Four Race Formats at the 2027 UCI Cross-country World Championships

• XCO (Cross-Country Olympic), the flagship Cross-Country discipline. It has been part of the Olympic Games programme since Atlanta 1996. Riders compete on a demanding lap-based course, completing multiple laps over a race lasting 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes, combining endurance, technical skill and race strategy.

   

• XCC (Cross-Country Short Track), a short-format race contested on a reduced version of the XCO course. The number of laps is determined after the opening lap to ensure a race duration of approximately 20 to 25 minutes. The results also determine the starting grid for the XCO event.

   

• XCR (Cross-Country Team Relay), the national team relay event. Each team consists of six riders, representing each of the XCO categories: Junior, Under 23 and Elite, in both the men's and women's categories. Each rider completes one lap before handing over to the next teammate.

   

• E-XC (Electric Cross-Country), cross-country racing on electric mountain bikes. The course features larger and more technical obstacles than the XCO course, with electric assistance enabling riders to tackle steeper and more demanding sections. A rapidly growing discipline, E-XC combines the technical demands of traditional Cross-Country with the strategic management of electric assistance and rider effort.