Four-cross (4X), also called mountain-cross, not to be confused with fourcross, is a relatively new style of

mountain bike racing Mountain bike racing (shortened MTB or ATB racing) is the competitive cycle sport discipline of mountain biking held on off-road terrain. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recognised the discipline relatively late in 1990, when it sanctione ...

where four bikers race downhill on a prepared,

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the ea ...

-like track, simply trying to get down first. These bikes are generally either full suspension with 140mm to 160mm of travel, or hardtails, and typically have relatively strong frames. They run a chainguide on front and gears on the back. They have slack head angles, short chainstays and low bottom brackets for good cornering and acceleration. In recent years the tracks raced on have been rougher and less like those used in BMX. Four-cross was added to the

UCI Mountain Bike World Cup The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is a multi-round mountain bike racing series that is sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees int ...

and the

UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships The UCI Mountain Bike World Championships are the world championship events for mountain bike racing in the disciplines of cross country, downhill, and four-cross. They are organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the governing ...

in 2002, replacing

dual slalom Dual slalom is a mountain bike racing discipline similar to Four-cross, 4X racing. It consists of two racers racing two almost identical tracks next to each other down a slope. The courses are usually short, one run lasting about 30 seconds. I ...

. It was removed from the World Cup following the 2011 series. A replacement world series, the 4X Pro Tour, was launched in 2012. The four-cross events were removed from the World Championship after the 2021 edition.

Notable riders

Dan Atherton Daniel Simon Atherton, known as Dan Atherton (born 25 January 1982, near Salisbury), is a professional racing cyclist specialising in downhill, four cross and enduro-downhill mountain bike racing, and is a former national champion of Great B ...

Anneke Beerten Anneke Beerten (born 7 July 1982) is a Dutch Mountain bike racer and BMX racer. Specializing in Four-cross she was world champion in this discipline in 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2016.Melissa Buhl Melissa Buhl (born January 25, 1982) is an American former professional downhill and mountain-cross racer who has been racing as pro since 1998. She was the 2005 USAC ( USA Cycling) National Pro Downhill Champion and 2002 USAC National Pro Moun ...

* Eric Carter *

Cédric Gracia Cédric Gracia (born 23 March 1978 in Pau, France) is a French mountain biker, who now lives in Andorra. Career He started his career as an athlete at 6 years old as a BMX rider and then a freestyle ski pro. Cedric Gracia, years later, became ...

Jared Graves Jared Graves (born 16 December 1982 in Toowoomba, Queensland) is an Australian cyclist who has represented Australia in BMX, four-cross (4X), and downhill mountain biking. In 2006, he finished second in the mountain bike 4x world cup serie ...

* Mike King *

Jill Kintner Jill Kintner (born October 24, 1981, from Burien, Washington, United States) is a professional American "Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) and professional mountain cross (four-cross or 4X) racer. Her competitive years were 1995 to 2002, 2 ...

Brian Lopes Brian Thomas Lopes (born September 6, 1971, in Mission Viejo, California) is a professional mountain bike racer who specializes in four-cross. Lopes started riding BMX in his childhood and turned professional at seventeen years old.Lopes/McCo ...

Michal Prokop Michal Prokop (born 1 April 1981 in Prague) is a Czech professional BMX and Mountain Bike Four-cross rider. Started his sporting career at the age of five, Prokop has claimed two World Cup circuit gold medals, and three World Championship jersey ...

Roger Rinderknecht Roger Rinderknecht (born 4 May 1981 in Winterthur) is a Swiss racing cyclist who represents Switzerland in BMX and mountain bike racing. He was selected to represent Switzerland at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's BMX event where he reache ...

* Joost Wichman

External links

International Cycling Union (Union Cycliste International)

4X Pro Tour

British Cycling – Get into Downhill and 4Cross

BBC News Sport Academy 4Cross

;Four-Cross Course Layout
UCI World Cup Course
Mountain biking {{cycling-stub

See also

Notable riders

External links