The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and its partner HERO Series S.r.l. today announce the launch of a UCI World Cup dedicated exclusively to mountain bike cross-country marathon (XCM): the HERO UCI Cross-country Marathon World Cup. The first edition will take place this year.
Five events featuring athletes in the Elite (Men and Women) and Masters (Men and Women in various age classes) categories are on the programme for the 2025 edition of the series. The competitions kick off on 10 May on the island of Elba, Italy, and conclude in Girona, Spain, just over four months later, after passing through Andorra, Italy and Germany.
2025 HERO UCI Cross-country Marathon World Cup calendar
10 May: Capoliveri Legend Cup, Capoliveri - Isola d'Elba (Italy)
1 June: Naturland, Andorra
14 June: HERO Südtirol Dolomites, Selva Val Gardena (Italy)
13 July: Black Forest ULTRA Bike Marathon, Kirchzarten (Germany)
21 September: La Tramun Sea Otter Europe, Girona (Spain).
The XCM events offer the best professional riders and thousands of amateurs the opportunity to compete on the same course, in long-distance cross-country events (between 60 and 160 kilometres depending on the category) in a variety of natural environments and terrains.
Only athletes in the Men Elite and Women Elite categories will be included in the UCI World Cup rankings. A separate ranking will be drawn up for riders in the Masters categories (Men and Women in different age classes). The various rankings, updated at the end of each event, will be published on www.heroucimarathonworldcup.com. Entries are open from 4 February 2025.
From 2025 until 2028, the HERO UCI Cross-country Marathon World Cup will be organised in partnership with HERO Series S.r.l., which has been organising the HERO Südtirol Dolomites, a well-known international XCM event, for the last fifteen years and was the organiser of the 2015 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships in the Italian Dolomites. HERO Series S.r.l. will be responsible for coordinating the races in the series, liaising with the professional teams, ensuring that the organisers comply with the specifications and compiling the rankings. HERO Series S.r.l. will also be responsible for managing the rights and promoting the series.
UCI President David Lappartient said: “The HERO UCI Cross-country Marathon World Cup is a new series for specialists in this mountain bike format, and we are delighted to announce its calendar for 2025. Bringing together some of the most famous mountain bike marathon races in the world, this series has all the ingredients for epic battles, not only at each round, but also for the overall victory.”
The CEO of HERO Series S.r.l. Gerhard Vanzi said: “It’s a great honour to be able to share the 2025 calendar of the mountain bike UCI Marathon World Cup, a circuit of races which will liven the summer of thousands of professional bikers. We’d like to thank the UCI for their renewed trust in us, as well as thank all the organisations which believed in the project of a high-profile UCI World Cup.”
For further information: www.heroucimarathonworldcup.com.