2026 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships

2026 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships
Hulst
Venue Hulst, Netherlands
Date30 January – 1 February 2026 (2026-01-30 – 2026-02-01)
Coordinates51°17′N 4°03′E / 51.28°N 4.05°E / 51.28; 4.05
Events7

The 2026 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships was the 77th edition of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, the annual world championship for the cycling discipline of cyclo-cross. It was held from 30 January to 1 February in Hulst, Netherlands. The championships were organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale and sponsored by Rabobank.[1]

Venue

Hulst was officially confirmed as the host city in September 2021. The city had previously hosted UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup races, but never a world championship.[2]

The course was 3.24 kilometres (2.01 mi) long, with 40 metres (130 ft) of elevation gain, including 7 bridges and a section of 22 stairs.[3]

Competition schedule

All times are local, CET (UTC+1).[3]

Date Time Race Category
30 January 2026 (2026-01-30) 13:35 Mixed team relay
31 January 2026 (2026-01-31) 11:05 Women's junior race
13:10 Men's under-23 race
15:10 Women's elite race
1 February 2026 (2026-02-01) 11:05 Men's junior race
13:10 Women's under-23 race
15:10 Men's elite race

Pre-race favorites

Mathieu van der Poel, the reigning seven-time champion, was widely seen as the favorite for the men's elite race. Expected challengers included Thibau Nys, Michael Vanthourenhout, Toon Aerts, Emiel Verstrynge, and Laurens Sweeck.[4][5] Favorites for the women's elite race included Lucinda Brand, Inge van der Heijden, Aniek van Alphen, Puck Pieterse, and Amandine Fouquenet.[4]

Medal summary

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Women's events
Women's elite race  Lucinda Brand (NED) 49' 16"  Ceylin Alvarado (NED) +27"  Puck Pieterse (NED) +51"
Women's under-23 race  Leonie Bentveld (NED) 43' 08"  Viktória Chladoňová (SVK) +11"  Célia Gery (FRA) +57"
Women's junior race  Barbora Bukovská (CZE) 44' 55"  Lise Revol (FRA) +15"  Lucie Grohová (CZE) +35"
Men's events
Men's elite race  Mathieu van der Poel (NED) 1h 00' 25"  Tibor Del Grosso (NED) +35"  Thibau Nys (BEL) +46"
Men's under-23 race  Aaron Dockx (BEL) 53' 11"  Aubin Sparfel (FRA) +19"  Keije Solen (NED) +22"
Men's junior race  Delano Heeren (NED) 40' 15"  Filippo Grigolini (ITA) +9"  Giel Lejeune (BEL) +10"
Mixed events
Mixed team relay  Netherlands
Guus van den Eijnden
Delano Heeren
Isis Versluis
Leonie Bentveld
Shirin van Anrooij
Tibor Del Grosso
47' 06"  Italy
Filippo Grigolini
Stefano Viezzi
Sara Casasola
Elisa Ferri
Giorgia Pellizotti
Filippo Fontana
+16"  Belgium
Fleur Moors
Kay De Bruyckere
Julie Brouwers
Jari Van Lee
Zita Peeters
Niels Vandeputte
+37"

Results

Women

Elite

The Elite Women's race took place on Saturday January 31, 2026 (2026-01-31) in 6 laps over a total distance of 19.60 km. 31 riders from 16 nations took part in the race.[6]

Result
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Diff.
Lucinda Brand  Netherlands 49:16
Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado  Netherlands 49:43 +0:27
Puck Pieterse  Netherlands 50:07 +0:51
4 Blanka Kata Vas  Hungary 50:12 +0:56
5 Amandine Fouquenet  France 50:14 +0:58
6 Jolanda Neff   Switzerland 50:18 +1:02
7 Zoe Bäckstedt  Great Britain 50:21 +1:05
8 Manon Bakker  Netherlands 50:27 +1:11
9 Shirin van Anrooij  Netherlands 50:36 +1:20
10 Marie Schreiber  Luxembourg 50:53 +1:37
11 Kristýna Zemanová  Czech Republic 51:21 +2:05
12 Hélène Clauzel  France 51:28 +2:12
13 Inge van der Heijden  Netherlands 51:33 +2:17
14 Aniek van Alphen  Netherlands 51:35 +2:19
15 Annemarie Worst  Netherlands 51:37 +2:21
16 Sidney McGill  Canada 53:16 +4:00
17 Sofia Rodriguez Revert  Spain 53:30 +4:14
18 Lucia Gonzalez Blanco  Spain 53:35 +4:19
19 Larissa Hartog  Netherlands 54:02 +4:46
20 Elizabeth Gunsalus  United States 54:09 +4:53
21 Rebekka Estermann   Switzerland 54:15 +4:59
22 Perrine Clauzel  France 54:35 +5:19
23 Zuzanna Krzystała  Poland 54:48 +5:32
24 Nadja Heigl  Austria 55:50 +6:34
25 Anna Megale  United States 55:51 +6:35
26 Maghalie Rochette  Canada 57:06 +7:50
27 Ann-Dorthe Lisbygd  Denmark LAP
28 Kasuga Watabe  Japan LAP
Sara Casasola  Italy DNF
Marion Norbert-Riberolle  Belgium DSQ
Julie Brouwers  Belgium DNS

