The third round of the 2025 UCI Cycle-ball World Cup was a true international summit meeting of the indoor cycling specialty, with all the top teams competing in Waldbüttelbrunn, Germany. Some 8km west of Würzburg in the north of the state of Bavaria, the spectators in the small community of 5,000 inhabitants were treated to a select starting field.
The star-studded line-up included reigning and former UCI World Champions, as well as the runners-up from both 2023 and 2024. They were up against the team that had been leading the 2025 UCI World Cup until then, National Champions and other teams with UCI World Cup experience.
Local heroes
Also in the mix was the team from host club RKB Soli Waldbüttelbrunn. The club’s team of Henry Spiegel and Johannes Braun – playing together for more than 20 years – has been joined by a third player, Michael Krippendorf, with the trio competing in alternating two-man line-ups. This set-up recently led the team to the Oberliga Bayern, the third-highest National League.
The local team was unsurprisingly out of the race for the top spots in an international competition of this level, but were boosted by their home crowd that celebrated each of their nine goals across the tournament.
Dream finals
The teams progressing to the finals created a dream line-up for the fans. The reigning UCI World Champions Raphael Kopp and Bernd Mlady (RMC Stein/GER) met the UCI World Championships silver medallists and reigning UEC European Champions Patrick Schnetzer and Stefan Feuerstein (RV Dornbirn/AUT) for the big showdown.
Both teams had prevailed undefeated in the preliminary round of their first UCI World Cup appearance of the year. In the first semi-final, there was an internal duel between Kopp/Mlady and their teammates Michael Birkner/ Robert Mlady (Stein II). The latter had won the first round of this year’s UCI Cycle-ball World Cup – in Baj, Hungary, at the end of March – but with a score of 10:2, it became a comfortable route to the final for the favoured duo of Kopp/Mlady.
It was a much closer duel in the semi-final between Dornbirn and the Swiss brothers Yannick and Timon Fröhlich (RS Altdorf). The 2022 UCI World Champions Schnetzer/Feuerstein fought their way to a narrow 5-4 victory against the 2023 UCI World Championships silver medallists.
In the final, an open exchange between Stein I and Dornbirn, nevertheless saw the UCI World Cup title defenders Kopp/Mlady win against their challengers from Austria with a clear margin, 7:2.
Stein II defended their position at the top of the 2025 UCI Cycle-ball World Cup ranking despite a 6-3 defeat after extra time in the third-place match against Altdorf.
Check out the full results and replay action from Round 3 of the 2025 UCI Cycle-ball World Cup.