OneCycling's plans to play a key role in the future of cycling remain intact and on track, according to sources close to the project, despite the UCI saying on Thursday that it would not form part of the upcoming 2026 WorldTour calendar.
A strongly worded UCI statement on Thursday stated that the OneCycling project was currently "deemed incompatible with the governance and regulatory framework of the UCI as well as lacking sporting coherence."
The UCI also released the WorldTour calendar for 2026 for both men's and women's racing, with no sign of the OneCycling project in any upcoming races.
However, sources close to OneCycling released a statement to Cyclingnews on Friday morning, insisting that the project remains very much up and running. It also said that the UCI could be involved in their ongoing plans, although it remained notably hazy on specifics.
"Agreeing a new global race calendar in the tight time frame was always going to be challenging," the statement said, "but the door is now wide open, with the encouragement and involvement of the UCI, to address all of the key challenges raised and promoted by OneCycling – most notably the use of external investment to help enhance, internationalise and make economically sustainable the sport we all love and believe in.
"This is great news for all of cycling’s stakeholders and applauded by the teams involved in the OneCycling initiative."
Documents seen earlier this year by Cyclingnews and other media suggest that One Cycling and SURJ aim to generate new revenue streams by organising new races and working with existing race organisers, to create the 'One Cycling Global Race Series.'
Visma-Lease a Bike, EF Education-Easypost, Ineos Grenadiers, Soudal-QuickStep, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Lidl-Trek and other major men's and women's teams are said to be ready to sign up to become shareholders in the One Cycling management company.
Race organisers Flanders Classics and Giro d'Italia organiser RCS Sport have been reported to be ready to be part of the project, although they have steadfastly refused to comment.
In an interview with MARCA in May, UCI President David Lappartient said that he welcomed "Any initiative to engage the cycling audience and make our sport more attractive, to bring in additional revenue. Therefore, all investors are welcome."
"That said, we also have to respect the UCI rules and the existing races.
"Paris-Roubaix will always be Paris-Roubaix, whether or not it's part of that [OneCycling] project."
After the exclusion of OneCycling from the upcoming 2026 WorldTour calendar, interest will be high in seeing what concrete steps the project will now take.
