What is four cross, and what do the coloured cards mean?
A · Advanced · Downhill and the gravity formats · 3 of 4Three or four riders race side by side down a short course of jumps and banked turns, and the first two in each heat go through to the next round. Some unintentional contact is tolerated. A yellow card is a warning, a blue card a relegation and a red card a disqualification.
How it works
- What it is: "an elimination event where three or four riders (called a heat) compete side by side on the same downhill course".
- Contact: "there may be some unintentional contact between the riders". It is tolerated if it stays within fair play.
- Qualifying: a timed run by each rider. Ties go to the higher-ranked rider, then to lots.
- The ladder: 64, 32, 16 or 8 riders, by how many set a qualifying time. Fewer than six, and no event is held.
- Each heat: ridden once. "The first and the second qualify for the next round."
- The finals: a big final, and a small final for the riders third and fourth in the semi-finals.
- The start: from a standstill. A front wheel over the line before the signal means relegation.
- Lanes: four lanes are marked for the first five metres. Crossing or riding on the lines means relegation.
- Gates: both wheels must pass inside each gate. A missed or straddled gate means relegation unless the rider goes back and passes it correctly.
- The course: jumps, humps, banked turns and dips, wide enough for four riders, for a race of 30 to 60 seconds.
- Cards: yellow for behaviour against the rules that gained no advantage, blue for relegation, red for disqualification. A second card of any colour in the same event is a disqualification.
- Helmet: full-face.
The glossary has four cross, the berm, the jump and relegation and disqualification.
Tricky cases
Is any contact a foul?
No. Unintentional contact is tolerated if the president of the commissaires' panel considers it within the spirit of the event.
A rider misses a gate, stops and goes back through it. Are they relegated?
No. A missed gate means relegation unless the rider returns to pass it correctly.
All four riders crash and nobody reaches the finish. Who goes through?
The rider who covered the greatest distance is the winner of the heat. The rule applies in the preliminary rounds.
A rider with a yellow card gets a blue card later the same day. What happens?
Disqualification. A second card of any colour in the same event has that result.
Why the rule exists
Four riders on one line at speed will touch, so the rules accept contact that comes from racing and punish contact that is aimed at a rival. Lanes at the start, gates on the course and a judge on a raised platform give the officials fixed things to rule on in a race that lasts under a minute.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Four cross | A downhill course with gates and a card system | UCI 4.4.012; UCI 4.4.027 |
| Eliminator | A circuit with climbs, no gates | UCI 4.2.010 |
| BMX racing | Up to eight riders on a built track from a start gate | ../bmx-racing/ set |
| If the heats are cancelled | The qualifying round stands as the result | UCI 4.4.009 |
From the rule book
Union Cycliste Internationale, Cycling Regulations, Part 4: Mountain Bike Races (JCF edition 2025, amendments applying 1 January 2026), articles 4.4.001 to 4.4.019, 4.4.022 and 4.4.027. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: UCI Cycling Regulations, Part 4 (PDF).