the FMBA Board and the Crankworx organization, parties involved have decided that what occurred to Torquato Testa upon his arrival in New Zealand, where he was forced to self-quarantine and as such was not able to compete at Crankworx Rotorua, was force majeure and not caused by any actions undertaken by Testa himself.

Because of this, the FMBA and Crankworx representatives have decided the following;

Prior to the Rotorua event, Torquato Testa was ranked in 5th place on the FMB World Ranking. The decision has been made to give Testa ranking points equal to 5th place. These points have been added with an effective date of March 7th, 2020 and will be included in the calculation of Testa’s FMBA World Ranking and the SWC 2020 Standings from March 9th, 2020 onwards.

4. FMB World Ranking Points Adjustment

The FMB World Ranking system works on a 52-week schedule – meaning that after 52 weeks, scores from events older than that get removed from a riders’ points overview. Due to the extraordinary nature of the Covid-19 situation, the FMB World Tour has decided to forego this automatic point reset.

In this case, riders’ results from 2019, starting from April 1, 2019, will be included in the ranking in order to avoid athletes losing their position within the FMB World Tour ranking. For the time being, this system will be in place until the end of June 2020, with the possibility of extending this period of inclusion.

All results from events within this period will be counted in addition to the running 52 week period. If the regular 52 week period and the period of inclusion are overlapping, the respective competition results (results from the 2019 edition and the current) will not be counted twice, but only the current result will be considered. Athletes that currently have frozen/injured status will remain frozen until they start competing again and the common injury mechanics apply. 

We hope you understand the situation at hand and we remain at your disposal in case of any questions.