Book your accommodation in Central Scotland before 31 December 2025 if you want a shot at staying within 30 km of the start line–Glasgow hotel stock is already 62 % reserved for the final weekend. The 2026 UCI World Championships run from 14 August to 20 September, span 13 disciplines, and use 26 venues stretching from the indoor Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome to the downhill track at Fort William. Road races start at George Square on 27 August, time-trial medals are decided on a 42 km Stirling-to-Glasgow route, and the first-ever gravel rainbow jersey is awarded after 154 km of racing through the Trossachs on 30 August.
Buy a Championship Pass (£195 adult, £95 under-16) before 1 May 2026 and you lock in entry to every non-ticketed discipline plus priority booking links for the track sessions, which always sell out within 48 hours of public release. If mountain biking is your focus, the Nevis Hill gondola opens an hour earlier than usual on race days; ride it at 07:30, stash your kit at the free bag-drop next to the Wolftrax café, and you’ll still reach the spectator ridge before the elite women drop in at 09:15. Road fans without car hire should grab the £18 Hop-On World shuttle wristband–Stagecoach adds 200 extra buses on each race day and tracks GPS times in the official app so you know when the next bus leaves Bridge of Allan.
The para-cycling events (28–31 August) share the same Stirling start ramp as the able-bodied time trial, so you can watch two races for zero extra travel. Bring a lightweight rain shell even in August–Loch Lomond recorded 11 mm of sudden rainfall during last year test event and the temperature dipped to 11 °C within ten minutes. If you need bike repair, the neutral service cars carry 28 mm tubeless tyres, 12-speed cassettes and spare e-bike batteries; flag them with the red disc supplied in every race pack. Finally, download the UCI 26 app now: it stores offline maps for every venue and pushes live timing splits so you can follow your favorite rider even when the Highland mobile signal drops to one bar.
Calendar & Ticket Windows
Book your 14-day window now: the first 5 000 early-bird passes for the combined road & track package drop on 3 September 2025 at 09:00 CEST exclusively on worldchamps26.roadcycling.com, priced €395 and capped at two per account.
Individual day tickets follow a staggered release. Road races in the Dolomites open 1 October, time-trial start slots on the Adige embankment go live 15 October, and the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome sessions open 1 November. Prices climb 15 % after each batch of 10 000 seats disappears, so set calendar alerts at 08:55 CET to avoid the queue.
Track finals weekend (6–7 February) sells fastest; last year equivalent in Glasgow emptied in 38 minutes. Create your account now, preload a Visa or Mastercard, and keep the two-step verification app open–tickets are held for only seven minutes once in basket.
Need flexibility? The "Pick-3" flex voucher (€180) lets you choose any three non-premium sessions until 15 December, then lock in dates through your account dashboard. Unused credits auto-refund minus €10 fee on 16 January 2026, so there is a safe exit if plans shift.
Group buyers score perks: ten or more seats purchased in one transaction trigger a 12 % rebate and a reserved hospitality lane. Email [email protected] with your list before 30 November; the team issues a single barcode that splits into individual tickets 48 h before the event.
Mark 5 January 2026 in red–that is the final general-public on-sale. After that, only sporadic returns appear, usually at 07:00 CET on match days when broadcast crews release unused camera spots. Follow @UCI2026tickets on Telegram for instant push alerts; the channel posts seat maps within 90 seconds of release.
Road Races Daily Schedule in Aigle-Martigny
Be on Rue du Rawyl no later than 08:15 on Sunday 27 September; the women elite rolls out at 08:30 sharp for 154 km and four Rhône-side laps, and police close every feeder road once the neutralised caravan passes. You’ll catch the early break forming before the route turns onto the 11 % climb to Les Marecottes at km 38, exactly when the TV helicopter appears above the vineyard terraces.
Monday 28 September is the men elite day: 268 km, 3 850 m ascent, start 09:00 from Place Centrale in Aigle, finish around 16:40 on the same strip after two full loops over Col de la Forclaz. Trains from Montreux add two extra carriages; the first leaves 07:10, the last 08:20. If you drive, pre-book the pink P4 zone in Vernayaz–€15 cash, card only after 11:00–and walk 1.2 km to the 18 % hairpins where gaps open every lap.
Junior events squeeze into Friday 25 September: men 09:00–12:30, women 13:00–15:45, both 108 km. The finish straight on Rue du Rawyl converts to a fan walk at 16:00; riders sign autographs beside the podium until 17:00, then trucks pack the barriers away in twenty minutes flat so traffic reopens at 17:30. Bring printed accreditation if you want the infield mixed zone; QR codes on phones glitch in the alpine glare.
