To kick off an exciting and busy week here in Huntsville, Mayor Tommy Battle announced a unique global sporting event that city will play host to in 2026.

Over the past few years, Huntsville has garnered national and global attention with the ever-growing sports industry that is burgeoning in Madison County. In the past year alone, Huntsville hosted the latest expansion for the MLS NEXT Pro team Huntsville City FC and hosted the UCI Para-Cycling World Cup on May 26-29, 2023, the first time the event was ever hosted on U.S. soil.

Mayor Tommy Battle, alluding to the success of such past accomplishments, announced that Huntsville will host the UCI Para-Cycling World Championship on September 4-7, 2026. This will only be the second time the event was ever held in the United States, with Greenville, South Carolina hosting the Championship back in 2014.

Handcyclists Huntsville May2023 “We were proud to host the event. It went well. I wanted to say good job to the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber for all of the help back in May. A lot of work went into this, and the teams liked what they saw. We gave them a huge welcome, in hopes that they would come back. Well, they are coming back, and they are coming back to Huntsville for something much bigger,” said City of Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle.

The announcement builds off of the UCI Para-Cycling World Cup hosted by Huntsville back on Memorial Day weekend. The event saw more than 350 athletes from 40 countries. The event saw thousands of attendees, from supporters to team members, in attendance and generated a noticeable amount in economic development for Madison County.

According to Madison County Commission Chairman Mac McCutcheon, the 2023 World Cup generated around $2.4 million in impact for the Huntsville/Madison County area and alone saw 3700 hotel and motel rooms booked for the event.

Retail was also affected by the event, such as Mid City’s REI Co-op, which saw a noticeable increase in bike shop services in the days leading up to the event.

“I am excited for what’s to come, and I am excited for our community. I am inspired by these athletes. To compete the way these athletes compete, and the way they take that adversity and move forward and excel makes me inspired,” said McCutcheon.

Julie O’Neill Dussliere, Chief of Paralympics & Internally Managed Sports at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, was also in attendance for the announcement.

“First and foremost, we want to share our sincerest gratitude to the City of Huntsville, the Huntsville Madison County Chamber, and the Huntsville Sports Commission that have partnered to have such successful events here in the past. We would like to thank all those partners involved who helped host the first ever UCI Para-cycling World Cup in the United States, and for UCI for seeing the incredible potential that Huntsville has for being host city of the Championship,” said Dussliere.

The UCI Para-Cycling World Championship will be hosted on Labor Day weekend in 2026. For more information, please visit www.uci.org.