2026 UCI Women's World Tour

2026 UCI Women's World Tour
Eleventh edition of the UCI Women's World Tour
Details
Dates17 January – 18 October 2026
Location
Races27

The 2026 UCI Women's World Tour is a competition with twenty-seven road cycling events throughout the 2026 women's cycling season. The competition will begin with the Women's Tour Down Under from 17 to 19 January, and will finish with the Tour of Guangxi on 18 October. It is the eleventh edition of the UCI Women's World Tour – launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2016.

Events

The initial race calendar for the 2026 season was announced in June 2025, with twenty-eight races initially scheduled.[1] The calendar was similar to 2025, with the elevation of Dwars door Vlaanderen from the UCI ProSeries, and the Giro d'Italia Women moving to June.[2] In October 2025, the calendar was confirmed, with the Simac Ladies Tour of Holland demoted to the UCI ProSeries so it can be held at the same time as the men's Tour of Holland, leaving twenty-seven races on the calendar.[3]

Both the La Vuelta Femenina and Giro d'Italia Women will be a day longer, 8 days and 9 days in length respectively.[4] The Tour de Suisse Women and the Tour of Britain Women will also add a day compared to 2025, with the five-day events to be held over the same number of days as their equivalent men's events, with the Tour of Britain Women to be held in August as opposed to June.[5][6]

Races in the 2026 UCI Women's World Tour[7]
Race Date First Second Third
Women's Tour Down Under 17–19 January
Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race 31 January
UAE Tour Women 5–8 February
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 28 February
Strade Bianche Donne 7 March
Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio 15 March
Milan–San Remo Women 21 March
The Great Sprint Classic 26 March
Gent–Wevelgem 29 March
Dwars door Vlaanderen 1 April
Tour of Flanders 5 April
Paris–Roubaix Femmes 12 April
Amstel Gold Race 19 April
La Flèche Wallonne Femmes 22 April
Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes 26 April
La Vuelta Femenina 3–10 May
Itzulia Women 15–17 May
Vuelta a Burgos Feminas 21–24 May
Giro d'Italia Women 30 May – 7 June
Copenhagen Sprint 13 June
Tour de Suisse Women 17–21 June
Tour de France Femmes 1–9 August
Tour of Britain Women 19–23 August
Classic Lorient Agglomération 29 August
Tour de Romandie Féminin 4–6 September
Tour of Chongming Island 13–15 October
Tour of Guangxi 18 October

Changes for 2026

The UCI will award more ranking points to the week long stage races (Giro d'Italia Women, Tour de France Femmes and the Vuelta Femenina) and cycling monuments than other stage or one-day races in the Tour, thereby elevating those races in status.[8][9]

The participation allowance paid by race organisers paid to WorldTour teams will increase by 20% to support travel costs, with organisers of stage races also required to pay for more hotel rooms per team.[2] Safety requirements for races has also increased, with standards regarding feed and waste, team vehicles on the course and checking for technological fraud.[10]

References

  1. ^ "The UCI approves the 2026 calendars for the UCI Women's WorldTour and UCI WorldTour, and takes measures to support the development of cycling". www.uci.org. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  2. ^ a b Mitchell, Mathew (12 June 2025). "UCI approves 2026 Women's WorldTour calendar and introduces key reforms for women's cycling -". Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  3. ^ "The UCI takes important measures to protect rider safety and health, and approves 2026 UCI calendars for several disciplines". www.uci.org. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  4. ^ "Calendar changes: 2026 UCI Women's calendar". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  5. ^ Shrubsall, James (26 September 2025). "Key Tour de France warm-up race reduced from eight to five days as it aims for sustainability and equality". Cycling Weekly. Future plc. Retrieved 14 October 2025. In addition, the women's race will be boosted from four to the same five stages as the men – and, crucially, they will all start and finish in the same place.
  6. ^ Becket, Adam (6 October 2025). "Tour of Britain Men and Women dates confirmed for 2026, both to be five-stage races". Cycling Weekly. Future plc. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  7. ^ Price, Matilda (7 October 2025). "After years of absence, Herald Sun Tour dates confirmed for February as UCI announces 2026 calendar". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  8. ^ Price, Matilda (20 June 2025). "UCI points update brings Women's WorldTour system in line with men's, designating women's Monuments and boosting Tour de France Femmes". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  9. ^ "Part II Road Races - Amendments to Regulations as from 20.10.2025" (PDF). Union Cycliste Internationale. 1 June 2025. p. 15. Retrieved 20 June 2025. 2.10.017 Points scale Women Elite
  10. ^ Mitchell, Mathew (25 September 2025). "The UCI announces rider safety and health updates; extra changes to 2026 UCI road calendar -". Retrieved 14 October 2025.