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Going from nine to 12 rounds could boost mountain bike racing’s global profile, but teams are already feeling the financial strain.
Piper Albrecht, Michele Mondini, Ross Bell, Warner Bros. Discovery
You only have to look back to 2021 to find an XC World Cup calendar built around six rounds, with all but one taking place in Europe. Fast forward to 2025 and the calendar had swollen to 10 rounds across three continents.
On paper, that growth looks unequivocally like a good thing. More racing means more opportunities to see the world’s best riders compete, more exposure for the sport and more chances to introduce XC to new audiences.
But there is a problem with making the World Series bigger: Someone has to pay for it.
Compared with road racing’s WorldTour, where the average team budget is now in excess of €28 million per year, even the best-funded XC teams operate on comparatively modest budgets. And because the sport remains overwhelmingly reliant on bike industry sponsorship and manufacturer-backed teams, adding race weekends doesn’t just mean adding more racing. It means more travel costs, more staff days, more equipment and logistics costs, and more time away from home.
Inside the World Cup XC machine: What it really takes to run a mountain bike team
Scott-SRAM has a seven-figure budget, but has to stretch it to cover salaries and logistics for a 10-round series from April to October.
With the 2026 season now all but wrapped up, attention would normally turn to 2027. Yet as we head into October, there is still no confirmed Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series calendar for next season. When contacted for comment, a spokesperson at WBD said, “It will be announced soon,” adding that nothing more specific can be provided currently.
What we do have is a leaked proposal, first circulated in May. And if it is accurate, the XC calendar is about to get bigger again.
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