No UCI World Championships for Four Cross

Despite no official statement, the cycling world body has issued another blow to 4X and will not be hosting a UCI sanctioned world championships for the discipline in 2022, and it remains unknown whether it will return.



“They just broke the dream of many riders and many people in two sentences and not even official sentences.” – Tomas Slavik, 2021 4X World Champion.

The three-time World Champion confirmed the news in an Instagram post:


It follows their decision to remove 4X from the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup calendar in 2011, where they cited: “the high costs of constructing tracks and their impact on the environment” as their reason.

Subsequently, the 4X Pro Tour was born in 2012 to replace the World Cup series for the sport, while the UCI continued to run an official World Championship annually.

Furthermore, in a memorandum, published October 20, 2021, an amendment to the UCI’s regulations, Part IV: Mountain Bike, showed that 4X Points were to be removed for the World Champs, coming into force January 1, 2022.




The UCI's constitution stating in Chapter 1 (Identity), Article 2 (Objectives), Clause C: the objectives of the UCI are “to organize, for all cycling sport disciplines, world championships of which it is the sole holder and owner”. At present, no other international governing body represents the sport of 4X, and the 4X Pro Tour is still sanctioned by UCI’s own rules, which remain in place in their current rulebook.

The UCI has not published any official statement regarding the future of 4X and has decided not to comment on the matters discussed in this article.

It is also clear, that since dropping 4X from the World Cup in 2011, the UCI has not paid for any tracks to be built. It is understood, however, that venues would be required to pay a fee directly to the UCI to host the event.

Three-time, and reigning 4X World Champion, Tomas Slavik, explained that he was informed that there would not be a world championship for 4X by the Czech Cycling Federation after they contacted the UCI: “They (the UCI) just broke the dream of many riders and many people in two sentences, and not even two official sentences.”


Slavik went on to say: “I believe in the sport. I really truly believe that 4X should have its place at UCI World Champs and I believe that the 4X really attractive sport because take a look at the Boardercross, Ski Cross, Red Bull Crashed Ice - everyone's loving it. And especially the fans are loving it. You know, it's exciting. It's thrilling. For TV coverage, it is easy to do.

“In my eyes, 4X really does have a future, but just you need to have a partner like the UCI, which is supporting the sport, not destroying the sport and that's what it feels to me that the UCI is doing at this moment.

“It seems crazy to me that they could make a decision like this, without talking to the riders, federations, or anyone.”

4X came into being in 2002 replacing Dual on the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. For the following nine years, the sport was graced by names such as Eric Carter, Anne-Caroline, Chausson, Steve Peat, Cedric Gracia, Anneke Beerten, and Jill Kintner.


The sport remained popular among spectators in the years following its departure from the World Cup circuit, with events such as JBC 4X Revelations and the infamous Michal Marosi wallride overtake.

Since 2017, there has not been a live broadcast of the 4X World Championships, despite over 120,000 views for the 2016 race.