Reserve grandstand seat K3 for the finale: numbered, padded, €28, includes a 500 ml can of local malt apple juice and a cowbell. Shuttle buses labelled "Navette Forclaz" run every twelve minutes from 06:45 to 19:00 between Martigny station and the climb summit; show your race number or ticket to ride free. If you miss the last bus, the downhill walk takes 45 minutes and streetlights switch off at 21:00 sharp–pack a headlamp.
Track Sessions Blocks & Seat Release Times
Book your 09:00–11:30 morning block for the team pursuit qualifiers; these 2½-hour windows sell out first and release 250 seats at 07:00 the same day. Refresh the UCI ticketing page at 06:59, select "Track End" and pay with a card already saved in your profile–most fans lose the seat while typing card numbers.
Keirin heats occupy the 13:00–14:15 slot; 180 seats open at 11:45. Madison finals run 19:00–21:10 with 400 seats dropping at 17:00. Between those blocks, the 15:00–16:45 period hosts scratch race semis–low demand, so you can upgrade from a £35 curve seat to a £55 back-stretch spot ten minutes after release without queueing. If you miss the morning drop, set a phone alarm for 12:30; organisers quietly re-list seats cancelled by corporate sponsors, and the queue rarely exceeds 60 people.
Evening sessions bundle sprint quarters, omnium flying laps and victory ceremonies; gates unlock 90 min early. Enter via Gate C, flash the QR on your phone, and head to the upper mezzanine–ushers allow seat hopping until the first whistle. Bring a light jacket; the velodrome air-con holds 20 °C but feels cooler after sunset. Hungry? The "Frites & Bike" kiosk on the north curve stocks twice-fried Belgian fries and 0 % beer; card-only line moves three times faster than cash.
Need a Plan B? Follow https://aportal.club/articles/woyo-coulibaly-draws-interest-across-europe-yahoo-sports-canada-and-more.html for live seat alerts–users post screenshots the instant extra inventory appears. If you’re chasing a single seat, toggle the map to "solo view"; pairs and blocks of four vanish in seconds, but single seats last up to three minutes. Exit the velodrome within 20 min of the final medal ceremony to beat the surge-priced rideshare zone; the metro tram leaves every six minutes and drops at the city centre in 12.
MTB Cross-Country Start Lists by Time Zone
Set your alarm for 09:30 CEST on 24 September 2026; that when the elite women roll off the start pontoon in Arco, Trentino, and the UCI live-timing page flips from "start list" to "live splits."
Elite men follow at 15:00 CEST, under--23 men at 13:00, juniors at 11:00. Convert once, convert right: 15:00 CEST is 06:00 PDT, 09:00 EDT, 14:00 BST, 21:00 JST, 22:00 AEST. Download the .ics file from the UCI site, tick "add alarm" and your phone adjusts automatically if you cross borders during race week.
If you’re Stateside and want to watch the juniors, you’ll need to be up by 05:00 PDT; Europeans can enjoy breakfast and the under-23 showdown at 13:00 local; Aussie fans catch the elite women on a Friday-night stream at 21:30 AEST. Bookmark the UCI timing page, open three browser tabs–start list, live timing, GPS tracker–and refresh the first two every 30 s; the tracker updates every five seconds and overlays rider names on the course map so you can spot a dropped chain or a surprise attack before the commentary catches up.
Print the start list the evening before: the UCI posts final bib numbers at 18:00 CEST, anti-doping stickers are checked at 07:00, and riders draw grid positions by 08:00. Snap a photo of the board; cellular drops under the limestone cliffs around Arco. If you miss it, the WhatsApp channel "XC 2026 Updates" pushes a PDF within minutes–join via the QR code on the back of your accreditation badge or spectator map.
Last-Minute Ticket Drops & Resale Portals
Check the official UCI 2026 Ticket Exchange at 08:00 CET every weekday; organisers quietly release returned sponsor tickets and accreditation surpluses between 08:00-08:30. Set a phone alarm, log in one minute early, and keep your credit-card CVC ready–most drops sell out in under four minutes.
Weekend finals rarely drop, so target mid-week sessions: the men U23 TT on Tuesday 22 September and the women junior road race on Wednesday 23 September historically have the largest last-minute availability.
- TwiXchange: Swiss-based, 7 % seller fee, instant QR transfer; watch hashtags #UCI26resell and #UCI26drop.
