Normally if you want to compete in a World Cup DH race you need to have at least 20 UCI points, but there is a way around that ruling. Basically you need to be part of an official registered team, and once again British Cycling are giving riders the chance to be part of their National team, which fits that bill. To be in with a chance of making the team you need to fill out the application form that you can find here.

If you’ve got more than 20 UCI points already then there is no point in applying because you’ll already be able to enter a World Cup, and this team has literally just been set up to help those lacking enough points to get a race entry. If you make the team there will be no support, financial or otherwise, it’s just a ticket to race. Oh, and if you do get accepted and take up the offer then you’ll have to pay around £35 for a team jersey, which you’ll need to wear in both qualifying and final runs. Still, that’s a small price to pay for being able to get some World Cup experience.

There are 6 places available for senior riders and 6 places available for junior riders in the Junior World Cup series. There will also be an additional 6 junior rider places up for grabs for the UK round of the World Cup in Fort William. Oh, and the team can completely change from round to round, so you don’t have to commit to doing all the races, and if you miss out on a place in an earlier round you might still get a spot later on in the season.

Anyway, here are the deadlines for applications this year, so get organised if you want to be involved!

Deadline for applications

• Rounds 1 and 2: 17 February (Selected riders informed week commencing 3 March)
• Rounds 3 and 4: 14 April (All selected riders for these two rounds, informed week commencing 12 May)
• Rounds 5 and 6: 19 May (Selected riders informed week commencing 30 June)
• Round 7: 19 May (Selected riders informed week commencing 21 July)

And once again, you can find the application form along with further info on the selection process here.