Under-23

The Under-23 Women's race took place on Sunday February 1, 2026 (2026-02-01) in 5 laps over a total distance of 16.35 km. 32 riders from 15 nations took part in the race.[7]

Result
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Diff.
Leonie Bentveld  Netherlands 43:08
Viktória Chladoňová  Slovakia 43:19 +0:11
Célia Gery  France 44:05 +0:57
4 Fleur Moors  Belgium 44:22 +1:14
5 Amandine Muller  France 44:28 +1:20
6 Vida Lopez de San Roman  United States 44:31 +1:23
7 Alyssa Sarkisov  United States 44:58 +1:50
8 Lidia Cusack  United States 45:09 +2:01
9 Lison Desprez  France 45:12 +2:04
10 Elisa Ferri  Italy 45:15 +2:07
11 Bloeme Kalis  Netherlands 45:25 +2:17
12 Lauren Molengraaf  Netherlands 45:40 +2:32
13 Katherine Sarkisov  United States 45:49 +2:41
14 Electa Gallezot  France 46:06 +2:58
15 Liv Wenzel  Luxembourg 46:11 +3:03
16 Rafaelle Carrier  Canada 46:25 +3:17
17 Regina Bruchner  Hungary 46:33 +3:25
18 Puck Langenbarg  Netherlands 46:37 +3:29
19 Kateřina Hladíková  Czech Republic 46:37 +3:29
20 Amálie Gottwaldová  Czech Republic 46:53 +3:45
21 Mille Nielsen  Denmark 46:56 +3:48
22 Jana Glaus   Switzerland 46:57 +3:49
23 Nico Knoll  Canada 47:07 +3:59
24 Lorena Patiño Villanueva  Spain 47:08 +4:00
25 Lyllie Sonnemann  United States 47:40 +4:32
26 Kaya Musgrave  United States 48:26 +5:18
27 Thea Persson  Sweden 49:45 +6:37
28 Dorothee Perron  Canada 51:06 +7:58
29 Nelia Kabetaj  Albania 51:55 +8:47
Mia Aseltine  United States DNF
Shanyl De Schoesitter  Belgium DNS
Layla Barthels  Luxembourg DNS

Junior

The Junior Women's race took place on Saturday January 31, 2026 (2026-01-31) in 5 laps over a total distance of 16.35 km. 47 riders from 19 nations took part in the race.[8]

