A leaked draft of the 2027 mountain bike calendar suggests the UCI is planning a bigger and tighter World Cup schedule, with the XCO series set to grow from 9 events in 2026 to 12 rounds next year. The preliminary version, reported by the Italian media Pianetamountainbike, shows a season that would run almost without interruption from April to October.
The draft keeps three blocks outside Europe, including one non-European stop at the beginning of May and two dates at the end of the season that are usually held in North America. It also expands the European portion to nine events, turning the middle of the year into a long run of races that would test travel and recovery as much as speed.
The opening weekend is listed for April 17 and 18 at a venue that has not yet been confirmed, though rumors place the first race on the Iberian Peninsula. After that comes the first long overseas stretch, then a dense European run through June and July before the schedule heads into the decisive late-summer stretch.
That late stretch is crowded with major dates. The document puts the European Championships for XCO, XCC and XCR in Gothenburg, Sweden, from August 3 to 8, then the MTB World Championship in Haute-Savoie, France, from August 24 to September 5. The French championship block would cover XCO, XCC, XCM, DH, EDR and eMTB, making it one of the busiest weeks on the international calendar.
Chile is also set to host the Master World Championships of XCO and downhill from March 17 to 21 in Nevados de Chillán, giving the season an early anchor before the World Cup begins. For riders and teams, the shape of the year matters because the World Series circuit is taking on more weight inside international MTB, and the new layout leaves less room between major events than a typical season.
The catch is that none of this is final. The calendar is still a leaked draft, not an official UCI release, and the organization has already shown it is willing to move pieces around, including a switch of World Cup dates in France between XCO and Enduro. What looks like a finished route today could still be reshaped before the 2027 season is signed off.
