Cycling in the Winter Olympics? Why the Case for Cyclocross No longer Seems Outlandish in a Warming World

Cyclocross and the UCI’s backroom maneuvering to promote the discipline as a new Olympic Winter Games medal sport is heating up — quite literally.

Cycling’s governing body is now adding the specter of global warming and its future impact on the Winter Olympics as another reason to add the one-hour mud-and-muck show as a future Olympic medal sport.

Speaking to reporters on the eve of the opening of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, UCI president David Lappartient cited climate change as another reason why cyclocross should be an Olympic sport by 2030.

“I truly believe that also with  ‌climate change, to have some winter disciplines like cyclocross within the Games could be a good asset for two reasons,” Lappartient told reporters.

According to a report by The Associated Press, cycling’s top boss is promoting cyclocross among Olympic power brokers.

He cited the allure of big stars like Mathieu van der Poel and Puck Pieterse, coupled with the future challenge of global warming impacting winter sports in the coming decades, to make the idea more appealing to some resistance among the snow-and-ice old guard.

“So we can potentially extend to address also climate change to maybe bring more universality, to bring also stars,” Lappartient said.

Will that argument help push cyclocross across the Olympic finish line? It’s far from certain.

Resistance from ‘snow and ice’ traditionalists

The idea of adding cyclocross to the Winter Olympic program has been kicking around for a while.

Lappartient, who ran unsuccessfully for the top IOC job last year, has quietly been pushing for the expansion of cycling into the Winter Games, ideally in time for the France-hosted Games in 2030.

To do it, cycling’s top boss will have to convince the IOC to change the Holy Grail of Winter Games competition in that all events are contested on snow and ice.

Cyclocross — though considered a winter sport within the cycling community — is typically raced on the mud and gunk (and occasionally snow) of Benelux and beyond.

Since the Winter Games began more than a century ago, the official sports during the Winter Games have been largely limited to skating, skiing, and other snow-and-ice-bound sports.

Many want to broaden the appeal of the Winter Games — much like the Summer Games have included sports like BMX, skating, surfing, break dancing, and beach volleyball — to widen the audience base and generate new revenue streams for the Winter Games.

“We are reviewing the size of the Games, the mix of sports, options for new additions. We also look at potential crossover between summer and winter sports,” said Karl Stoss, who heads the IOC’s Olympic Program Working Group, told reporters on Wednesday, according to a report by Reuters.

Cyclocross and cross-country running are in the pole position for addition as new Winter Games medal sports. There are others, including snow volleyball, ice climbing, and free-ride skiing, also gaining traction.

There’s talk of moving some indoor Summer Games disciplines, like judo, to the Winter Games. Ski Mountaineering (Skimo) is officially making its debut at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.

Traditionalists, however, have pushed back.

In November, the Winter Olympic Federations — a group that represents such sports as skiing, skating, biathlon, curling, luge, bobsled, and skeleton — said rolling back the snow-and-ice rule would “dilute the brand, heritage, and identity that make the Olympic Winter Games unique,” the AP reported.

A decision on the 2030 Winter Games was expected as soon as this week, but officials have kicked the decision down the road. It could come to a head in summer meetings scheduled in June.

The specter of climate change and receding snow

Lappartient’s pitch in the context of climate change comes to a head this week as the IOC is looking at thin snow cover in Italy. The issue is front and center as an existential threat to the Winter Games.

The IOC is already considering pushing the Games from February back to January in the hopes of having colder temperatures and better snow conditions in the coming decades.

“Maybe we are also discussing bringing the ‌Winter Olympics a little bit earlier to do it in January because it has an implication for the Paralympics as well,” the IOC’s Stoss told reporters last week.

Receding snow coverage and changing winter conditions are urgent for everyone in the snow sports industry.

Ski areas in North America are seeing the thinnest snow base in decades. Some studies have suggested that skiing in Europe will all but disappear at altitudes below 2,000 meters, which could impact much of the Pyrénées and other low-altitude resorts across the Alps.

According to an IOC study, only 10 nations will be able to host the snow sports of the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games by 2040, the AP reported.

Lappartient is making the interesting argument that if snow and ice are trending the wrong way, why not add a sport like cyclocross?

Chances of approval on thin ice?

It’s not just cyclocross and cycling pushing for new disciplines.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, who also ran for the IOC’s top job last year, is promoting cross-country running as a Winter Olympic medal sport.

Part of his argument is that the running discipline would open Winter Games podiums to African athletes traditionally excluded from medal contention.

As Velo reported in 2024, the UCI has been pushing hard for the Olympic designation for the last few years. It’s worth noting that the UCI is not promoting its “snow biking” discipline, which recently wrapped its world championships, for Olympic inclusion.

Much like 1996 and the Olympic status for mountain biking, becoming a medal sport would be seen as a boon for cyclocross.

“It’s not approved yet, but it’s not off the table either,” UCI’s cyclocross manager Peter Van den Abeele said of cyclocross entering the 2030 Winter Games last fall. “The IOC seems open to dropping the requirement that winter sports must be on snow or ice. Olympic status would bring full recognition for cyclocross.”

Right now, the discipline is largely dominated by Dutch and Belgian riders, something viewed as a minus for CX.

But Olympic status could lure some of the peloton’s biggest names to embrace another shot at gold, and road superstars like Tadej Pogačar and Demi Vollering might be tempted to line up.

Supporters also believe the pull of Olympic medals could propel cyclocross to a new level of global visibility if the door finally cracks open.

Resistance from the old-guard “snow-and-ice” lobby, by far the most influential power block within the Winter Games, might prove too much to overcome.

If the Winter Games, however, continue to slip in TV ratings, the IOC might sense it’s time for an update.

Lappartient is quietly promoting La Planches des Belles Filles — a climb featured in the Tour de France — as an appropriate host for what could be an inaugural Olympic debut for cyclocross, safely within driving distance to the cyclocross homeland in Benelux.

Just imagine the scene of an invasion of fans, vans, and cowbells, with tens of thousands of supporters turning it into a full-throttle CX carnival. That’s what the UCI is betting on.