With the first round of the 2026 UCI Para Cycling Road World Cup set to take place in Chiang Mai, Thailand, from 19 to 22 March, we take a closer look at the structure of the sport, its stars and its development.
Para cycling is practised by athletes with recognised and classified physical impairments. These include limb deficiencies and impairments affecting muscle strength (such as amputations or hypertonia), neurological movement disorders (including cerebral palsy), and visual impairments.
Para cyclists use bikes that are adapted to their specific impairments. Some ride standard bicycles (C division) that have been modified to suit their needs. This is common among amputee athletes. Other races are held for those requiring tricycles (T division), used by athletes with balance disorders, and handbikes (H division), used by those with different forms of paralysis. Visually impaired riders compete on tandems (B division), with a sighted pilot at the front.
Para cyclists are classified individually into sport classes which are numbered to indicate the type of their impairment (a lower number indicates a more severe impairment), which enables the organisation of fair competitions.
A complete guide to para cycling divisions and sport classes
Para cycling races are exciting and highly competitive, and many riders have stories that are truly remarkable.
As in able-bodied cycling, para cycling features major competitions on track and road, with some athletes taking part in both. Each discipline forms part of the Paralympic Games and high-level UCI events. Here, our focus is on road racing.
History and development of para cycling
Para cycling has grown rapidly since its beginnings in the 1980s. Its inclusion in the 1984 Paralympic Games, with road races for men and women with neurological disorders, represented a major step forward for the sport. When New York, USA, was the official host of the 7th Paralympic Games, the para cycling events were uniquely held across two continents: in New York and in Stoke Mandeville, UK, a pioneering site widely regarded as the birthplace of the Paralympic Movement, which may itself trace its roots back to the 1940s, when the city hospital used sport to help rehabilitate patients with spinal injuries.
Additional events were added to subsequent Summer Paralympic Games, including para cycling track in Atlanta, USA, in 1996, and handbike in Sydney, Australia, in 2000. Following Paris 2024, the world’s top riders are already setting their sights on the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games (USA).
After responsibility for organising the Para Cycling World Championships was transferred from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to the UCI, the first Para Cycling Road World Championships under the UCI banner were held in Bogogno, Italy, in 2009. Since then, they have been staged annually in countries as diverse as Canada and South Africa, and will return to the United States later this year for only the second time since its inception, following the 2014 edition in Greenville, South Carolina.
High-level para cycling has developed very rapidly, the fields have become deeper, technology and training having advanced, and races are now as fiercely contested and unpredictable as in other cycling disciplines.
Over the past 15 years, no fewer than 43 nations have won medals at the UCI Para Cycling Road World Championships.
Germany leads the medal table with a total of 223 medals, including 88 gold, 74 silver and 61 bronze, followed by Italy with 181 medals (85 gold), and the United States with 182 medals (78 gold) and
The UCI Para Cycling Road World Cup was launched in 2010 with a series of three rounds held in Corrèze (France), Segovia (Spain) and Baie-Comeau (Canada). In 2026, the series will again feature three events: in Chiang Mai (Thailand), Middelkerke (Belgium) and Abruzzo (Italy). These will take place between March and May, ahead of the 2026 UCI Para Cycling Road World Championships in Huntsville, Alabama, USA, in September.
As with the UCI World Championships, each round of the UCI Para Cycling Road World Cup will feature a variety of races, both road races and time trials, for Men and Women across the four sporting classes outlined above (C 1-5, H 1-5, T 1-2 and B).
Para cycling champions
Para cycling has produced many remarkable and inspiring athletes. In recent years, Dame Sarah Storey has distinguished herself both as a competitor and as an ambassador for the sport. The British rider is a multiple Paralympic and UCI World Champion in the C5 road race and time trial, in addition to her many medals on the track and in swimming. She has also claimed multiple British titles competing against non para athletes. For her part, American Oksana Masters earned medals in cross-country skiing, biathlon and rowing before turning her focus to para cycling, where she won road gold at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Among the riders who have helped raise para-cycling’s global profile is former Italian Formula 1 driver Alessandro Zanardi, an athlete and amputee who has inspired fans worldwide. A fierce competitor and legendary figure in handcycling, Zanardi claimed gold at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. Among today’s top athletes is Dutch rider Tristan Bangma, the reigning Paralympic champion in the road race and multiple UCI World Champion alongside his pilot Patrick Bos. Still in his 20’s, he is hungry for more victories.
At the 2025 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Ronse, Belgium, local favourite Tim Celen claimed the T2 UCI World Champions titles in both the road race and time trial while Florian Jouanny of France secured two H2 titles. The highly decorated - and equally charismatic - Ricardo Ten Argilés of Spain added the C1 time trial to his long list of successes on both the bike and in the pool.
Alana Forster was a key member of the strong Australian delegation at the most recent UCI World Championships, claiming gold in both the C5 road race and time trial after having earned medals in the two previous years. In the women’s tandem events, Ireland’s Katie-George Dunlevy, alongside her pilot Linda Kelly, also completed the double, defeating her British rival Sophie Unwin and pilot Jenny Holl in the time trial.