Fayetteville, Arkansas, will be home to Olympic mountain bike qualifying for back-to-back race weekends this spring with the inaugural OZ Trail US Pro Cup, presented by Experience Fayetteville.

Over two weekends of off-road racing at Centennial Park at Millsap Mountain, professional men and women cross country mountain bikers will compete for critical points and a spot in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. A full schedule of cross country and short track cross country races are expected to showcase a deep field of US and International riders representing past and future Olympians, national champions, and continental and world champions.

The events will be the first to feature the purpose-built and world-class cross-country mountain bike racecourse being constructed at Centennial Park, located on the southwest side of Fayetteville.

Unique to the US, the appropriately named World Cup racecourse at Centennial Park was built from the ground up to meet international specifications and could be the only course of its kind in the country. Characteristic of the Ozarks, the course is littered with technical rock-filled sections, punchy climbs, and fast flowing descents. The spectator-friendly course is sure to inspire intense competition, with an athlete’s bike handling skills just as crucial as their endurance.

Centennial Park is part of the OZ Trails networks of mountain bike trail systems, a collection of world-class mountain bike experiences spread across Northwest Arkansas and the Ozark Mountains including several trail systems in Fayetteville. Featuring diverse experiences from downhill to cross country to bike park, the OZ Trails network supports the growth of local ridership in the region while catering to the growing number of mountain bike tourists selecting Northwest Arkansas as a trail destination.

While mountain bike fans can expect to see the top professional American men and women racers competing in Fayetteville, the OZ Trails US Pro Cup will also cater to amateur athletes from across the country. The OZ Trails and Northwest Arkansas region is expected to be heavily represented in amateur racing by the mountain bikers that call the area home.

In addition to showcasing some of the top mountain bike athletes in the country, the OZ Trails US Pro Cup is expected to highlight additional areas the Northwest Arkansas region is excelling in including tastes of local culinary flavors, a growing collection of award-winning craft breweries, and a vibrant music scene.

The OZ Trails US Pro Cup is being produced as part of the US Cup Series, a series of races that represents the highest level of professional cross-country mountain bike racing in the country and offer athletes valuable points towards the Olympic games for their countries. Click here for additional event details or to register today.

In addition to world-class mountain bike racing, Fayetteville is slated to host the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championships in January of 2022, only the second time the cyclocross championships will have been held in the states.