The 2025-2026 UCI Cyclocross World Cup calendar will replicate a 12-race series for a second season, with a return to Koksijde and a second try at a new round in Sardinia after the Italian race was cancelled due to extreme weather last December.
Along with Flanders Classics, the UCI confirmed that races in Bensaçon and Dublin will not return, and the stop in Hulst was vacated for the Dutch city to host the Cyclocross World Championships, January 30-February 1, 2026.
The calendar will begin on the last two weekends of November at Tabor, Czechia, a 16-time World Cup host which last saw the series in 2022, and Flamanville, France, which has hosted a World Cup twice before.
A return to the coastal town of Cabras, Italy is scheduled for December 7 marks the third round. Also slotted in the same spot last year, a storm with heavy rainfall and powerful winds of more than 90 kph caused the UCI and race organisers to cancel those races just hours before the elite women were to compete.
Seven of the World Cup races would be held in Belgium, including Namur on December 14, leading to a weekend doubleheader on December 20-12 in Antwerp and Koksijde, the latter challenging riders with the large sand dunes that have seen a three-year absence. A trio of traditional Belgian events stretch through ‘kerstperiode’ and the start of the new year – Gavere, Dendermonde and Zonhoven.
Benidorm, Spain, repeats for a mid-January contest, with the season concluding with a Maasmechelan and Hoogerheide final weekend before the World Championships, set for Hulst.
Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) won his first overall World Cup title for elite men, while Lucinda Brand (Baloise-Glowi) earned the third elite women’s overall title in her career.
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For the 2024-2025 cyclocross season, the UCI instituted a new ‘protected status’ for a limited number of events to ensure top riders would focus on World Cups over series, which this past year included Superprestige, X2O Trophee, Exact Cross and Coupe de France. Rounds in Dublin, Sardinia, Besançon and Benidorm received this status last season.
At this early date, the UCI management committee had not determined selections for the upcoming season, which an amended rule last March stated “will not concern more than half of the rounds” of the World Cup calendar.
