IN BRIEF
Germany’s Andreas Seewald won the marathon mountain bike world title on 12 September at Primiero San Martino di Castrozza, in Italy’s Trentino, on a KTM Scarp Evo 4 prototype fitted with 32-inch wheels. According to three specialist outlets, it is the first mountain bike world title taken with that diameter, which appeared in competition this season. His build uses DUKE Lucky Jack SLS5 wheels claimed at up to 1,233 grams a pair, Schwalbe tyres and a prototype FOX fork. The UCI, for its part, does not ban the format in mountain biking, a discipline it calls the “laboratory of cycling”. Among the women, the title went to Switzerland’s Anna Weinbeer; in the sources consulted on 12 September, none mentions 32-inch wheels on her bike.
| Race | UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships, Primiero San Martino di Castrozza (Trentino, Italy), 12-13 September 2026 |
| Elite course | 95 km and 4,000 m of climbing |
| Men’s winner | Andreas Seewald (Germany), 3:11 ahead of Gioele De Cosmo (Italy) |
| Women’s winner | Anna Weinbeer (Switzerland) |
| Winner’s bike | KTM Scarp Evo 4 32 prototype |
| Wheels | DUKE Lucky Jack SLS5, 28 spokes, claimed at up to 1,233 g a pair |
| Tyres | Schwalbe Race Pro |
| Suspension | FOX RAD prototype fork, FOX Float Factory shock |
| Drivetrain | SRAM XX SL Eagle |
32-inch wheels have been fuelling mountain bike debate for months. On Saturday, in Italy, they brought back a rainbow jersey.
A 32-inch KTM prototype takes a world title
On 12 September, over the 95 kilometres and 4,000 metres of climbing of the elite course at Primiero San Martino di Castrozza, in Trentino, Germany’s Andreas Seewald took the marathon mountain bike world title with 3 minutes and 11 seconds in hand over Italy’s Gioele De Cosmo, ahead of his compatriot Jakob Dorigoni. It is his second rainbow jersey, five years after the one he won in 2021 on the island of Elba.
What the specialist press has taken from the race, though, has less to do with the result than with the bike. Seewald raced on a KTM Scarp Evo 4 32 prototype, a bike shod with 32-inch wheels. Italian outlet mtb-vco.com writes that it is “the first bicycle with 32-inch wheels to win a rainbow title”. Two other specialist publications say the same thing in the same terms: Spain’s mtbpro.es refers to the “first UCI world title in mountain biking won with that diameter”, Italy’s gravelnews.it to the “first XCM Worlds” for 32-inch wheels. (Quotes translated from Italian, Spanish and German.)
A build put together around the 32-inch format
According to mtb-vco.com, “the build is designed entirely around the 32-inch format”: DUKE Lucky Jack SLS5 wheels with 28 spokes, claimed at up to 1,233 g a pair, specific Schwalbe Race Pro tyres, a dedicated FOX RAD prototype fork and a FOX Float Factory shock, all with an electronic SRAM XX SL Eagle.
The technical argument, for its part, fits into one sentence from the Italian outlet quimtbmagazine.it: “on long courses, technically demanding but not too slow, oversized wheels make a clear difference”.
What the UCI says about 32-inch wheels
Asked by the US outlet Mountain Bike Action, the UCI’s Fabrice Tiano explained that “The mountain bike commission has always considered that mountain bikes are the laboratory of cycling, with very limited rules regarding equipment. That is why 32-inch wheels will not be prohibited in mountain biking.” The brujulabike site, which reports those comments, notes that the rules do set one limit: mixed setups, 32 inches at the front and 29 at the rear, remain restricted to certain disciplines such as downhill.
According to mtbpro.es, the format had already shown signs of life in racing before this title: “the first serious signal came in March, at the Absa Cape Epic, where Marc Pritzen and Felix Stehli won the third stage”, with Stehli using a 32-inch bike.
In the women’s race, a title without 32-inch wheels
The same day, the women’s title went to Switzerland’s Anna Weinbeer, described by mtb-news.de as a favourite winning comfortably: she had previously “dominated the UCI Hero Marathon series with four wins in five races”. None of the sources consulted mentions 32-inch wheels on her bike — so the technical shift seen this weekend concerns, at this stage, the men’s race alone.
