This year's VPACE Kids Cup consists of six races and had a newcomer on the calendar to kick off the second half. Farchant, a community in the Upper Bavarian district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, welcomed the 115 kids from 5 nations with a specially built course and a great program.

A new location on the race calendar is always something special, especially when it has never been seen before in the mountain bike sector. So it was very exciting to see what Farchant in Upper Bavaria had to offer for the fourth stop of the VPACE Rookies Cup. The race was organized by TSV Farchant, who had taken care of the permits in advance and created a course especially for this event in a specified corridor at the Ried ski lift.

The local crew around Paul Gogger went to great lengths to create a perfect course from the available options. Compared to the other races, the course was quite long and quite technical, slippery in places, with a lot of grassy ground. There were built wooden elements, starting with a drop battery, a jump, a wallride, a Northshore curve and even a small bridge. The scene was set and offered everything a race course needs. The finish area, surrounded by a fantastic mountain backdrop with the Zugspitze, could not have been more beautiful. Directly adjacent was a playground and also the starting point for a hike to the Kuhflucht waterfalls.

The TSV clearly put a lot of effort into the event and also offered a lot off the track. The event kicked off on Friday with a pasta party on the asphalt pump track. Food stands were then offered for the race day and some local partners also got involved, for example the Explorer Hotel with a competition. Thanks also go to the recycling center and kommit, who also supported the event.

The atmosphere among the more than one hundred participants and their companions from five different nations was relaxed. For many, you could already feel the vacation mode, even though the vacations in Bavaria hadn't even started yet. The field was made up of many regular riders from the series, supplemented by a few locals, some of whom may now be on the start line more often.

So Saturday was race day and the weather conditions were dry and summery. After a brief welcome and collecting the start number, we began with the track walk, which took a little longer this time due to its length. Afterwards, it was time to manage your strength well in training before the timed heats. As always, the participants had the utmost respect, because in addition to concentrating on the race track, it was important to block out the many spectators on the course and get to the bottom as error-free as possible. In the end, the time counted for the ranking, but it was actually about having a great day on the bike and spending time in the fresh air with friends.

A huge thank you to TSV Farchant. We hope that this event is a kind of initial spark for more MTB events in the region and would be delighted as a series if we could now be regular guests in this beautiful Bavarian town.

We would also like to thank the series sponsors VPACE, iXS, Maxxis, SR Suntour, 3Essen and the Gotha Medical Vocational School.