Earlier this year, the UCI and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced the 2026 Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series calendar. As well as the usual suspects, a few new rounds appeared in the 14 weekend-long calendar.
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For the first time in cross-country history (and the first time in 25 years for downhill), a round will be held in Asia: South Korea, more specifically. Additionally, two new North American rounds will be making an appearance: Utah, US, and Whistler in Canada. For downhill (DH), cross-country (XC) riders, there’s a reduction of one race weekend, from 10 to nine in 2026. And for Enduro riders, there will be six weekends instead of seven.
But while the overall number of race days is reduced for 2026, the travel required if racers are competing in every round has increased, as fewer race weekends are Eurocentric. In the eyes of many, growing the sport means globalising the sport. So adding races to places like South Korea could be considered progress, as it gets more eyes on the events.
But one major concern is that it could make World Cup racing even more unsustainable for teams without big budgets and privateer racers. While the Europe-first model wasn’t perfect, the vast majority of pro mountain bike racers are from Europe, so in theory, it meant less travel and less cost to bear.
For reference, a plane ticket to South Korea’s Gimpo International airport, which is about 80 miles from the venue in PyeongChang County, costs about £600 from a UK base. Compared to flying to say, Poland, which costs significantly less. So already, before you look at visa requirements (if applicable), accommodation, and the like, teams are already footing a bigger bill to head to places like the US or South Korea.
One way around this is to pick and choose the venues you race at, which I suppose is a weird sort of luxury that not everyone can afford. Privateers like XC racer Isla Short reduced her racing calendar in 2025 to focus on more time at home, rather than being at every race and not being able to perform how she wanted to.
In 2026, she says that budgeting is still a concern for Short, but she will be making the trips across to the US and to Korea.
“In 2025, I didn’t race outside of Europe for both financial and health reasons,” she told off.road.cc.
“The 2026 calendar has three rounds outside Europe, which will obviously make a huge dent in my budget. As a privateer, it means I have to be extremely careful with where I use the available money.
“Olympic qualification opens in May next year, and so there is a much bigger pressure for me to be at the American rounds later in the year to make sure that GB are on track for two riders in Paris 2028. South Korea is not within the qualifying period, but I’ve decided to go because I’d like to achieve something in the overall World Cup series.
“I’m looking for ways to save through the season to make it feasible. Crazy as it seems, it will be cheaper for me to come home between World Cups in the US racing block. Going to be a busy time!”
But in factory teams, picking and choosing races is not always an option. Riders are expected to be at every round, no matter the location or the time it takes away from their family. And yes, you could argue that that’s the lifestyle they’ve chosen, but you still have to remember that these racers are human and they cannot perform at the top of their game week in week out.
The racing in Korea will consist of XC and DH events, both held at the YongPyong resort in PyeongChang. Famous for hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics alpine skiing events, the tracks sound like they’ll benefit riders with more technical capabilities. According to the UCI World Series website, the XC course will utilise “the natural terrain of the area” and include “steep climbs and chutes, multiple line choices and off-camber descents.”
For the DH, the track will similarly favour the brave, with it being described as “short and fast, with a mix of technical forest, high speed sections and some big jumps.” Of course, with any new venue, surprises can happen, and the first few practice runs are going to be key in gathering data and understanding line choice, and it will definitely be interesting to see who comes out of the winter on form.
Reece Wilson, AKA The Flying Scotsman and 2020 DH World Champion, feels positive about how the two new rounds will impact the sport.
“Having a new venue like South Korea is very exciting for the riders. The last five years, we’ve been on a very similar rotation of tracks, which can become stale. Having a track that nobody has ridden before puts everyone on an even playing field, which I like. Visiting new countries is something that’s very important for growing the sport and spreading awareness of Downhill Cycling.
“Whistler is steeped in heritage, so it being a new venue will bring something very different. The sport of downhill is huge in Whistler, so I think we can expect a lot of very educated fans, which is always fun! These will be two of the highlight events for us this year.”
But it is exciting. If we take a step back from the organisational perspective and look at it purely from a racing standpoint, the fact that the World Series will visit Asia is big. And, towards the end of the season, arguably the world’s biggest bike park will get to showcase its terrain on the DH world stage. That, of course, being Whistler in British Columbia, Canada. As Wilson alludes to, Whistler is often considered to be the spiritual home of downhill, not least because Gracey Hemstreet and Jackson Goldstone are from nearby.
It will certainly be interesting to watch how the 2026 season unfolds. As Wilson says, it can become stale when you watch the same tracks year in year out. Some are staples, of course, but there’s always room for change and progress, and we’ll be watching on with intrigue to see if the new venues live up to the hype.
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