- StubHub EU: price cap at 135 % of face value, UPS delivers physical wristbands to hotels in Aigle within 24 h.
- Mobico: French portal that links to SwissPass, refunds 80 % if your train is late.
If you miss the morning drop, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) ticket machines inside Montreux and Aigle stations quietly list "station-return" codes after 18:00; commuters hand back unused combined rail-and-entry passes, and these appear on the screen for the next day events. Insert your card, press "Events", scroll to the bottom, and look for the small bicycle icon–prices are face value minus the rail portion, so you can snag a CHF 55 women Madison for CHF 22.
- Verify the seat zone against the official venue map; Category 3 Montreux stands map to Category 4 in the resale PDF.
- Demand a screenshot of the seller ID next to the ticket; TwiXchange blurs barcodes until payment clears, so the selfie is your only fraud check.
- Pay with Twint or Revolut; Swiss banks reverse the transfer within 30 minutes if the QR code fails at the gate.
Prices spike the evening before road races, then collapse two hours after the start when spectators realise the circuit is free to watch along the lake. If you only want the atmosphere, show up at 13:00, walk the promenade between Vevey and La Tour-de-Peilz, and buy a CHF 10 beer instead of a CHF 120 grandstand seat–you’ll still catch the riders ten times per lap.
Travel & Venue Access
Land at Zurich Airport before 10:00, swipe your Swiss Travel Pass at the underground SBB counter, and you’ll reach Aigle in 1 h 17 min with one change at Visp; from the platform, the free shuttle to the UCI headquarters rolls every 12 min and drops you at the accreditation tent in 8 min flat.
Drivers with a 2026 UCI parking permit should exit the A9 at junction 18 "Monthey-Ouest" follow brown bike-icon signs, and aim for P4 (Les Vernes) where 1,700 numbered spots wait; arrive after 08:30 and you queue on the ramp, so target 07:45 or after 13:00 when teams finish recon rides.
| Travel window | Train frequency | Seat-reservation code | Price with Half-Fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zurich → Aigle | 2 per hour | T600 | CHF 30 |
| Geneva → Aigle | 3 per hour | T611 | CHF 26 |
| Bern → Aigle | 1 per hour | T500 | CHF 42 |
Mountain venues such as Villars-sur-Ollon sit 8 km above the valley; a postbus leaves Aigle gare every 30 min, accepts the same pass, and climbs 370 m in 18 min–sit on the right for glacier views and on the left for quicker unloading at the "Centre Sportif" stop that faces the finish arch.
Day-ticket holders access the start-finish zone through the north gate on Rue du Lac; scan the barcode on your phone at the turnstile, keep the brightness up, and avoid folding the PDF–the readers jam on creased A4 printouts and create the only bottleneck security sees.
Rainy-day hack: if the road between Leysin and Col de Mosses closes for downhill training, hop on the cog railway from Aigle to Leysin-Village (dep. :07 and :27), ride the gondola to Mayens, then coast 5 km on the gravel service track that parallels the race route and re-enters the fan zone behind the feed station.
Pack a bike: EuroDesk at Zurich rents 50 bike boxes per day (reserve via SBB app under "Rail & Ride"), costs CHF 34 for 24 h, and sits 30 m from track 3; unpack at Aigle station, stash the box in the left-luggage locker (CHF 6/24 h), and roll straight to the accreditation village on the traffic-free lakeside path in 6 min.
Geneva→Aigle Train Timetables with Bike Carriage Slots
Grab the 06:20 IR 90 from Genève-Cornavin, platform 7, every 30 minutes; the first three coaches display a bike icon and hold 24 vertical slots each–slide in, hook the front wheel, and you’re rolling toward Aigle at 07:03 with a CHF 6 bike day-pass bought from the red SBB machines while the train is still boarding.
Mid-morning? The 09:50 adds a double-deck composition with 40 extra racks; arrive five minutes early, queue at the carriage marked with the yellow bicycle silhouette, and swipe your Half-Fare card twice–once for you, once for the bike–before the conductor closes the doors.
Return legs after the evening finals leave Aigle at 18:07, 18:37, 19:07; the 19:07 is an IC 1 that continues to St. Gallen, so the bike car fills fast–reserve your slot online (sbb.ch/reservation) for free up to 30 minutes before departure and you’ll board through the low-floor section without wrestling bags in the aisle.
Weekend timetables shrink to hourly service after 20:00; if you miss the 20:37, the next train with bike space departs at 21:37 and reaches Geneva at 22:28–tight for restaurants, but the Starbucks opposite Cornavin stays open until 23:00 and the underground bike parking is free overnight with a validated ticket.
