After a successful 2025, the Golden Trail World Series (GTWS) is looking ahead and starting to shape the 2026 season, aiming to continue delivering a modern, global and broadcast-ready event and format that meets the standards of elite trail running competitions.
Today, the GTWS unveils a set of significant updates for the 2026 season, including increased prize money, clearer overall ranking mechanics, and a strengthened integrity program.
RAISING THE STAKES
For the 2026 season, the GTWS will significantly increase prize money across all levels of competition, marking a 45% rise compared to 2025 and bringing the total prize purse to 435,000 €, with 30,000 € awarded to the winners of the men’s and women’s overall rankings.
It’s not just the prize money that’s increasing—the sporting stakes are also being raised. Building on the successful format introduced in 2025, the overall ranking will still be based on each athlete’s best three results plus the Grand Finale result. In addition to this proven structure, the GTWS will introduce a new performance and strategic layer featuring downhill, climbing, and sprint segments, awarding bonus points toward the overall ranking. This innovation is designed to boost on-course competitiveness and enhance the TV product.
Another key update for 2026 is the removal of the Grand Finale prologue ensuring a single, decisive final race where anything can happen and the standings can still change until the very end.
For the first time, the GTWS will also introduce a Team Ranking, calculated using the points scored by the best two men and best two women from the same team at each race. Athlete line-ups may vary from race to race as long as they represent the same team. The Team Ranking creates a strong opportunity for brand storytelling, increases the visibility of participating brands within the championship, and adds a strategic layer to racing by strengthening team strategy, dynamics and tactics on course.
PROTECTING FAIR COMPETITION
To further safeguard competitive integrity, the GTWS will significantly expand its anti-doping program in 2026, with more tests conducted at each race (including multi-class and EPO screening) and additional pre-competition tests caried out across the season.
THE BEST IS YET TO COME
All of these updates have been developed and approved to reaffirm the GTWS’ commitment to elevating trail running to its full potential and to supporting its most important protagonists: the athletes.
At the same time, the series continues to consolidate its position as one of the premier events in the discipline, building on historical achievements in both TV coverage and digital engagement. And fans can expect even more in the year ahead. Beyond these major sporting updates that will boost the competitive landscape, the GTWS is preparing new broadcast innovations, fresh content across live events and digital platforms and a calendar full of surprises.
