As much as we love the World Cup series, there’s something special about the World Championships. It’s a one-off occasion that forces the riders pull out all the stops to take home the rainbow jersey.

Clearly Claudio Caluori feels the same as he invited mountain biking legend Cedric Gracia along for his final downhill course preview of the year. Gracia is a local to the Vallnord bike park and has even helped to build some of the sections of this year’s track, add on top of this his fabled riding skills and he makes a perfect partner for the big occasion.

Claudio Vallnord Worlds 1

The track itself looks incredible and fully deserving of hosting a World Championships. It starts off mellow and jumpy, but the final minute of the track goes straight down the hill – when it looks that steep on helmet cam, you know it’s going to be crazy in real life.

We reckon this is the hardest Worlds track in years and to make it even worse, the Master’s Worlds last week has left it rutted and beaten up which will only add to the technicality.

Rachel Atherton, Aaron Gwin and Greg Minnaar will all be licking their lips at the thought of tackling this track, especially after their strong seasons. However, don’t discount the possibility of a wildcard taking the win here as Remi Thirion did in 2013.

The World Champs itself will take place on Sunday and you can watch it on Red Bull TV from 11:25am.