Enduro World Series to have 11 races in 2022.

The Enduro World Series (EWS) today launches its most ambitious calendar to date, with 2022 scheduled to host the biggest calendar in the history of the sport.

With 11 EWS races, five editions of EWS-E and the return of the iconic Trophy of Nations team event, next year promises more racing, more venues and more action than ever before.

The season will kick off in March in the wilds of Tasmania in Maydena, the first of four new venues to feature next year. Located in the south of the island, the Maydena round will be a pro-only race to reflect the area’s steep and unflinchingly technical trails. From there it’s a short drive north to the inimitable Derby for round two. The small town with a big heart will make its third EWS appearance thanks to its incredible trail network that is undoubtedly a firm fan and rider favourite.

The series then stays in the Southern Hemisphere for round three, landing in Nelson, New Zealand for the first time in the history of the sport. Situated on the Northern tip of the South Island, this small city is famous for clocking up the most sunshine hours in the country and its steep and natural trails make the ordinary extraordinary.

The UK’s most famous riding destination, Scotland’s Tweed Valley, will kick off the second block of racing in June with an international race festival hosting round four of the EWS and the first round of EWS-E. From here the series stays in Europe and heads to the border-hopping venue of Petzen-Jamnica in Austria and Slovenia for round five, with the area making its second EWS appearance, and this time around it will also host round two of EWS-E.

Round five of the EWS will head to the Italian Dolomites and back to Val Di Fassa, a venue that has firmly cemented itself as a modern classic and a calendar highlight. Closing out this leg of the European rounds will be none other than Valberg in France, a stunning venue in the French Maritime Alps that was last on the calendar back in 2016, but this time around it will be the EWS-E racers who take on the region’s famous grey earth.

The third block of racing will see the series head to North America in August, where the riding mecca Whistler is first on the menu. This most iconic of destinations will put riders through their paces on some of Canada’s rowdiest trails, before heading to the USA for rounds nine and ten. Burke in Vermont and Sugarloaf in Maine will mark the first time the States has hosted back-to-back EWS racing, and these East Coast venues will do it in style.

It’s back to Europe in September to decide both the EWS and the EWS-E Series Champions. First up it's Crans-Montana in Switzerland, which will host both the penultimate round of the EWS and EWS-E amongst some of Europe’s highest peaks. From here the EWS heads to Loudenvielle for the last round of the EWS, where the 2022 Series Champions will be crowned amidst the French Pyrenees.

The season will draw to a close in style in enduro’s most iconic of destinations, Finale Ligure in Italy. In the mountains above the Mediterranean Sea, the 2022 EWS-E series champions will be decided on the region's vast trail network. And there’s still one more race after that - the all important Trophy of Nations, mountain biking’s biggest team competition, will make its return. Riders will cast aside individual glory as they compete in teams of three for their home nation in pursuit of those hallowed UCI jerseys.

Chris Ball, Managing Director of the Enduro World Series, said: “We’ve been working to learn and evolve through 2020 and 2021 and have put as much of that experience into a new, exciting and innovative calendar for 2022.

“There’s new venues and more rounds but lower travel impacts and more action. We’re grouping rounds by region into blocks of three or four events, making travel easier, cheaper and giving our fans more to get excited about.

“Privateers concerned about cost will have mini-titles within the season to aim for that will also help pro athletes manage injury and we’re back in the USA and in Tasmania not once but twice with epic back-to-back racing. Pro-only, regional focus and the best cadence of an EWS season to date, our team is emerging from a hard time for events and sport with more energy and excitement than ever before.”