The 2026 UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships will be held in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, from 29 October to 1 November, bringing together the world’s best para cyclists to compete for one or more of 48 titles of UCI World Champion.
Athletes from two sporting divisions compete in the UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships. Cycle (C) includes athletes who use conventional bicycles, with modifications made where necessary to accommodate their impairments. Tandem (B) is for blind and visually impaired athletes, who compete with a sighted pilot. The Cycle division is further subdivided into sport classes according to the type and severity of impairment, with lower class numbers representing a greater level of impairment.
The four-day programme in Apeldoorn will feature the individual pursuit (B division only), the elimination race and the scratch race (C division only), and the 1 km time trial, the individual sprint, and the mixed team sprint (C and B divisions).
The start list comprises 235 para cyclists. Here are just some of the names to look out for in the star-studded field.
Women's C division
C1: Tahlia Clayton-Goodie
Australia’s Tahlia Clayton-Goodie is one of the clear favourites in her sport class. At the 2025 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, she won every individual Women C1 title on offer: the sprint, 1 km time trial, scratch race and elimination race. Her 2026 form has been just as strong. In September, she defended her time trial UCI World Championship title at the 2026 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Huntsville, Alabama (USA), and took silver in the road race.
C2: Allison Jones
Allison Jones brings the experience of a 10-time UCI World Champion and strong recent form to the US team. In August, she won the 1 km time trial at the US National Championships in a national record time of 1:26.336, and took a second national title in the elimination race. A month later, she took bronze in the time trial at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Huntsville. In Apeldoorn she races the 1 km time trial, elimination race, scratch race and mixed C team sprint.
C3: Xiaomei Wang
China’s Xiaomei Wang is on a high. In September, the 26-year-old won both the time trial and road race at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships, taking her tally to 11 UCI World Championships titles across road and track. She is also the reigning Paralympic Champion in the Women C1-3 individual pursuit, having won gold at Paris 2024 after taking silver at Tokyo 2020. With five races on her programme in Apeldoorn, how many can she win?
C4: Kadeena Cox
British athlete Kadeena Cox comes to Apeldoorn with high expectations. The four-time Paralympic Champion on the track (at Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024) also won five UCI world titles on the track between 2016 and 2024. Last year she came away from the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships with three silver medals, in the 1km time trial, individual sprint and mixed C1-5 team sprint.
C5: Claudia Cretti
Italy’s Claudia Cretti heads to Apeldoorn as the rider to beat in the Women C5 sport class. At the 2025 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, the 30-year-old made a clean sweep of the individual events, winning the 1 km time trial, sprint, scratch race and elimination race. She has continued to win in 2026, most notably taking the road race European title in Maniago, Italy, in June. Now she returns to the track with four UCI World Championships titles to defend.
Men's C division
C1: Ricardo Ten Argilés
Now 51, Spain’s Ricardo Ten Argilés remains one of para cycling’s most decorated athletes and a formidable C1 contender. At last year’s UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships he won the elimination race, scratch race and 1 km time trial, and took silver in the sprint. He has carried that form onto the road in 2026, winning the Men C1 road race at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup round in Abruzzo, Italy, in May and the time trial at the 2026 UEC Para Cycling Road European Championships, before taking time trial silver at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Huntsville in September. Can he bring that road form back to the boards?
Men C2: Alexandre Léauté
Still only 26, France’s Alexandre Léauté already has a remarkable 27 UCI World Championships titles to his name. In Rio last year he won three of the four individual Men C2 titles: the elimination race, scratch race and 1 km time trial. After an injury kept him out of June’s Para Cycling Road European Championships, he bounced back to win both the time trial and road race at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in September. In Apeldoorn, he will be looking to extend his tally on the track.
Men C3: Finlay Graham
Scottish-born Finlay Graham has enjoyed a memorable few seasons on the track and road. Graham won two medals at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games including gold in the C1-C3 road race. His palmares also features a Paralympic track silver, plus multiple UCI World Championship medals on the track. He’s down to start five events in Apeldoorn.
Men C4: Jody Cundy
Great Britain’s 24-strong squad arrives in Apeldoorn with more than 50 UCI World Championships titles on the track between them, with Jody Cundy accounting for 23 of them. The 48-year-old will be looking to defend his 1 km time trial title but faces stiff competition from 22-year-old teammate Archie Atkinson, a three-time UCI World Champion, who finished runner-up to Cundy in Rio last year.
Men C5: Daniel Abraham Gebru
The Netherlands’ Daniel Abraham Gebru is a dominant force in the Men C5 sport class. He’s a multiple Paralympic gold medallist, notably winning the road race at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. On the track, he’s a former UCI World Champion in the scratch race. He will have the advantage this week of competing on his home track in Apeldoorn.
Women's B division
Katie-George Dunlevy
Ireland’s Katie-George Dunlevy has 13 UCI World Championships titles and a wealth of Paralympic experience. Her 2026 season has been strong: in September, she and pilot Linda Kelly won the time trial at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships, their fourth consecutive title in the event. On the track, however, Dunlevy will line up with a new pilot, Alice Sharpe. Can they match the understanding she built first with Eve McCrystal and then with Kelly? The answer comes soon.
Men's B division
Tristan Bangma
The powerhouse that is Tristan Bangma, riding with pilot Patrick Bos, will contest the 1 km time trial, individual pursuit and individual sprint. Their track pedigree speaks for itself: numerous UCI World Championships and Paralympic titles, including individual pursuit gold at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, where they set a world record in qualifying. On the road this season, they won the time trial at the 2026 UEC Para Cycling Road European Championships, then took silver in the time trial and bronze in the road race at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in September. Now they return to the velodrome, where they are at their most formidable. But watch out for Great Britain’s James Ball, who together with pilot Steffan Lloyd won the 1 km time trial and sprint last year, and will compete with a new pilot, Aaron Pope in Apeldoorn.
Between established champions defending their titles and rising riders chasing their first rainbow jersey, Apeldoorn promises four days of thrilling racing.