After the season opener in Japan, the 2024 UCI Cycle-ball World Cup gears up for a series of rounds in Europe.
At the first round, held in Kobe, Japan, the Swiss team from RMV Mosnang (Björn Vogel and Rafael Artho) took victory in front of the Japanese duo of Yusuke Murakami and Yuma Takahashi (RSV Osaka).
The Swiss are thus the first ranking leaders and contest the next round – their home tournament in Mosnang – on 4 May in the UCI Cycle-ball World Cup leader's jersey.
This first round of the season to be held in Europe will feature several current top teams.
Mosnang information bulletin and schedule
Schnetzer / Feurstein: the team to beat
Let’s start with the defending UCI World Cup winners Patrick Schnetzer and Stefan Feurstein (Dornbirn/AUT), who go into the season as the pair to beat. The 2022 UCI World Champions have won the UCI World Cup Final three times in a row. Schnetzer has finished in first place without interruption since 2016 – with his previous partner Markus Bröll until 2019. Only in his first UCI World Cup season in 2010, competing as a teenager with Dietmar Schneider for RC Höchst, did Schnetzer miss out on the podium, when he finished in fourth place. This was followed by nine overall victories, two second places and one third place for the now eight-time UCI World Champion.
Meanwhile, the newly formed RMC Stein from Germany is attracting a lot of attention. Two-time UCI World Champion Bernd Mlady has paired up with reigning UCI World Champion Raphael Kopp (Obernfeld). Despite this being a long-distance relationship – it’s around 330km between their hometowns – the duo has made a flawless debut at national level. In the German Bundesliga, they are unbeaten, in first place, after 15 games. And in the Cup competition, they reached the final round without defeat.
Other top teams of the season include UCI World Championships silver medalists and Under 23 European Champions Yannick and Timon Fröhlich (RS Altdorf II/SUI), and 2023 UCI World Cup runners up Sven Holland-Moritz and Marius Hermanns (RSC Schiefbahn/GER).
There is also great anticipation around the international return of Severin and Benjamin Waibel from RMV Pfungen (SUI). The 2021 UCI World Championships runners-up took a break last year due to injury. They are already back in top form: unbeaten in the Swiss league, they occupy first place and have already won the 2024 Swiss Cup.
34 teams fight for eight places in Final
A total of 34 teams compete in the eight qualifying tournaments this year, with the teams coming from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czechia, France, Belgium, Hungary, Japan, and Hong Kong.
Three tournaments will take place in Germany, two in Switzerland and one each in Austria and France. The UCI Cycle-ball World Cup Final, featuring the best eight teams in the overall ranking, the winner from Asia and the host, will be held in Ailingen, Germany, on 7 December.
2024 UCI Cycle-ball World Cup calendar
Round 1 – 23 March – Kobe, Japan
Round 2 – 4 May – Mosnang, Switzerland
Round 3 – 31 August – Hannover, Germany
Round 4 – 7 September – Darmstadt, Germany
Round 5 – 21 September – Denkendorf, Germany
Round 6 – 12 October – Altdorf, Switzerland
Round 7 – 9 November - St. Pölten, Austria
Round 8 – 23 November – Dorlisheim, France
Final – 7 December – Ailingen, Germany