UCI Announces 2024 XC Marathon World Cup Schedule

Feb 6, 2024
by Sarah Moore  


Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports and the Union Cycliste Internationale have announced the 2024 UCI Cross-country Marathon World Cup schedule. There will be three rounds this year, with the season kicking off in Nové Město na Moravě in the Czech Republic at the end of May, before heading to Haute-Savoie, France at the end of June and wrapping up in Lake Placid in late September.


• Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic: May 24-26
• Haute-Savoie, France: June 29-July 7
• Lake Placid, USA: September 27-29

In addition, the UCI Cross-country Marathon World Championships will take place September 21-22 in Snowshoe, West Virginia.


The Nové Město na Moravě and Lake Placid rounds will take place on the same weekend as the XC World Cup, while the round in Haute-Savoie will see all formats of the UCI Mountain Bike World Series take place in the same week. The 2024 details and locations of the Haute-Savoie racing schedule will be announced soon.

bigquotesLast season, it was fantastic to be trackside to see the return of the UCI Cross-country Marathon World Cup first hand. It’s positive not just for teams and riders but also fans all over the world. The venues on the calendar this season have been selected not just because of their fantastic courses but also because of the passion and expertise of the local teams and the amazing scenery they offer.—Simon Burney, Head of Sport for Cycling Events at WBD Sports

Cross-country marathon is a mass start format that brings racers to the start line of a 100 km course. Anyone can participate and challenge the pros. More details and the entries’ procedure for open racing categories will be available soon for all three rounds on the official UCI Mountain Bike World Series platforms.

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33 Comments
  • 30 0
 If they could figure out how to cover these races (GoPro and drones?) they would be awesome to watch. 60 mile point to point racing is how it all really started. The 10 minutes of video with the riders cruising through the feed zones does it no justice.
  • 15 0
 Agree - the Cape Epic coverage does a reasonable job of capturing the action, by using ebikes, drones and helicopters.
  • 1 0
 @readikus: Not only the Cape Epic. Mediterranean Epic (2024 edition starts on thursday) has been doing the same for the last 2 or 3 years.
  • 3 0
 Yeah, if they're going to have a proper UCI Marathon World Cup then the coverage has to be far better. The 10 min highlights last year were pathetic - and the Marathon Worlds in Glentress were even worse. I don't see the point in having a World Cup if they can't provide some decent coverage - it's 2024, not 1994.
  • 3 0
 Or even camera footage relayed from the riders or attatched to the bike.
  • 1 0
 I have watched the odd UCI XCM race live over the last few years. They were covered in a similar way to the Cape Epic, with drones and follow bikes (previously motorcycles, more recently eMTBs).
  • 15 0
 Just 3 rounds is pathetic.
  • 3 0
 Not sure how many of these events (and events off the WC calender) those athletes can do. I can imagine a marathon requires a bit more preparation and recovery than a regular XC race. It could be more distributed around the world though, outside the standard northern hemisphere bubble. It doesn't require much dedicated trail building to run such an event, but it an amazing opportunity to show the beauty of these countries.
  • 7 0
 @vinay: on the road there are riders doing 80 plus race days a year, I’m sure the pros could manage more than 3 races a year, the UCI probably doesn’t consider it worth it though since it’s not as good a spectator sport as XCC/XCO
  • 1 0
 @martinaasa I have a legitimate question, how many 100 km races do you currently race per summer? How many would you do, if they existed?
  • 6 0
 @Superboost: I do a 3-4 XCM races per year. I would do more of them if there were more of them. Also do a handful of gravel races as well since the fitness requirements are similar. After having kids and being relegated to spending so much more of my life on the trainer when kids are asleep, I ended up with some fitness I didn’t previously have and can’t believe how much I’ve enjoyed XCM as a format.
  • 3 0
 @Superboost: Look at old NUE results. Those were 100 mile events. Riders had to do three or four to qualify for the overall series win. Many riders did more than they needed. These were super popular from 2000-2015. Mostly east coast events.
  • 2 0
 They had four rounds last year, plus the world champs.

Another step back then, basically. 25% less races than last year at World Cup level!
  • 7 0
 They are called Snickers now.
  • 5 0
 Marathon Worlds is at Snowshoe WV the weekend of Sept 21st.
  • 1 0
 Anyone can participate, that's fun. A bit like pumptrack worlds. Most marathon events offer different distances, would the do that here as well? For me personally I like them up to 80km. Beyond that is doable, but it requires you to be more efficient (and probably learn to ride when sat in the saddle).
  • 1 0
 In the early days, I raced at world cups as an amatuer. Not WITH the pros, but on the same weekend. It was normal. And awesome. To be on the same course and distance as the pros was very cool. My 2nd race I ever did was a world cup in Michigan. I can't remember which day we all raced, Saturday I'm pretty sure, and the pros all did Sunday. It was so much fun to be able to race and watch at the same event. But to actually race the same race as the elites? Is that what they mean?
  • 1 0
 @shorttravelmagazine: From my experience, the fast racers start first on those single lap races. Possibly a few minutes between starting waves. So I suppose here the pros start in the first wave and everyone else starts in a later wave. So you may overtake riders from an earlier wave but you're unlikely to get in the way of anyone. These timing systems just count your riding time relative to when you started so at the end you can still compare your time to the pros. I think that's where they're at. Personally I don't care too much about competition, I just like the event and the opportunity to ride cool trails you otherwise can't ride (as some sections are on private land). Regular XC is way too crowded and stressed out for my liking but marathon is just a good day of riding. And I think that unless someone only has a DH or DJ bike, anyone on a any mountainbike can have a go.
  • 2 0
 Way too few races in a year and as others have said, coverage was way below par.
  • 1 0
 Bit silly having world champs 1 week before a regular round. Backing up 2 marathons that quick is gonna be awful on the riders.
  • 1 0
 E-XC Marathon?
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