Result
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Diff.
Barbora Bukovská  Czech Republic 44:55
Lise Revol  France 45:10 +0:15
Lucie Grohová  Czech Republic 45:30 +0:35
4 Giorgia Pellizotti  Italy 45:39 +0:44
5 Shana Huber   Switzerland 45:43 +0:48
6 Nynke Jochems  Netherlands 46:04 +1:09
7 Zélie Lambert  France 46:38 +1:43
8 Zoe Roche  Great Britain 46:47 +1:52
9 Alexa Haviland  Canada 46:49 +1:54
10 Laly Pichon  France 46:55 +2:00
11 Rianne Nieuwenhuis  Netherlands 47:09 +2:14
12 Aitana Gutierrez Velarde  Spain 47:11 +2:16
13 Peggy Knox  Great Britain 47:19 +2:24
14 Nicole Azzetti  Italy 47:26 +2:31
15 Liese Geuens  Belgium 47:48 +2:53
16 Nicole Righetto  Italy 47:55 +3:00
17 Lujza Bartošíková  Slovakia 48:03 +3:08
18 Kira Mullins  United States 48:10 +3:15
19 Elisa Bianchi  Italy 48:21 +3:26
20 Barbora Šíslová  Czech Republic 48:29 +3:34
21 Lucie Elizalde  France 48:52 +3:57
22 Aida Linton  United States 48:59 +4:04
23 Nanami Ishikawa  Japan 49:05 +4:10
24 Greta Andersson  Sweden 49:06 +4:11
25 Mirari Gotxi Olartekoetxea  Spain 49:14 +4:19
26 Ada Watson  United States 49:19 +4:24
27 Maxime Takken  Netherlands 49:32 +4:37
28 Beatrix Attelmann  Germany 49:41 +4:46
29 Karolína Bortelová  Slovakia 49:58 +5:03
30 Ayaka Hiyoshi  Japan 50:02 +5:07
31 Karolína Rothbauerová  Czech Republic 50:25 +5:30
32 Tessa Beebe  United States 50:28 +5:33
33 Claire MacKinnon  Canada 50:31 +5:36
34 Carla Bañuls Puente  Spain 50:37 +5:42
35 Elsa Elf Boberg  Sweden 50:39 +5:44
36 Graden Daume  United States 50:43 +5:48
37 Alana Fletcher  Australia 51:02 +6:07
38 Aoi Kobayashi  Japan 51:30 +6:35
39 Gisele Rang  Estonia 53:27 +8:32
40 Sophie Hiswin  New Zealand LAP
41 Alicia Reynolds  Australia LAP
Eva Drhová  Czech Republic DNF
Ida Mahlert  Denmark DNF
Amandine Jakob  Germany DNS
June Nothum  Luxembourg DNS
Isis Versluis  Netherlands DNS
Zita Peeters  Belgium DNS

Men

Elite

The Elite Men's race took place on Sunday February 1, 2026 (2026-02-01) in 8 laps over a total distance of 26.10 km. 39 riders from 17 nations took part in the race.[9]

Result
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Diff.
Mathieu van der Poel  Netherlands 1:00:25
Tibor del Grosso  Netherlands 1:01:00 +0:35
Thibau Nys  Belgium 1:01:11 +0:46
4 Joris Nieuwenhuis  Netherlands 1:01:20 +0:55
5 Filippo Fontana  Italy 1:01:20 +0:55
6 Gerben Kuypers  Belgium 1:01:23 +0:58
7 Felipe Orts  Spain 1:01:29 +1:04
8 Toon Aerts  Belgium 1:01:29 +1:04
9 Jente Michels  Belgium 1:01:29 +1:04
10 Michael Vanthourenhout  Belgium 1:02:00 +1:35
11 Kevin Kuhn   Switzerland 1:02:09 +1:44
12 Mees Hendrikx  Netherlands 1:02:16 +1:51
13 Joran Wyseure  Belgium 1:02:34 +2:09
14 Michael Boroš  Czech Republic 1:02:40 +2:15
15 Martin Groslambert  France 1:02:51 +2:26
16 David Menut  France 1:03:07 +2:42
17 Ryan Kamp  Netherlands 1:03:16 +2:51
18 Danny van Lierop  Netherlands 1:03:22 +2:57
19 Lars van der Haar  Netherlands 1:03:31 +3:06
20 Loris Rouiller   Switzerland 1:03:44 +3:19
21 Cameron Mason  Great Britain 1:03:49 +3:24
22 Nathan Bommenel  France 1:04:05 +3:40
23 Toon Vandebosch  Belgium 1:04:36 +4:11
24 Rémi Lelandais  France 1:04:39 +4:14
25 Fabian Eder  Germany 1:04:45 +4:20
26 Marcel Meisen  Germany 1:04:53 +4:28
27 Niels Vandeputte  Belgium 1:05:00 +4:35
28 Mario Junquera  Spain 1:05:03 +4:38
29 Kevin Suarez Fernandez  Spain 1:05:14 +4:49
30 Pim Ronhaar  Netherlands 1:06:28 +6:03
31 Andrew Strohmeyer  United States 1:07:21 +6:56
32 Lars Sommer   Switzerland LAP
33 David Risberg  Sweden LAP
34 Karl-Erik Rosendahl  Denmark 2LAP
35 Cody Scott  Canada 3LAP
36 Jacob Turner  New Zealand 3LAP
37 Felipe Timoteo Nystrom Spencer  Costa Rica 4LAP
38 Dovydas Lukšas  Lithuania 5LAP
Loïc Bettendorff  Luxembourg DNS

Under-23

The Under-23 Men's race took place on Saturday January 31, 2026 (2026-01-31) in 7 laps over a total distance of 22.85 km. 47 riders from 17 nations took part in the race.[10]

