The UCI Mountain Bike World Series kicks off the second half of the season in Pal Arinsal - Andorra, this weekend. But where in the world are we, what makes it special and what should we expect from the Endurance and Gravity tracks?

Here’s all that you need to know:

High altitude hideaway

The Principality of Andorra is situated on the Iberian peninsula and is bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south. It’s a microstate consisting of a total of 467 km squared. Situated in the eastern Pyrenees it’s highest peak is the Coma Pedrosa (2942m vertical) and, in terms of mountain biking, it is home to Max Commencal’s eponymous bike company. 

The country is a co-principality currently presided over by the Bishop of Urgell (Joan Enric Vives) and the President of France (Emanuel Macron) jointly and a parliament of local councilors. Tourism accounts for roughly 80% of its GDP. 

This is comfortably the highest round of the year. The start of the downhill track is at 2400m vertical whilst the Cross-country tracks are situated at 1900m vertical. 

What are the tracks like? 

The UCI World Cup first came to Andorra back in 2008 and since then it has been producing thrillers. The downhill track is the third one to have featured in the principality. The high altitude is less of a factor for the Gravity athletes but can come into play towards the bottom of the run. The latest version of the Andorran track is one of the shortest of the year however at just 1.6km in length with a vertical drop of 427m vertical. 

The top half is brutally fast right from the gate (which is situated just a couple of meters inside the border with Spain) and it’s a theme which continues right to the new-look finish bowl. Around the halfway point it swaps bullet-fast hardpack for super choppy rock gardens, open off-camber piste and widely-taped wooded sections. The latter of which are new for this year and are coated in a deep covering of fluffy loam. Expect it to change dramatically as the week wears on. 

The Cross-country tracks are dominated by altitude. Many Endurance racers use altitude as part of their training regimes but when it comes to monstering around the 3.8km lap of the Cross-country Olympic track. 

At this kind of altitude oxygen levels are reduced by around 25% which can dramatically effect performances. Some riders are better at it than others and there are a variety of ways to deal with it. Extremely dry, scorching climbs and dusty rock gardens mix with root-lined wood sections to make for a supremely tough high altitude dust up. 

Who has done well here in the past? 

Last year's races in Pal Arinsal - Andorra finished like this:

Downhill Elite Women

1st. Vali Höll: 3:09.803

2nd. Nina Hoffmann: 3:13.341

3rd. Camille Balanche: 3:13.487

4th. Jess Blewitt: 3:15.002

5th. Mille Johnset: 3:15.922

Downhill Elite Men

1st. Loris Vergier: 2:44.500

2nd. Loic Bruni: 2:45.918

3rd. Finn Iles: 2:46.197

4th. Aaron Gwin: 2:46.913

5th. Andreas Kolb: 2:47.519

Cross-country Short Track Elite Women

1st. Alessandra Keller 20:50

2nd. Anne Terpstra 0:01

3rd. Rebecca McConnell 0:05

4th. Linda Indergand 0:12

5th. Laura Stigger 0:16

Cross-country Short Track Elite Men

1st. Mathias Flueckiger 20:55

2nd. Alan Hatherly +0:01

3rd. Vlad Dascalu +0:04

4th. Thomas Litscher +0:11

5th. Jordan Sarrou +0:12

Cross-country Olympic Elite Women

1st. Anne Terpstra: 1:15:21

2nd. Mona Mitterwallner: 1:16:18

3rd. Ramona Forchini: 1:16:55

4th. Laura Stigger: 1:17:04

5th. Caroline Bohé: 1:17:10

Cross-country Olympic Elite Men

1st. Luca Braidot: 1:15:31

2nd. David Valero Serrano: 1:15:41

3rd. Nino Schurter: 1:15:58

4th. Vlad Dascalu: 1:16:09

5th. Jordan Sarrou: 1:16:21

Where can I watch it?

You can watch all the action from Pal Arinsal - Andorra live on GCN+ globally, Eurosport 1, Eurosport app and discovery+ across Europe. For a detailed schedule of where and how to tune in, click here.