Development programmes boost para cycling ahead of historic UCI World Cup in Chiang Mai

Empowering classifiers, coaches, and athletes in Asia

From 19 to 22 March 2026, Chiang Mai, Thailand, hosted the opening round of the 2026 UCI Para Cycling Road World Cup, marking the first round of the series ever to be held in Asia. The event marked a major milestone for Thailand and the region, providing neighbouring nations with an interest in developing para cycling the opportunity to compete internationally without the complexity and cost of travelling to other continents.

In the run-up to the event three development programmes were delivered, bringing together participants from 13 nations: Laos, Kenya, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the Maldives, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, and Jordan. Financed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and organised in partnership with the Thai Para Cycling Association, these programmes helped strengthen para cycling in the region, where access to structured development pathways and international competition is often limited.

UCI Para Cycling Manager Todd Fraser believes that these programmes are essential: “These development programmes play a key role in strengthening para cycling. By training classifiers, coaches and athletes, we are helping to build sustainable structures and expand opportunities for the specialty’s stakeholders. This work is particularly important in regions where access to structured support and international competition remains limited, ensuring that emerging cycling nations can participate and progress in para cycling. By linking these programmes with the first-ever UCI Para Cycling Road World Cup in Asia we ensured that participants had the opportunity to immediately apply what they learned in a high-level competition setting.”

Level 2 national classifier course

One of these development programmes, a Level 2 national classifier course, was delivered over the 13 and 14 March. Classification in para cycling is the process through which athletes’ registered impairments are evaluated, enabling them to be assigned to a sport class to ensure fair and equitable competition. Following their completion of the Level 1 course online through the UCI World Cycling Centre’s Moodle platform, selected participants attended the Level 2 course, resulting in a total of nine new classifiers being fully trained and certified.

Para cycling coaching course

The para cycling coaching course ran from 13 to 18 March, bringing together 11 selected coaches and team managers. The course focused on strengthening their technical and strategic competencies, with sessions covering athlete development pathways, training adaptation according to impairment types, competition preparation, and overall athlete management within a high-performance para sport environment.

Para cycling training camp

Alongside the other two development programmes, a para cycling training camp took place in the build-up to the event in Chiang Mai . Running from the 14 to 19 March, the training camp welcomed 11 athletes, including three women’s tandem pairs, and focused on developing their technical and tactical skills in preparation for the round of the UCI World Cup.

The UCI Para Cycling Road World Cup

This opening round of the UCI Para Cycling Road World Cup attracted 36 nations and 186 riders, reflecting the strong international draw and growth of the specialty. China topped the medal rankings at the first round, winning 28 medals, including 13 gold. The USA finished second with 18 medals, eight of them gold, while Italy rounded out the top three with 11 medals, of which six were gold. Full results are available here.