The Management Committee of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) met on 29 and 30 January in Beveren, Belgium, on the sidelines of the 2026 Rabobank UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, which are being held in Hulst, the Netherlands, from 30 January to 1 February. This first meeting of the year was also the first in-person meeting of the UCI Management Committee in its new composition.
In this context, the UCI approved the 2026-2027 UCI International Cyclo-cross Calendar, which includes the 2026-2027 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup calendar (see below).
2026-2027 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup:
27 November 2026: Ostrava (Czechia) – ME, WE
29 November 2026: Tábor (Czechia) – ME, WE, MU, MJ, WJ
13 December 2026: venue to be confirmed, outside the Benelux – ME, WE
19 December 2026: Antwerp (Belgium) – ME, WE
20 December 2026: Koksijde (Belgium) – ME, WE, MU, MJ, WJ
26 December 2026: Gavere (Belgium) – ME, WE
27 December 2026: Namur (Belgium) – ME, WE
29 December 2026: Besançon (France) – ME, WE, MU, MJ, WJ
3 January 2027: Zonhoven (Belgium) – ME, WE
17 January 2027: Benidorm (Spain) – ME, WE, MU, MJ, WJ
23 January 2027: Hamme (Belgium) – ME, WE
24 January 2027: Hoogerheide (Netherlands) – ME, WE, MU, MJ, WJ
Men Elite: ME; Women Elite: WE; Men Under 23: MU; Men Junior: MJ; Women Junior: WJ.
The full 2026-2027 UCI Cyclo-cross International Calendar will be published from Monday 2 February in the dedicated section on the UCI website.
With regard to the competition calendar, the UCI also approved the date of the 2026 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships. The event, which has already been awarded to Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) and which will be held on the MyWhoosh platform for the third consecutive year, will take place on 14 November 2026. A change of date of the 2028 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships was also approved. The event, originally scheduled to take place in Cape Town (South Africa) on 16 and 17 September 2028, will now be held at the same venue from 21 to 25 September 2028.
In the field of safety, the UCI has decided to launch a call for expressions of interest concerning the development of airbags for cyclists, with the aim of protecting them in the event of a crash. This initiative primarily targets manufacturers or laboratories working on such airbags, in order to define with them a framework and standards to be adopted to enable the development and use of airbags in cycling, as well as cycling textile equipment manufacturers, in order to explore the integration of airbag solutions into clothing, and to discuss and propose solutions for enhanced protection of cycling clothing.
With regard to equipment, mention should also be made of the decision to add the 200m time trial (track cycling) to the list of events in which the use of time trial helmets is authorised. This decision was taken following a request to that effect from the majority of nations taking part in the 2025 Tissot UCI Track World Championships in Santiago, Chile.
The UCI Management Committee was informed of the ongoing developments aimed at strengthening safety in cycling races, following the meeting of the SafeR Supervisory Board on 15 January. The members of the Management Committee reviewed the first assessment of the yellow card system, one year after its full rollout. In 2025, 270 yellow cards were issued. While 42% were handed out to riders, the remainder concerned team staff, vehicle drivers and motorcycle riders (organisation and media), confirming that safety is a shared responsibility. More than 90% of the individuals concerned received only one yellow card, underlining the effectiveness of the system as a tool to improve behaviour by limiting the repetition of dangerous actions. In 2025, three suspensions were imposed: two involving media representatives and one involving a rider.
The yellow card system applies to all UCI WorldTour, UCI Women’s WorldTour and men’s and women’s UCI ProSeries events, as well as UCI Road World Championships and Continental Championships. In the interests of transparency and clarity, all yellow cards issued are published on the UCI website. For UCI licence holders, yellow cards are published for both the 30-day and 365-day accumulation periods, with the accumulation of cards during these periods resulting in suspensions of 14 and 30 days respectively. In addition, two yellow cards issued during the same event results in exclusion from the event and a seven-day suspension.
Many other initiatives aimed at improving safety were discussed, with a view to their potential implementation during the 2026 season or thereafter. Standardised signage guidelines (for courses and potentially dangerous points) will be incorporated into the organisers’ specifications, with a view to application from the 2027 season onwards. Guidelines concerning protective measures installed in certain critical areas of courses to protect riders and spectators will also be added to the organisers’ specifications.
With regard to the work of Commissaires officiating at races, additional resources will be allocated to support them in their decision-making: former professional sprinters will assist them in assessing delicate situations during sprints.
In addition, several projects have reached decisive milestones thanks to the securing of funding approved by the SafeR Supervisory Board. The study on barriers will thus enter its final phase. A project concerning wheel and tyre detachment, and more broadly the characteristics of wheels used in competitive cycling as well as rim–tyre combinations, can now be launched in collaboration with the Politecnico di Milano in Italy. Another study, dedicated to crash dynamics and aerodynamics, conducted by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, with the support of the American company Ansys, will make it possible to launch a PhD project aimed at proposing solutions to improve rider safety through various numerical simulations.
These research projects will enable the UCI to establish a basis for discussion with the relevant industry stakeholders and, where appropriate, to consider establishing or revising standards to enhance the safety of cycling events.
The Management Committee was also informed of the list of 147 races from the UCI International Calendar that will be analysed in 2026 from a safety perspective – both organisational and sporting – by its Case Management Committee analysts. This list includes all events in the UCI WorldTour and the UCI Women’s WorldTour, as well as all men’s and women’s UCI ProSeries races. In this context, the analysts will work with organisers ahead of their events on safety-related aspects, in particular to identify potentially dangerous sections of the course and to issue corrective recommendations. During the season, the analysts will also attend other events, selected according to several criteria: new events, events that have experienced safety incidents in previous editions, or for other reasons.
