2026/2027 Cyclo-cross World Cup calendar: All dates at a glance

Cyclo-cross is off-road cycling: the routes take riders across meadows, through woods, up steps and through mud. A short, technically demanding circuit is completed over and over again – the number of laps is determined by the time; a bell signals the start of the final lap. Anyone who cannot ride through a section jumps off, runs and jumps back onto their bike. Riders who have fallen too far behind or been lapped are withdrawn from the race by the commissaires. The season runs from October to February, right in the middle of winter.

​The European Championships will kick off the international season, and they have chosen a special venue. On 7 and 8 November 2026, the Montferlandse bossen woods around Zeddam in the Dutch province of Gelderland will be transformed into a European Championship arena.

European Cyclo-cross Championships

The World Championships were held here as far back as 2006, with Erwin Vervecken and a young Marianne Vos taking the elite titles. Twenty years on, the world’s top riders are returning, this time to compete for the European Championship title. And Vervecken is back again: this time as the course designer. The 102-step staircase, a local legend, is set to feature on the course for the first time at a major event in 2026.

On Saturday 7 November, the junior women, the U23 men and the elite women will be competing. The junior men, the U23 women and the elite men will follow the next day.

2026/2027 World Cup

Twelve races, from late November to late January. That’s how it was in previous years, and that’s how it will be in 2026/2027 too. On Friday 27 November 2026, the World Cup season opener will take place in Ostrava, on a rather unusual weekday for the cyclo-cross calendar. The second race follows just two days later, in the familiar setting of Tábor. Ostrava and Tábor are just three and a half hours’ drive apart.

Following the journey eastwards, the route leads from the Czech Republic across Europe to the UK: Glasgow is returning to the World Cup after more than a decade. On 13 December 2026, Kelvingrove Park in the Scottish city will be transformed into a World Cup venue.

Next comes what makes the cross-winter season so special: Belgium, where cyclo-cross is a national sport. No fewer than six of the twelve races take place on Belgian soil. It all kicks off just before Christmas with the Antwerp–Koksijde double-header – Scheldecross meets Duinencross, cobbles meet sand dunes. The action continues over the festive period with Gavere and Namur (26–27 December), before another first awaits on 29 December: Besançon on a Tuesday. The French venue took a break during the 2025/26 season, but is now back – with another unusual date.

In the new year, the route takes us first to Zonhoven (3 January), then to the annual ‘sunny spot’ of the cyclo-cross winter: Benidorm. On the Spanish Mediterranean coast, the course is dusty rather than muddy, and the spectators wear T-shirts whilst the pros plough through gravel tracks. The season concludes with a Belgian-Dutch weekend: Hamme on Saturday, Hoogerheide on Sunday. Two days that traditionally mark the home straight of the season.

Not included in the 2026/2027 season’s programme: Terralba (Sardinia) and Maasmechelen. As in previous years, there is no World Cup event in Germany on the calendar either.

All dates at a glance

World Championships: Ostend, now with spectators

The season will draw to a close with the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – which will take place from 29 to 31 January 2027 in Ostend on the Belgian North Sea coast. For the city, this is something of a second chance: Ostend already hosted a World Championship in 2021, albeit without spectators due to the pandemic. Although images of the races on the North Sea beach still made their way around the world, the atmosphere was missing.

That is set to change in 2027. The route once again runs alongside the historic Wellington Hippodrome and across the beach – featuring two bridge crossings over the tram lines and a long flight of steps just before the finish. The event is being organised by Flanders Classics – a debut for the classic-car specialist at World Cyclo-cross Championship level.

Who is allowed to take part?

Eligibility to take part in World Cup races is determined by the UCI World Rankings: the top 50 riders are automatically eligible to compete. Nations fielding fewer than eight pre-qualified athletes may increase their quota to eight. Nations with more than eight pre-qualified athletes may send additional riders according to a tiered allocation system – the maximum is twelve riders per nation per race.