Result
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Diff.
Aaron Dockx  Belgium 53:11
Aubin Sparfel  France 53:30 +0:19
Keije Solen  Netherlands 53:33 +0:22
4 Guus van den Eijnden  Netherlands 53:34 +0:23
5 Arthur van den Boer  Belgium 53:41 +0:30
6 Barnabás Vas  Hungary 53:47 +0:36
7 Raul Mira Bonastre  Spain 53:48 +0:37
8 Léo Bisiaux  France 53:48 +0:37
9 Oscar Amey  Great Britain 54:02 +0:51
10 Jules Simon  France 54:20 +1:09
11 Viktor Vandenberghe  Belgium 54:22 +1:11
12 Mats Vanden Eynde  Belgium 54:23 +1:12
13 Henry Coote  United States 54:24 +1:13
14 David Haverdings  Netherlands 54:26 +1:15
15 Zsombor Takács  Hungary 54:46 +1:35
16 Sil De Brauwere  Belgium 54:54 +1:43
17 Romain Debord  France 55:06 +1:55
18 Kenay De Moyer  Belgium 55:06 +1:55
19 Max Heiner Oertzen  Germany 55:16 +2:05
20 Michiel Mouris  Netherlands 55:41 +2:30
21 Kryštof Bažant  Czech Republic 55:47 +2:36
22 Hannes Degenkolb  Germany 55:48 +2:37
23 Maximilian Kerl  Czech Republic 55:56 +2:45
24 Senna Remijn  Netherlands 56:00 +2:49
25 Eike Behrens  Germany 56:01 +2:50
26 Ryan Drummond  United States 56:28 +3:17
27 Rafael Sousa  Portugal 56:35 +3:24
28 Alexis David  France 56:35 +3:24
29 Floris Haverdings  Netherlands 56:47 +3:36
30 Ben Askey  Great Britain 56:48 +3:37
31 Théophile Vassal  France 56:50 +3:39
32 Silas Kuschla  Germany 56:52 +3:41
33 Calvin Conaway  United States 56:59 +3:48
34 František Hojka  Czech Republic 57:08 +3:57
35 Shingen Yunoki  Japan 57:11 +4:00
36 Daniel Nielsen  Denmark 57:26 +4:15
37 Lennox Papi  Luxembourg 58:05 +4:54
38 Zenshin Nozaki  Japan 58:45 +5:34
39 Declan Oldham  Great Britain 59:02 +5:51
40 Rhett Bates  Canada 59:07 +5:56
41 Mads Jørgensen  Denmark 59:19 +6:08
42 Artur Nichvolodov  Ukraine LAP
43 Mathis Duval  Canada 2LAP
Yordi Corsus  Belgium DNF
Peter Šoltés  Slovakia DNF
Jonas Posselt Gamborg  Denmark DNF
Stefano Viezzi  Italy DSQ

Junior

The Junior Men's race took place on Sunday February 1, 2026 (2026-02-01) in 5 laps over a total distance of 16.35 km. 61 riders from 20 nations took part in the race.[11]

