We’ve got some dates for you. This just in on the PR wires from the UCI with full dates and deets for the 2026 version.
The fourth year of the “revamped format for mountain bike’s different UCI World Cups – launched in 2023 to unite almost all of mountain bike’s major formats under a single brand for the first time” – will visit three continents and nine countries across 14 events between May and October and will feature the best athletes in the sport’s Endurance (Cross-country Olympic, XCO and Cross-country Short Track, XCC) and Gravity (Downhill, DHI and Enduro, EDR) formats.
And, so on with the dates! We’re not sure if this will come with any easier (read ‘cheaper’) ways to actually see the action live on your tellybox, or whether you’ll have to make do with the catch-up, best-of shows on Youtube like me… And if you live in the UK and want to see it in person, you’ll probably have to head to the Alps in April… That’s as close as it gets, sorry!
WHOOP UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD SERIES 2026 CALENDAR:
- Round 1 / May 1-3: Race of South Korea, South Korea (UCI Cross-country and Downhill World Cups)
- Round 2 / May 22-24: Nové Město Na Moravě, Czechia (UCI Cross-country World Cup)
- Round 3 / May 28-31: Loudenvielle-Peyragudes, France (UCI Downhill and UCI Enduro World Cups)
- Round 4 / June 11-14: Saalfelden-Leogang Salzburgerland, Austria (UCI Cross-country, UCI Downhill and UCI Enduro World Cups)
- Round 5 / June 19-21: Lenzerheide, Switzerland (UCI Cross-country and Downhill World Cups)
- Round 6 / June 26-28: Val di Fassa – Trentino, Italy (UCI Enduro World Cup)
- Round 7 / July 3-5: La Thuile – Valle d’Aosta, Italy (UCI Cross-country, UCI Downhill and UCI Enduro World Cups)
- Round 8 / July 8-12: Pal Arinsal, Andorra (UCI Cross-country and Downhill World Cups)
- Round 9 / July 17-19: Aletsch Arena – Bellwald, Valais, Switzerland (UCI Enduro World Cup)
- Round 10 / August 14-16: Haute-Savoie, France (UCI Cross-country and UCI Downhill World Cups) Round 11 / August 21-23: Haute-Savoie, France (UCI Enduro World Cup)
- Round 12 / September 19-20: Soldier Hollow, Midway, Utah, USA (UCI Cross-country World Cup)
- Round 13 / September 25-27: Whistler Mountain Bike Park, British Columbia, Canada (UCI Downhill World Cup)
- Round 14 / October 2-4: Lake Placid Olympic Sites, New York, USA (UCI Cross-country and UCI Downhill World Cups)
Check here for more info: ucimtbworldseries.com
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So back to 8 DH races from 10(?) this year?
Poland is gone completely … despite apparently being universally popular.
And Enduro WORLD Cup gets to race 6 times (back from 7) in just 4 countries – France, Austria, Italy, Switzerland.
Gutted that Poland has gone – was hoping to get there.
No Fort William again and MSA binned as well…. MSA have basically said “it’s a financial decision by WBD"Â which is a shame that it (like everything in life i guess) comes down to nothing more than money.
I can see Whistler at the end of September being pretty moist !
Not holding my breath that it’s going to be affordable live either 🙄 Be interesting to see the viewing figures for live coverage since Dick Turpin took charge 🤔
I know at least he wore a mask.
Already out there, if you believe them…
UCI and Warner Bros. Discovery Report Record Viewership for 2025 WHOOP MTB World Series – Pinkbike
@mashr yeah 🤔
At least the 1199 course is being used in Whistler pity we won’t be able to watch it live 😔
Well you can, you just have to pay for it.
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Tiz possible to watch for free
And legal? 🤔
Define legal.Â
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Well considering they had to cancel the 1199 DH at Crankworks last week due to cloud cover it could be interesting….
Do we think fort William is done for now? Even if it could scrape the money together who would invest if it only came back every few years? Sad times, the atmosphere was unmissable.
14-16th August, Haute-Savoie for XC and DH – that’s Les Gets, isn’t it?
In the absence of Fort Bill we’d like to combine a family hol to Les Arcs with a visit to a race. Had hoped it’d be La Thuile but that’s too early in the hols. Might make Les Gets work, the atmosphere at the bottom of the DH track there’s looked mental in previous years.
Yeah, take your earplugs if you’re going there – looks like it’s full of **** with chainsaws 😀
South Korea feels like an important and exciting step for the sport, hope the track is up to scratch.
The Whistler one certainly is, having watched the Red Bull coverage of the Crankworx race there last year – it looked brilliant.
I wish there was scope for a more challenging WC track in the UK. Fort Bill was feeling quite underwhelming in terms of the racing so I won’t miss that – but we are such a big presence in DH, it’d be nice to have a race somewhere here.
Same can happen to any race in the mountains tbf
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Agreed, sadly its just a step back to where we were 20 years ago when they raced in Arai, Japan. Hopefully they can keep a race on Asia for the foreseeable future
Hmm, midges and rain or *s with chainsaws – tough call 😀Â
Just looked at next summer’s (Scottish) school dates and would mean the kids missing a few days, wonder if I could class this as having ‘educational’ value…
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Indeed. Fort William managed 20+ years without a cancellation due to weather, a lucky achievement given the number of wind-induced gondola closures on uplift days.
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Honestly if they could come up with a parking solution and facilities solution Dyfi could easily manage this. But i think the Gondola aspect would be the deal breaker there for a WC round as you’ve got a LOT of riders to get up and fairly quickly. But from a track context i think the Dyfi guys would be able to built a WC level of track using some of the trails and routes they have.Â
But you can’t really get 2000 people and 500 race team members there on a day etc..
Fort William is a worthy contender still for me but they’re either not paying the money or not doing something else that means it’s not happening.
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Well when you put it like that 😆Â
I’m actually pondering working La Thuile into a Eurotrip now – was hoping to get out to Aosta Valley early summer anyway.
I thought Fort William was done as the course was too long and the TV show producers deemed it wouldn’t make a suitable event for the TV exposure of the runs (as the course run time was too long)?
Or is that all wrong and it was a money thing and it couldn’t afford to bid?
Or a bit of both?
The riders have been openly whinging about Fort Bill for at least 5 years now so probably a bit of that as well.
It was definitely due for a rest.