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Why Valparaíso is one of the best urban downhill tracks in the world
Chilean mountain bike pro Pedro Burns gives us the inside track on his home country’s premier urban downhill race and why you’ll love it as much as he does.
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The 2024 Red Bull Cerro Abajo urban downhill season brings some of the world's best mountain bikers together to race along the streets of Valparaíso, Chile, on March 3. This will be the 20th anniversary of the race in Valparaíso.
Watch our film explaining the story behind the largest urban downhill race in the world in the player at the top of this page.
One person who knows what it's like to ride the race in Valparaíso is Pedro Burns. Being Chilean, Burns knows just what it is like to ride there. He will be looking to improve on his 11th place in the 2022 edition, with a top-five finish this time: "It's a big deal, everyone knows that race. Being there and feeling that atmosphere is crazy. You really feel the energy of the people watching you as you go down."
When it comes to urban downhill Pedro Burns takes things step-by-step
© Kevin Molano/Red Bull Content Pool
Based in a port city to the west of Chile’s capital, the Valparaíso track actually takes place in a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With a rough length of 2.4km and an estimated 1,605 steps (plus dozens of high-speed doglegs), the course, which ends at the fountain of Neptune at Plaza Aníbal Pinto, is renowned as the gnarliest of these type of urban races.
"It's a little bit sketchy, because you feel like everyone wants to see crashes and blood. Overcoming the nerves is the most special thing about this race given the challenges you face," Burns says.
2 min
Track guide
Take a virtual tour of the notorious urban downhill track for Red Bull Valparaíso Cerro Abajo 2023.
Burns, who filmed his 2020 MTB Raw clip on parts of the Valparaíso course, explains below what you should expect from the Chilean race if you're new to the sport or need a refresher.
More urban downhill content
01
There will be stairs aplenty at the top
"You start at the top of the town and it's pretty high," says Burns, giving us a sense of vertigo already. "You have a good sprint where you need to push really hard and then you’re into a series of drops and different stairs."
Feel that? That's your stomach flipping.
"In the stairs you can make different combinations; you can jump, you can roll," Burn advises. "The difficulty of that section is that you’re going really, really fast and you need to brake on the stairs. This makes it really slippery, because there isn't too much grip. And there are lots of tight corners."
There's tight cornering a plenty on this Valparaíso course
© Gustavo Cherro/Red Bull Content Pool
02
Navigating the track can be sketchy and tight
"Then, you get to a fast straight line on the stairs,” Burns says. "There are three or four jumps from one stair to another. In my opinion, this is the hardest section, because it's really fast and really tight. On one side you have the wall and on the other you have the rails. It's pretty sketchy."
Hurtling downhill at speed? What's not to love? "You have to connect perfectly, because if not you can rebound and crash. And it's not a good place to crash."
Going off line on the stairs leaves you with little margin for error
© Fabio Piva/Red Bull Content Pool
Each section of stairs pose different challenges
© Fabio Piva/Red Bull Content Pool
03
Home is where the heart is
Did we mention the course goes through an actual house? Well, it does. And we think that's pretty cool.
"The route continues to weave down and then you're suddenly riding on the roof of a house," Burns says. "From there, you drop down from the roof and you're then presented with riding through someone's house. You jump from inside the house back onto the course. They remove the door for the race, you jump outside over a three-metre gap and land on the landing. It's called La Casa Azul and it's an iconic part of the track."
Ride on through the house, but don't take those stairs
© Alfred Jürgen Westermeyer/Red Bull Content Pool
Time to leave the house – don't outstay your welcome
© Alfred Jürgen Westermeyer/Red Bull Content Pool
04
Building speed in the right areas
Bombing downhill isn't as simple as just keeping off the brakes and letting it rip. No, to come out the other side in one piece you need skills, too.
"The next section is a good mix of technical and fast stuff," explains Burns. "You need to sprint as hard as you can, it feels a bit like MotoGP™ where you're riding on the road with some turns and need to gather speed to take big jumps. There's lots of air, lots of big drops and lots of sprints."
Pedal like mad when you get the chance
© Gustavo Cherro/Red Bull Content Pool
05
Arms and legs will begin to burn
We aren't done with you yet. There's still more to come from this track, as you come into where the majority of the spectators are watching.
"There's another big drop off the top of the plaza to the street below. After that, another really fast section. Up until the 2018 edition there was a left turn wall ride where you needed to jump off the wall five or six metres, landing on a very small landing."
A wallride that may look easy, but is far from it
© Alfred Jürgen Westermeyer/Red Bull Content Pool
06
Stings in the tail as the course reaches its finale
Next up is a long street with loads of quick turns, jumps and step-offs. "Then there's another big drop at the bottom of that bit," enthuses Burns.
Sounds difficult, right? Well, novices need not apply: "In my opinion, this and the stairs at the start are the most technical parts of the race. If you don't do it perfectly, for sure you’re going to crash and it's not going to be nice."
After that, it’s all out: "The final sprint takes you through a shipping container before one last drop at the end. You'll be jumping through another covered building and landing just before you cross the final line in front of thousands of people."
Jump after jump allows speed to build as the course nears its finale
© Jean Louis de Heeckeren/Red Bull Content Pool
Just one more drop before the finish
© Fabio Piva/Red Bull Content Pool
Now that you've read through Burns's explanation of the track, find out what he's been talking about by watching this Drone POV of a Tomáš Slavík run the 2022 edition of Red Bull Valparaíso Cerro Abajo below:
3 min
Downhill drone chase
The talented FPV drone pilots chase Tomáš Slavík down the iconic Red Bull Valparaíso track.
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