Result
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Diff.
Delano Heeren  Netherlands 40:15
Filippo Grigolini  Italy 40:24 +0:09
Giel Lejeune  Belgium 40:25 +0:10
4 Benjamin Noval Suarez  Spain 40:30 +0:15
5 Soen Le Pann  France 40:58 +0:43
6 Soren Bruyere Joumard  France 41:19 +1:04
7 Noël Goijert  Netherlands 41:24 +1:09
8 Patrik Pezzo Rosola  Italy 41:31 +1:16
9 Raul Lopez Sainz  Spain 41:37 +1:22
10 Francesco Dell'Olio  Italy 41:41 +1:26
11 Victor Devos  France 41:41 +1:26
12 Luke Trafford  Great Britain 41:43 +1:28
13 Milo Wills  Great Britain 41:43 +1:28
14 Lars Corsus  Belgium 41:55 +1:40
15 Michal Šichta  Slovakia 42:00 +1:45
16 Ethan Brown  United States 42:06 +1:51
17 Bas Vanden Eynde  Belgium 42:07 +1:52
18 Benedek Berencsi  Hungary 42:20 +2:05
19 Cas Timmermans  Netherlands 42:23 +2:08
20 Kacper Mizuro  Poland 42:24 +2:09
21 Loek Hovers  Netherlands 42:38 +2:23
22 Emilien Belzile  Canada 42:38 +2:23
23 Antonín John  Czech Republic 42:50 +2:35
24 Jop van den Biggelaar  Netherlands 42:54 +2:39
25 Jari Van Lee  Belgium 42:58 +2:43
26 Martin Fernandez Garcia  Spain 43:01 +2:46
27 Milan Húsenica  Slovakia 43:09 +2:54
28 Farland Lamont  Canada 43:09 +2:54
29 Jacob Steed  Great Britain 43:15 +3:00
30 Matthew Crabbe  United States 43:17 +3:02
31 Tommaso Cingolani  Italy 43:19 +3:04
32 David Svoboda  Czech Republic 43:24 +3:09
33 Johannes Brædstrup-Holm  Denmark 43:26 +3:11
34 Melvin Pålsson Gustafsson  Sweden 43:36 +3:21
35 Ben Fleming  Luxembourg 43:40 +3:25
36 Kai van Hoof  Netherlands 43:52 +3:37
37 Jan Prell  Germany 44:09 +3:54
38 Krzysztof Gdula  Poland 44:11 +3:56
39 Villads Nyegaard  Denmark 44:32 +4:17
40 Jerguš Melichercík  Slovakia 44:33 +4:18
41 Eduard John  Czech Republic 44:37 +4:22
42 Shuntaro Yamada  Japan 44:44 +4:29
43 Porter Melvin  United States 44:46 +4:31
44 João Vigário  Portugal 44:47 +4:32
45 Shogo Mikami  Japan 45:02 +4:47
46 Sagan Goertz  Canada 45:11 +4:56
47 Magnus Dollerup  Denmark 45:14 +4:59
48 Alwin Beyer  Germany 45:34 +5:19
49 Tadeáš Pazourek  Czech Republic 45:50 +5:35
50 Hayden Vimpani  Australia 45:56 +5:41
51 Ben Koenig  Luxembourg 45:57 +5:42
52 Mathias Petersen  Denmark 45:59 +5:44
53 Grayson Franks  Canada 46:03 +5:48
54 Casper Fransson  Sweden 46:29 +6:14
55 Niclas Look  Germany 46:41 +6:26
56 Oliver Grande  Australia 47:10 +6:55
57 Hugo Ramalho  Portugal 47:18 +7:03
58 Kacper Zygmuntowicz  Poland 47:44 +7:29
59 Aron Dahlberg  Sweden 47:50 +7:35
60 Jacob Hines  United States 47:59 +7:44
61 Clayson Kabetaj  Albania 2LAP

Mixed Event

Team Relay

This will be the 5th edition of the Mixed Team Relay event at the world championships. Each relay team consisted of 6 riders which could be made up of:

  • 1 Elite Men or 1 Under-23 Men rider,
  • 1 Under-23 Men or 1 Junior Men rider,
  • 1 Junior Men rider,
  • 1 Elite Women or 1 Under-23 Women rider,
  • 1 Under-23 Women or 1 Junior Women rider,
  • 1 Junior Women rider,

Each rider must also be participating in an individual event at the world championships. Each rider rides on lap, with each nation choosing the starting order of their riders.[3]

Medals table

  *   Host nation (Netherlands)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Netherlands (NED)*5229
2 Belgium (BEL)1034
3 Czech Republic (CZE)1012
4 France (FRA)0213
5 Italy (ITA)0202
6 Slovakia (SVK)0101
Totals (6 entries)77721

See also

References

  1. ^ "2026 Rabobank UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships". uci.org. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  2. ^ "VN news ticker: Dylan Groenewegen to start Paris-Roubaix, Hulst to host 2026 UCI world cyclocross championships". Velo. Outside Online. 24 September 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  3. ^ a b c "Technical Guide" (PDF). hulst2026.com. Union Cycliste Internationale. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  4. ^ a b "UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships 2026". cyclingnews.com. 2 January 2026. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  5. ^ Cannizzaro, Matt (9 January 2026). "2026 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships Schedule". FloBikes. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  6. ^ "2026 Rabobank UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Women Elite" (PDF). uci.org. 31 January 2026. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
  7. ^ "2026 Rabobank UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Women Under 23" (PDF). uci.org. 1 February 2026. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  8. ^ "2026 Rabobank UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Women Junior" (PDF). uci.org. 31 January 2026. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
  9. ^ "2026 Rabobank UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Men Elite" (PDF). uci.org. 1 February 2026. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  10. ^ "2026 Rabobank UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Men Under 23" (PDF). uci.org. 31 January 2026. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
  11. ^ "2026 Rabobank UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Men Junior" (PDF). uci.org. 1 February 2026. Retrieved 2 February 2026.