Three Exciting World Cups and a Growing International Community
The 2026 World Cup season brought us three exciting competitions. The opening event took place in February in Slovakia. With 38 registrated athletes from 12 nations, we were delighted to welcome a strong international field already at the first World Cup. As the season was still in its early stages at that point, it was understandable that some athletes had not yet reached their peak performance. At the second World Cup in Hungary, the field grew to 43 registrated starts from 11 nations. At the third round in Germany, we recorded 44 starts from 12 nations.
For ICWW, these numbers of registrations are an extremely positive sign. They show that the World Cup has not only become established, but has now developed into a well-established international competition series.
With the 2026 World Cup season, there is also a change to the awards ceremony: the World Cup leader’s jersey has been discontinued. This follows the UCI’s move towards greater alignment with other cycling disciplines. The top three athletes now receive World Cup medals.
At this point, we would like to explicitly commend the organisation of all three World Cups and sincerely thank the organisers in Slovakia, Hungary and Germany. We were able to experience three fantastic events – thank you very much for your outstanding work and commitment!
A particular highlight at all three World Cup rounds was the shared evening dinner. These occasions are much more than simply a pleasant way to end the competition day: they provide a valuable opportunity to strengthen the international community among the athletes and to encourage exchange across national borders.
The large number of spectators at all three World Cups was also an impressive sign of the growing interest in the series. In particular, the local athletes were able to attract many fans to the competition venues. This demonstrates that interest in the World Cup is high and that our athletes are very well connected with and supported by their local communities.
The 2026 World Cup season also marks an important transition: responsibility for the World Cup series is being handed over from our long-standing Chairman and Honorary Member Rolf Halter to the new Chairman, Lukas Kohl.
Rolf introduced the World Cup series in 2018 and has played a major role in shaping it into what it is today. For his many years of dedication and his tremendous commitment, we would like to express our sincere gratitude.
Organising a World Cup involves numerous consultations and, in some cases, lengthy coordination processes with various parties in the run-up to the event. A careful and well-structured transfer of responsibility is therefore of great importance.
During the first three World Cups of the season, Lukas was already able to gain a wealth of valuable experience from Rolf – from the preparations and the organisation during the event through to the follow-up afterwards. This knowledge provides an important foundation for continuing the successful World Cup series and developing it further together in the future.
The 2026 World Cup season has therefore not only been a sporting success, but has also laid important foundations for the future. We look forward to seeing the international World Cup community continue to grow and to jointly writing the next chapter in the success story of this special competition series.
