For years, Canadian downhill fans have dreamed of one thing: a World Cup stop at Whistler Mountain Bike Park. That dream becomes reality in 2026.<\/p>\n
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports just dropped the schedule for next year\u2019s WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series. Fourteen rounds. Nine countries. Three continents. And for the first time ever, Whistler is in.<\/p>\n
The legendary B.C. venue, widely considered the spiritual home of freeride mountain biking, will host its first-ever UCI Downhill World Cup on September 25\u201327. After decades of anticipation, the World Cup is finally heading to the bike park that changed the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis one\u2019s going to be massive,\u201d said WBD\u2019s Chris Ball. \u201cIt\u2019s a long-term wish from fans, teams and athletes alike.\u201d<\/p>\n
But no Mont-Sainte-Anne in 2026<\/p>\n
While western Canadians are popping champagne corks, Eastern fans are going to feel left behind. For the first time since 2016 (outside of pandemic years), Mont-Sainte-Anne is not on the UCI mountain bike World Cup calendar.<\/p>\n
The Quebec venue has been a cornerstone of Canadian downhill and cross-country racing since 1991. Still, for a country that spans six time zones, Mont-Sainte-Anne offered accessibility to eastern riders and fans. Without it, Canada\u2019s entire World Cup presence falls to one stop. On the other side of the country.<\/p>\n
No XCO or enduro for Canada<\/p>\n
The Whistler race is strictly downhill. That means no cross-country or enduro stops on Canadian soil.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an ambitious calendar that includes the first Asian XCO round (South Korea) and a return to iconic venues like Leogang, Lenzerheide and La Thuile. But for Canadians, the Whistler addition is bittersweet.<\/p>\n
We got our dream. But we lost a piece of our heritage.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
2026 Calendar<\/p>\n
Round 1: Race of South Korea<\/p>\n
Date: May 1\u20133
Location: South Korea
Disciplines: Cross-country (XCO), Downhill (DHI)<\/p>\n
Round 2: Nov\u00e9 M\u011bsto Na Morav\u011b<\/p>\n
Date: May 22\u201324
Location: Czechia
Discipline: Cross-country (XCO)<\/p>\n
Round 3: Loudenvielle-Peyragudes<\/p>\n
Date: May 28\u201331
Location: France
Disciplines: Downhill (DHI), Enduro (EDR)<\/p>\n
Round 4: Saalfelden-Leogang Salzburgerland<\/p>\n
Date: June 11\u201314
Location: Austria
Disciplines: Cross-country (XCO), Downhill (DHI), Enduro (EDR)<\/p>\n
Round 5: Lenzerheide<\/p>\n
Date: June 19\u201321
Location: Switzerland
Disciplines: Cross-country (XCO), Downhill (DHI)<\/p>\n
Round 6: Val di Fassa \u2013 Trentino<\/p>\n
Date: June 26\u201328
Location: Italy
Discipline: Enduro (EDR)<\/p>\n
Round 7: La Thuile \u2013 Valle d\u2019Aosta<\/p>\n
Date: July 3\u20135
Location: Italy
Disciplines: Cross-country (XCO), Downhill (DHI), Enduro (EDR)<\/p>\n
Round 8: Pal Arinsal<\/p>\n
Date: July 8\u201312
Location: Andorra
Disciplines: Cross-country (XCO), Downhill (DHI)<\/p>\n
Round 9: Aletsch Arena \u2013 Bellwald, Valais<\/p>\n
Date: July 17\u201319
Location: Switzerland
Discipline: Enduro (EDR)<\/p>\n
Round 10: Haute-Savoie<\/p>\n
Date: August 14\u201316
Location: France
Disciplines: Cross-country (XCO), Downhill (DHI)<\/p>\n
Round 11: Haute-Savoie<\/p>\n
Date: August 21\u201323
Location: France
Discipline: Enduro (EDR)<\/p>\n
Round 12: Soldier Hollow<\/p>\n
Date: September 19\u201320
Location: Midway, Utah, USA
Discipline: Cross-country (XCO)<\/p>\n
Round 13: Whistler Mountain Bike Park<\/p>\n
Date: September 25\u201327
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Discipline: Downhill (DHI)<\/p>\n
Round 14: Lake Placid Olympic Sites<\/p>\n
Date: October 2\u20134
Location: New York, USA
Disciplines: Cross-country (XCO), Downhill (DHI)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For years, Canadian downhill fans have dreamed of one thing: a World Cup stop at Whistler Mountain Bike…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,1700,82],"class_list":["post-101978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-mtb-features","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}