The evolution of men’s and women’s professional road cycling, particularly with regard to its economic model, was also on the agenda. The members of the UCI Management Committee reiterated the need to relaunch discussions on the reform of the sector with all relevant stakeholders. To this end, the UCI will consult the concerned parties in the coming days, inviting them to put forward their vision for the future. This consultation will be addressed to all cycling families (the CPA, AIGCP and AIOCC), as well as to all individual stakeholders, asking them to share their expectations and proposals regarding the evolution of the current organisational model (calendar, race formats, internationalisation, broadcasting, economic model, sustainability, solidarity within the sporting pyramid, etc.). Following feedback from stakeholders, the UCI will hold discussions with these actors and with all partners necessary for the success of this project. Only together and united, under the authority of the UCI, can a more appealing model for all stakeholders be developed.
The UCI Management Committee was informed of the conclusion of an agreement between the UCI and the Japan Keirin Autorace Foundation (JKA) allowing the return of international athletes to the Japanese keirin circuit (track cycling) and reinstating a framework that existed prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of international athletes concerned will be limited to six (three men and three women), with a calendar ensuring no conflict with the major track events on the UCI International Calendar.
This return will take place under strict conditions relating to sporting integrity, including competition manipulation and anti-doping. The agreement reflects the shared objective of the UCI and the JKA to promote athletes and enhance the visibility of track cycling. The athletes who will take part in the 2026 edition will be announced at a later date.
The UCI Management Committee also analysed the economic reports from:
2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Valais, Switzerland
2025 UCI Para cycling Road World Championships in Ronse, Belgium and the
2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda.
These reports once again highlighted the positive impact for regions and countries of hosting UCI World Championships.
When it comes to integrity, the UCI Management Committee welcomed the launch of a tool dedicated to the protection from online abuse and threats for riders, teams, support staff, UCI Commissaires and other officials involved in UCI WorldTour and UCI Women’s WorldTour events in 2026. The UCI has chosen the Signify Group and its service Threat Matrix that combines artificial intelligence with human analysis. The group already provides this type of service to governing bodies in other sports, including ski, tennis, rugby and football.
The deployment of this tool will enable the UCI to assess the scale of abuse occurring on the main social media platforms within the cycling community and to decide on the measures to be taken in the coming years. Abuse will be reported to the relevant platform and in cases of high-risk threats, action may be taken by the UCI or law enforcement authorities.
In the same area, the UCI Management Committee welcomed the renewal of the UCI Integrity Commission. Amber Joseph (BAR), Norman Brook (GBR) and José Henrique Silva Carlos Soares (POR) have joined the existing members of the Commission, which is chaired by Anne Gripper (AUS), a member of the UCI Management Committee. The appointment of an athlete – track cyclist Amber Joseph – ensures improved integration of the athletes’ perspective into the UCI’s integrity-related activities and programmes
The UCI continues to expand its solidarity initiatives. In this context, the UCI Management Committee confirmed the budgets allocated to the UCI Solidarity Programme and to the funding of the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) activities for the 2026–2029 period, for a total amount of CHF 32 million. This represents an increase of 7.3% compared with the previous cycle (CHF 29.8 million for the 2022–2025 period). These new budgets notably define the funding available to Continental Confederations and National Federations. They will also make it possible to finance the implementation of the Global 2028 project. Building on the UCI WCC three-year road-focused programme entitled Africa 2025, which was designed to showcase African talent and prepare a selected group of riders for the Kigali 2025 UCI Road World Championships, Global 2028 extends this vision on a global scale. It will involve young riders not only from Africa, but also from Asia, as well as Central and South America, with the aim of ensuring the best possible development of athletes from regions that are under-represented in cycling.
The promotion of cycling for all is another priority of the UCI. Its Management Committee has therefore decided to award the UCI Bike City label to the city of Kigali (Rwanda). This label recognises cities and regions that, in addition to hosting major events on the UCI International Calendar, are committed to developing and promoting cycling among their population and investing in related infrastructure and programmes. The new recipient joins the network of 30 cities and regions that have already been awarded the UCI Bike City/Region label.
Kigali hosted the 2025 UCI Road World Championships, the first edition of the event to be held on the African continent.
Kigali is also committed to cycling for all and sustainability. The city’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Strategy aims to make the city carbon-neutral by 2050, with cycling as a key pillar. Aligned with Rwanda’s national climate and urban development goals, it prioritises safe walking and cycling infrastructure, bike-sharing expansion, integration of cycling into public transport, and promotion of electric bicycles. The strategy also fosters an active mobility culture through community events and car-free days. Over 10 years, around 200km of cycling infrastructure will be developed, alongside more than 60km of green corridors integrated into wetland restoration. The social ride organised during the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Ride for Fun, attracted more than 700 participants. This inclusive event featured a 15km route along parts of the official race course and was designed to celebrate cycling culture and community engagement.
UCI President David Lappartient said: “Over our two days of meetings, we made progress on essential topics such as safety, integrity and solidarity. Innovations such as the cycling airbag show that the relevant stakeholders can work together to develop concrete and effective solutions to better protect riders. The studies currently under way or about to be launched also illustrate our determination to rely on the very best experts to continuously improve safety in cycling.
“I’m also pleased with the increase in the resources allocated to our solidarity programmes. In a context of strong global growth in cycling, it’s crucial to provide stakeholders on the ground with the resources they need to support development projects and the emergence of new talent.
“Finally, the awarding of the UCI Bike City label to the city of Kigali confirms that the growth of cycling is not limited to competition: it is also progressing as an active and sustainable mode of transport in new territories.”
The next meeting of the UCI Management Committee will take place in Desenzano del Garda, Italy, from 1 to 4 June 2026.