The UCI cancels the Enduro World Cup and the future of the discipline is up in the air

The Enduro World Cup will cease to exist as we know it by the end of 2026. The UCI and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports have announced that this season will be the last for Enduro within the structure of the Mountain Bike World Cup, marking the end of a phase that began with the integration of the former Enduro World Series (EWS) into the current international circuit.

The Enduro World Cup ends after 2026

The decision does not mean the disappearance of Enduro from the UCI calendar. The Enduro and E-Enduro World Championships will continue to be held and, starting in 2027, will become the main international reference for the discipline. However, for now, there is no announced international series that will replace the World Cup.

UCI and WBD Sports justify the change by stating that the different modalities of Mountain Bike have distinct characteristics, communities, and needs, and they believe that Enduro needs a structure specifically designed for it.

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According to the official statement, the goal is to find a model with greater organizational flexibility, more opportunities for innovation, and a greater emphasis on participation and community. A approach that, interestingly, recalls in several aspects the model that for years made the Enduro World Series the great reference of the modality.

The EWS managed to build an international championship with a strong identity of its own, combining professional competition with races open to amateurs and bringing together an international community around each event. Its integration into the UCI Mountain Bike World Series profoundly changed that approach.

The UCI emphasizes that being part of the joint structure of the World Cup allowed for increased exposure of Enduro within a platform that brought together the main disciplines of Mountain Bike. But these years have also raised doubts about the fit of the modality within a championship shared with XCO, XCC, and Downhill.

The coverage of Enduro races has been one of the most questioned aspects during this period. The very nature of the discipline makes conventional live broadcasting particularly complicated, and its following often took a back seat compared to modalities with simpler television production.

What will happen now with international Enduro races?

That is the big question left by the announcement. UCI and WBD confirm the end of the World Cup, but they have not yet presented a championship to take its place in 2027.

The statement explains that organizers, venues, and other stakeholders related to the discipline are already in discussions to explore new possibilities. The declared intention is to find a sustainable model that maintains some of the elements that have historically defined Enduro: participation, adventure, creativity, and a closer relationship between competition and community.

One of the possibilities already being explored is the Enduro Open, parallel events that could be integrated into certain weekends of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series. But this does not equate, at least with the information announced so far, to a new complete Championship.

This move highlights that the model that UCI and Warner set up for the MTB World Cup is not functioning as they had planned. And if recently we analyzed the problems that XCO is facing, Enduro is directly in a much worse position.