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The UCI Mountain Bike World Championships get underway next week, with racing taking place from August 30th to September 14th, as the world’s best riders from all mountain bike disciplines descend on Valais, Switzerland.

Ireland will have representatives in the Enduro, Downhill and Cross-Country disciplines, with eleven riders donning the green jersey this time around.

Greg Callaghan, having recently retained his Enduro National Championship in Clonmel will ride the Enduro World Champs, while also acting as Team Manager. Having run his own programme for World Series events over the last two years, Callaghan is no stranger to balancing duties. Heading into this weekend’s final World Series round, having already taken a podium in Poland this year, Callaghan is still chasing an overall podium, and will look to carry his good form through to World Champs in Switzerland.

Joining Callaghan in the Enduro category, Kelan Grant will also represent Ireland once again. The pair both rode in last year’s inaugural Enduro World Champs, and with Grant just 0.05 seconds back from Callaghan at Nationals a few weeks ago, both will be pushing each other all week in Valais.

The Enduro event takes place on Monday, September 1st.

Three riders will represent Ireland in the Olympic length cross-country event.

Chris Dawson, also fresh from defending his Senior Men’s National Championship not so long ago in Cork, will be the sole representative in the Elite Men’s class. Dawson has had several strong results already this year, including a podium in a UCI event in Portugal, and most recently rode for Ireland at the European Championships, also in Portugal.

Junior Women’s national champion Greta Lawless has been no stranger to riding for Ireland in recent years. The former European Youth Olympic Athlete has ridden cross-country and cyclo-cross for Ireland in the last 12 months, including last year’s MTB World Championships and the recent European Championships in Portugal. Lawless made the switch to Dawson Racing at the beginning of this year, and has continued to flourish alongside teammate Chris Dawson.

Ryan Daly rounds out the Irish XC contingent. The Dubliner, much like Lawless, has represented Ireland in both cross-country and cyclo-cross in the last year, making his Ireland debut at last year’s CX World Cup in Dublin. He has continued to gain experience racing against top level international competition, holding his own in Junior World Series races across Europe already this year.

Kevin Moran will travel with the team as Team Manager for the cross-country events.

The Junior XCO events will take place on Friday, 12th of September, while the Elite Men’s race will be on Sunday, 14th of September.

Irish downhill has continued it’s monumental growth in recent years, and that is once again reflected in the depth of talent representing Ireland at this year’s World Championships.

Former Junior World Champion Oisin O’Callaghan recently successfully defended his senior DH national championship on his home trails in Ballyhoura, Co. Limerick. The 22-year-old has been flying on the World Cup circuit already this year, finishing inside the top 10 all but three times, and taking second place at Round One in Poland in May. Having started the year with back-to-back wins at races in Portugal, O’Callaghan has found success at every level, and will look for a big performance this time out in Switzerland.

Former national champion Ronan Dunne will join O’Callaghan representing Ireland in the Elite class. The Wicklow native has had a year hampered by injury, but took the win in the first round of the IDMS on home soil, and just last month took third place at the RedBull Hardline event in Wales. Having won both RedBull Hardline events in Tasmania and Wales in 2024, as well as a World Cup round in Poland, Dunne certainly knows how to get it done at the top level.

Henry Kerr is another Irish representative also coming back from injury. A crash at a World Cup round in July left Kerr with a broken shoulder blade. Having previously come 9th at the World Championships in 2022, and 2nd and 3rd in the Super G and Giant Slalom respectively at the Snow Bike World Championships in 2024, the AON Racing rider is no stranger to putting in big performances on the world stage.

Jacob Dickson is the final Irish downhiller in the Elite category. The 2021 national champion has bagged himself a couple of top-20 results at the World Cup level already this year and has historically had strong showings at World Championships, and will no doubt look to continue that form into Switzerland.

Junior Alex Hickey will make another appearance in green at this World Championships. A mechanical at the recent European Championships dampened an otherwise positive performance, and strong performances at IXS Downhill Cup rounds in Scotland and Germany this year will leave the 2024 IDMS Junior overall winner eager for more in Valais.

Darragh Ryan rounds out the Irish representation at this year’s World Championships. The Junior rider signed for World Cup team Orbea FMD Racing in the off-season and had a very positive start to the season with a top-20 in his first World Cup outing, but saw his season interrupted after a crash in France left him with a broken wrist. The 17-year-old also put in the third quickest time of the day at the first round of this year’s IDMS, behind only Ronan Dunne and Oisin O’Callaghan.

Chris O’Callaghan will travel with the team as Team Manager for the Downhill riders.

Downhill racing will take place across Friday, Saturday and Sunday the 5th, 6th and 7th of September, with Junior finals taking place on the Saturday, and Elite on Sunday.

A full schedule of events and more information can be found HERE.