The 2026 UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships in Ludwigsburg, Germany, saw the host nation dominate the artistic cycling competitions while the cycle-ball rainbow jerseys were divided between Austria (men) and Germany (women).
Around 8,000 spectators streamed into the magnificent MHP-Arena over three memorable days (7-9 November) of competition that has originally been scheduled to take place in Derby, Great Britain. The change of venue, announced at the end of September, did nothing to deter the athletes, who delivered memorable performances.
Artistic cycling Single Women: Füller back on top
The new UCI World Champion in the Single Women category is Lara Füller, who was ecstatic with her victory. “This success even tops my world record,” she said. “This is the best day of my career.”
The victory proved extra special as Füller missed the chance of defending her 2024 UCI world title on home soil (Göppingen) in 2025.
As the penultimate starter, she set a new Championship record with 196 points. The winner of the qualification, teammate Ramona Dandl, secured silver with 192.65 points. Third place went to a delighted Alessa Hotz (SUI), whose 188.59 points was her UCI World Championship best. With fourth place, Sina von Rotz (SUI) enjoyed a fine maiden performance at this level.
Artistic cycling Single Men: Rapp delivers memorable trick
In the men’s event, defending UCI World Champion and world record holder Philipp-Thies Rapp arrived at the MHP-Arena off the back of a superb season. But he erred in the preliminary round, finishing second behind newcomer Simon Halter (GER).
However, Rapp was not to be beaten. An incredible backward somersault, only seen for the second time in UCI World Championship history – the first was back in 2006 by Frenchman Ivan Do-Duc – ensured gold for the German.
The up-and-coming challenger Halter (19) delivered two strong performances to take the silver medal. Like 2025, third place went to Hungarian Czaba Varga (164.16 points), who prevailed over Yat Nam Chan (Hong Kong China), as he did last year.
Artistic cycling Pairs Open: rapid recovery to take gold
Nico Rödiger and Lea-Victoria Styber’s (GER) sixth participation was uncertain for a long time after Lea had suffered an arm fracture during a training crash at the German Championships. Living 150km apart didn’t help preparations, either. However, Styber recovered at record speed and the pair took their third UCI world title along with a personal UCI World Championships best of 162.34 points. The newly formed duo of Patrick Tisch and Julia Hämmerli (GER) followed in second place with 146.47 points, ahead of Marcel Schnetzer and Franziska Belmega (AUT 127.28 points), competing together at a UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships for the first time.
“This is the most emotional World Championships ever,” said Rödiger. “It was our best freestyle and the crowd was incredible.”
Artistic cycling Pairs Women: Germany ahead of Switzerland
Neele Jodeleit and Kim Leah Schlüter (GER) dominated the Pairs Women competition, benefitting from the support of the packed stands. “The title was our goal, plus this atmosphere gets under your skin,” said the duo. They kept their competitors at bay with 128.82 points. For the first time, Switzerland won silver thanks to Larissa Tanner and Simona Lucca (120.42 points), who had already claimed bronze on two occasions. Third place went to Lillith Mester and Mira-Sofie Osterhage (GER, 118.30 points) ahead of Patricia and Andrea Bernegger (SUI, 113.16 points).
Artistic cycling ACT4: the wait is over
In the ACT4 competition, Germany’s Tijem Karatas, Annika Rosenbach, Stella Rosenbach and Milena Schwarz won their long-awaited second UCI world title after 2022. After three silver medals in a row, the world record holders were in top form in the final run and gave their competitors no chance with a new Championship record of 239.65 points.
The newly formed team from Switzerland, with previous UCI World Champions Valerie Unternährer and Selina Niedermann and newcomers Geraldine Unternährer and Rhea Martinez, scored 185.87 points to secure the silver medal. Bronze proved a thriller between Hong Kong and challenger France. Both teams had falls in the freestyle. But in the end, France’s Justine Martz, Alice Rieb, Valentine Rieb and Thérèse Rietsch were able to celebrate third place.
Cycle-ball: Austria and Germany celebrate
In cycle-ball, the final took place between host nation Germany – represented for the first time by Michael Birkner and Robert Mlady – and the multiple UCI World Champions Patrick Schnetzer and Markus Bröll from Austria. The Austrian duo dominated the tournament, including the final (8:1). The Swiss pairing of Timon and Yannick Fröhlich secured bronze in the match for third place against the Czechs Jiří Hrdlička and Jan Kripner (10:2).
The women’s cycle-ball UCI world title went to Germany for the third time, with the duo of Danielle Holzer and Judith Wolf. In the final, they beat the Swiss Sava Baumann and Chiara Dotoli (4:0). Sayaka Tokuhiro and Nana Yamashita (JPN) took bronze.