Two days ago, Andreas Seewald made mountain bike history as the first rider to race 32” wheels to a World Title at the 2026 Marathon World Championships in Val di Sole, Italy. This is undoubtedly the highest-profile result for the much-hyped wheel size, coming many months after Felix Stehli won a stage of the Absa Cape Epic on 32” wheels. While 32″ wheels haven’t seen too much success on the World Stage yet, Seewald’s rainbow-stripe winning effort helps to validate their performance claims and will likely add more fuel to the 32” fire.
Seewald raced to victory on a prototype KTM Scarp Evo 4 32, equipped with Duke Lucky Jack SLS5 32” RC-1 Edition wheels and what appears to be the Fox 34 SL 32” fork we saw at Sea Otter. Interestingly, Felix Stehli also raced on Duke’s Lucky Jack 32” wheels at the Absa Cape Epic earlier this year. Coincidence? Hard to say. Perhaps Duke just sponsors the right riders. Or maybe its 1,233-gram 32” race wheels are, in fact, a secret weapon…
To be clear, 32” wheels are just one piece of the World Title-winning equation for Andreas Seewald. The German rider has been a force to be reckoned with in the world of XCM for years. In fact, Seewald has worn the rainbow stripes before, when he took the XCM World Title in 2021. He also finished 4th at the 2024 XCM World Championships. So, it’s clear that Seewald is very fit, fast, and a podium contender, 32” wheels or not.
According to the UCI, the XCM course was 95 km (59 miles) with ~4,000 meters (13,123 feet) of climbing. Seewald finished in 4:33:47, with a commanding lead of 3+ minutes over 2nd place. Still, with a 3+ minute margin over 2nd place in his recent 2026 victory, it’s worth asking the questions.
Did 32” wheels make a difference in Seewald’s Marathon World Champs win? Is 32” the future of XC? The jury’s still out, but either way, Andreas Seewald had a good day on the bike and earned himself a 2nd XCM World Title. Congrats!
