"We are proud of the trust that the UCI has placed in us. Now it's time to get down to work to organize this new UCI World Cup race series in a spectacular way," says Gerhard Vanzi, CEO of Hero.

Mountain bike marathons are on the one hand very attractive races for the best international riders in this discipline, but on the other hand they also give grassroots sport in the form of thousands of amateur riders the opportunity to ride in the same race and on the same routes - and thus compete against the absolute top class of the category.

Nobody would know this better than the organizing team of the "Hero Südtirol Dolomites". Its 15 years of experience in organizing one of the toughest and most spectacular mountain bike marathons in the world is now also being brought to bear as coordinator and promoter of the brand new "Hero UCI Marathon World Cup". This is the official title of the race series that the International Cycling Union (UCI) has created from five highly prestigious mountain bike marathons.

Planned until 2028

The agreement is the result of the long-standing, fruitful relationship between the hero and the UCI since 2015, when the South Tyrolean mountain bike race hosted the UCI Marathon World Championships. Today, this connection forms the basis for a far-reaching, international initiative that will contribute to the further development of the performance sector in mountain biking with the World Cup project, in which the UCI and Hero intend to work together over the next four years.

The World Cup race series consists of five particularly prestigious European mountain bike marathons, which will be combined into one race series under the aegis of the UCI for the first time.

The race calendar

After the start in Italy, the race will ride in five stages and with thousands of riders at the start via Andorra to Germany and Spain. This is what the first version of the 2025 Hero UCI Marathon World Cup race calendar looks like:

• 10.05.25: ITA - Capoliveri Legend Cup, Capoliveri (Elba)
• 01.06.25: AND - Naturland, Andorra
• 14.06.25: ITA - HERO Südtirol Dolomites, Selva di Val Gardena
• 13.07.25: GER - Black Forest ULTRA Bike Marathon, Kirchzarten
• 21.09.25: ESP - La Tramun Sea Otter Europe, Girona

UCI President David Lappartient explains: "The Hero UCI Cross-Country Marathon World Cup is a new race series for specialists in this mountain bike format and we are delighted to announce the race dates for 2025. Combining some of the most famous mountain bike marathon races in the world, the series has all the ingredients for a great competition, not only during the individual stages, but also in terms of overall victory."

In the name "Hero UCI Marathon World Cup", the Hero stands out because the organizing team from Selva will take care of the coordination of race events and professional teams, the implementation of the regulations, the creation of the ranking lists as well as the marketing and communication via media and social media channels.

"It fills us with pride to announce the race calendar of the 2025 UCI Marathon World Cup in mountain biking. This race series will bring momentum to the summer of competition for thousands of mountain bikers," says Gerhard Vanzi, CEO and founder of Hero Südtirol Dolomites. "On this occasion, we would like to thank the UCI for the trust they have once again placed in us and in all the other organizations that have believed in the project of a top-class UCI World Cup."

The competition for the final ranking of the UCI World Cup is not only open to riders in the elite category. In fact, the big news for the 2025 edition is the expansion of the field of participants to include classifications reserved for mountain bikers in the Master License category. They only need to be registered with their national cycling federation, which in turn must be part of the UCI. Participants must register for each individual race in the series in which they wish to take part. Participation automatically affects the final classification. It is the responsibility of the Hero UCI Marathon World Cup Organizing Committee to update the rankings after each race. Entries for the races have been open since February 4, 2025.

heroucimarathonworldcup.com