Peak championship days (23–26 Sep 2026) trigger three supplementary IC 5 trains at 07:33, 11:33, 15:33; each carries a refurbished panorama car with 28 inclined slots and power outlets–perfect for topping up your e-bike while the Rhône flashes past the windows.
If the racks are full, detrain at Monthey, wheel 200 m to the MOB station, and hop the 08:10 Monthey–Aigle regional–smaller train, but the conductor will let you stand with the bike in the rear vestibule if you ask politely and keep the doorway clear.
Q&A:
Which towns will host the road races, and how far are they from one another?
The elite men road race starts and finishes in Aalen, while the elite women race is centred on Heidenheim, 28 km to the east. Both routes dip into the Swabian Alb hills, so the actual distance you’ll drive between the two host towns is 35–40 min along the B19. If you’re following the full week, the time-trial circuit is in and around Schwäbisch Gmünd, only 15 km south of Aalen, so you can base yourself in one hotel and still reach every road event in under half an hour.
I’d like to watch both the team relay and the junior races without hiring a car. Is there a shuttle or public-transport option that actually works on race days?
Yes. On 22–23 September (junior road races and mixed-team relay) a free spectator shuttle loops every 20 min between Heidenheim rail station and the start/finish strip on Voith-Arenastraße. Deutsche Bahn adds extra Regionalexpress cars from Stuttgart/Ulm that terminate in Heidenheim instead of Aalen, so you can be on the course 45 min after leaving Stuttgart Hbf. The shuttle starts at 07:30 and runs until the last junior podium, around 17:30; no ticket beyond your normal DB fare is needed just show the same QR code you used on the train.
How tough is the climb that they keep mentioning for the men road race, and can spectators ride it in the morning before the race?
The signature ascent is the Lauterstein, 5.4 km at 7.1 % with two ramps of 12 %. It open to traffic until 09:00 on race day (Sunday 27 Sept), so if you’re up early you can spin it yourself. Park in Lauterstein village, ride to the top, descend the back side to Trochtelfingen, then return via the valley road 30 km door-to-door. Roads close at 09:00 sharp; after that only accredited vehicles and riders are allowed, so plan to be back at your car by 08:45.
Where can I buy a day-pass for the indoor track events, and do they sell out quickly?
Single-session tickets for the track programme in the Stuttgart Porsche-Arena go on sale 1 March 2026 at 10:00 CET through the official UCI 2026 site and Eventim. Last year Worlds in Glasgow sold out the keirin and omnium finals in 48 h, but the morning qualifying sessions stayed available for weeks. Stuttgart has 5 500 seats; expect the Tuesday and Thursday evening slots (sprint finals and women team pursuit) to disappear first. Day passes are €35–55 depending on session; no re-sale platform is authorised, so buy early and print at home to avoid box-office queues.
My kids want to try the fan-zone activities. Are they free, and do they need to reserve a slot?
The fan zone in Aalen Stadtgarten is free and open 10:00–18:00 every championship day. Pump-track, helmet-fitting, and 200 m closed-circuit rides are walk-up; the only queue is for the 1-km road-race simulator (virtual ride on the actual course profile). Slots for the simulator are released in 30-min windows scan the QR code at the entrance when you arrive; average wait is 20 min. Youth races on the circuit are 12:00 and 15:00; register your child on the spot, age 6–14, bikes and helmets provided. No cash needed anywhere inside the zone.
Reviews
Nova
ugh, 2026 is ages away and i still need to google which bus goes to richmond. my nails hate this already.
Nathan
2026? Bro, I’m already carb-loading like it the last supper. Marked the GF birthday "tentative" told the boss I’ll be "sick" all week, and booked a van so I can chase the peloton with a cowbell and a foghorn. Catch me in Flanders, quads shaved smoother than my chat-up lines, waving a flag that says "Your Pain Is My Netflix." If I don’t come home with a bidon signed by Mathieu, I’m not coming home.
Dorian Vale
248 characters: UCI 2026 in France? Wake me when the course climbs above the wine. Till then it just Lycra billboards chasing motor-paced watts. Rainbow jersey? More like a participation ribbon for whoever dodges the fewest doping controls.
Livia
Dear wizard of calendars, why did my phone auto-add "men underwater unicycle sprint" to October 3rd, yet your oracle stays mute on the exact minute the women road race leaks onto the bypass? Also, if I bike there barefoot to save CO₂, will the asphalt charge me a feelings tax?