Cycling Season 2026 – Rules, Calendar and Teams
The 2026 cycling season promises to be exceptionally exciting. According to the UCI WorldTour calendar, the series of the most important road cycling races will begin as early as January and run through to October, combining iconic Classics, the Grand Tours and prestigious stage races, led by the Tour de Pologne.
UCI WorldTour 2026 Rules
The 2026 cycling season is, of course, based on the UCI WorldTour calendar – the highest-ranked race series, governed by the UCI points classification system. All events in the series feature teams holding WorldTour licences, as well as invited ProTeams or national teams, in accordance with the wildcard allocation rules.
The best teams and riders collect UCI points that determine their position in the rankings – both individual and team classifications. These points are of crucial importance for qualification for prestigious events and for receiving invitations in subsequent seasons.
Race Calendar 2026 – Key Dates
Below is a selection of the most important races of the 2026 season, featuring the world’s top teams (based on the UCI WorldTour calendar):
January
Tour Down Under – the traditional opening of the WorldTour season, 20–25 January 2026.
March–April – The Classics
Strade Bianche – 7 March 2026
Paris–Nice and Tirreno–Adriatico – the most important spring stage races.
Milano–Sanremo – the first of the “Monuments”
Ronde van Vlaanderen – 5 April 2026
Paris–Roubaix – 12 April 2026
Liège–Bastogne–Liège – 26 April 2026
May–July
Grand Tours: Giro d’Italia, Tour de France
August
Tour de Pologne — 3–9 August 2026 — a stage race held in Poland, traditionally included in the UCI WorldTour calendar.
September–October
Grand Tour: La Vuelta a España
Il Lombardia – the final “Monument” of the season, 10 October 2026
The Tour de Pologne is one of the key WorldTour stage races — the only event of this rank in Central and Eastern Europe — and the largest cycling celebration in Poland. Beyond sporting competition, the race serves as a powerful international promotion of the country on the global cycling stage.
UCI WorldTour – 18 Strongest Teams
In the 2026 season, 18 teams holding the highest UCI licences will compete in the UCI WorldTour, guaranteeing their participation in the Tour de Pologne as well.
Key teams of 2026:
- Alpecin–Premier Tech
- Bahrain Victorious (Kamil Gradek)
- Decathlon–CMA CGM
- EF Education–EasyPost
- Groupama–FDJ United
- Ineos Grenadiers (Michał Kwiatkowski)
- Lidl–Trek
- Lotto–Intermarché
- Movistar Team
- NSN Cycling Team
- Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe
- Soudal–Quick-Step
- Team Jayco–AlUla
- Team Picnic–PostNL
- Visma–Lease a Bike
- UAE Team Emirates XRG
- Uno-X Mobility
- XDS Astana Team
These teams represent the absolute world elite, with a wide range of specialisations — from general classification contenders in the Grand Tours to sprinters and Classics specialists. Their participation guarantees the highest sporting level throughout the entire UCI WorldTour calendar.
Tour de Pologne – A Cycling Festival in Poland
The Tour de Pologne is not only the best stage race in Poland, but also one of the most important cycling events in the world. Since 2005, the race has been part of the UCI WorldTour calendar, meaning that all top teams and the biggest stars of the peloton compete in it.
The event attracts thousands of fans both along the race routes and in front of television screens around the world, creating a true cycling festival. In the 2026 season, it once again confirms its prestige and its importance for Polish sport and the international cycling calendar.
Over the past several years, the Tour de Pologne has been won by such riders as Jonas Vingegaard, Matej Mohorič, João Almeida, Remco Evenepoel, Michał Kwiatkowski, Rafał Majka, Peter Sagan, Alessandro Ballan and Daniel Martin. In 2025, the winner of the ORLEN General Classification was American rider Brandon McNulty of UAE Team Emirates-XRG.