From 29 October to 1 November, the world’s best track para cyclists will race at the Omnisport Apeldoorn velodrome, in the Dutch province of Gelderland, for the 2026 UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships. More than 200 athletes from five continents are expected at the velodrome, which last hosted the event in 2019. For the Province, a UCI Bike Region since 2017, the Championships are a chance to get more children on bikes and to show what sport can do for local communities long after the medals are awarded.
A proven track record
Gelderland supports major international cycling events for their lasting social value, and two of its world-class venues have made it a regular fixture on the UCI calendar. Omnisport Apeldoorn hosted the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in 2018 and the UCI Junior Track World Championships in 2025. The Dutch National Sports Centre at Papendal, near the provincial capital Arnhem, has welcomed numerous rounds of the UCI BMX Racing World Cup and the 2021 UCI BMX Racing World Championships. The Province used these events to bring elite sport closer to its communities, and it is taking the same approach for the 2026 UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships.
Champions in the classroom
Among the initiatives planned around this year’s Championships is Toppers Bij Jou Op School (Champions in Your Classroom), which brings elite athletes into schools to inspire children to get active. In a classroom talk, the athletes share what it takes to reach the top, from setting goals to balancing training with school. They then give pupils a taste of their sport during a practical sports clinic.
The programme has history with the velodrome. Ahead of the 2018 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Apeldoorn, four young Gelderland riders visited 11 classes and reached more than 450 local children. For the 2026 edition, elite para cyclists will visit 20 classes across the province, reaching around 600 children with and without impairments and showing them sport and cycling from a different perspective.
The visits are only a first step. Every pupil taking part receives a ticket to the UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships, and children and their families are put in touch with a local sports club where they can take up cycling or another sport, whether or not they have an impairment.
Sport with a social purpose
Another initiative looks beyond the track. Together with partners including the Dutch Olympic Committee, the Province is organising a gathering where participants will focus on the role sport can play in society. Discussions will explore how sport can be used more strategically to build healthier, more inclusive and more liveable communities. The UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships provide the ideal platform to bring municipalities, sports organisations and governments around the same table to share knowledge and turn ambition into concrete action.
Pump tracks for the next generation
Fresh from crowning its latest winners at Papendal in June, the Pumptrack Cup returns this autumn as part of the build-up to the UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships in Apeldoorn. Around 1,500 children are set to get on a BMX and build their bike-handling skills over the bumps and berms of a pump track. In the same spirit as the racing at Omnisport Apeldoorn, children with and without impairments will ride side by side, including pupils from special education schools through sessions run with local partners. Parents are encouraged to discover cycling too, with an invitation to watch the racing at Omnisport Apeldoorn.
Cycling as part of everyday life
These projects reflect Gelderland’s belief that cycling should be a natural part of daily life from an early age, and the figures show how far that belief already reaches. Cycling accounts for 30% of all trips of up to 15km in the province, with walking making up a further 26%. To build on this, the Province manages around 1,400 km of provincial cycle paths and is working with municipalities and the Dutch Cyclists’ Union (Fietsersbond) on a network of high-quality cycle routes, led by the RijnWaalpad between Arnhem and Nijmegen. Between 2024 and 2027, it has set aside €50 million for active mobility, €47 million of which is earmarked for cycling and walking infrastructure.
That investment goes hand in hand with encouraging people to use it, beginning with the province’s youngest riders. The High Five programme rewards children aged 6 to 12 for walking or cycling to school with their parents, and during its project year, walking and cycling rose by 67% at participating schools. In 2024, the Province also joined the national City Deal “Cycling for Everyone”, which aims to ensure that everyone has access to a suitable bicycle and the skills to ride it safely and confidently.