Australia’s most dominant mountain bike athlete, Canberra’s Rebecca Henderson, will headline the ARA Australian Cycling Team when she takes on her 12th elite UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Italy next month.
An unprecedented 13-time elite national champion in cross-country Olympic (XCO), Henderson (34) will pull on the green and gold with hopes of executing the kind of performance that saw her win back-to-back World Championship bronze medals in 2019 and 2020.
Henderson will be joined by exciting young riders Jack Ward (21) and Harry Doye (20), who will represent Australia in the under-23 men’s category.
Despite their youth, Ward and Doye placed first and second in the elite races at this year’s GWM MTB National Championships in Mount Buller. Solid performances in the UCI Continental Series and in Europe will have prepared them to perform on the world stage in Val di Sole this August.
The trio will join the four promising junior athletes already selected for the under-19 events: Oliver Grande, Connor Wright, Freya Buckmaster and Alana Fletcher.
Ruby Taylor, the reigning under-23 women’s XCC and XCO national champion, has also been selected for the Australian squad. However, the Victorian will be unable to compete due to injury.
The 2026 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships will run from 26−30 August in Val di Sole, Trentino, in the north of Italy.
The short track (XCC) races will take place on Thursday, 27 August before the Cross-country Olympic (XCO) events close out the World Championships on Sunday, 30 August.
The team was selected by the National Selection Panel according to AusCycling’s selection policies. No athletes in the elite men’s category satisfied the selection criteria, including the mandatory event requirements.
ARA Australian Cycling Team | 2026 UCI MTB World Championships – XCO
Elite Women
- Rebecca Henderson (Canberra Off Road Cyclists, ACT)
Under 23 Men
- Harry Doye (Red Hill Riders MTB Club, VIC)
- Jack Ward (Yarra Ranges Mountain Bikers, VIC)
Under 23 Women
- Ruby Taylor (Warrandyte MTB Club, VIC)
Under 19 Men
- Oliver Grande (Canberra Off-Road Cyclists, ACT)
- Connor Wright (Ferguson Valley MTB Club, WA)
Under 19 Women
- Freya Buckmaster (Shredding Betties, TAS)
- Alana Fletcher (Bendigo Mountain Bike Club, VIC)