Sports 2026

Six sports, and the people and teams I follow in them: Grand Tours, world championships, every Grand Prix, the Bledisloe, and whatever Australia, New Zealand, WA and the Scorchers are playing.

Season at a glance

October is the heaviest month: a Monument, two world championships, three Grands Prix, both Bledisloe Tests, and the Sheffield Shield and WBBL both starting.

Events by sport and month

Scroll the table sideways for the rest of the year.

What's next

• 26 Jul Tour de France, stage 21 cycling

  ParisOver Montmartre and onto the Champs-Élysées.

• 26 Jul Hungarian Grand Prix f1

  HungaroringThe last race before the factories close for August.

• 21 – 23 Aug Dutch Grand Prix f1

  ZandvoortBack from the break, and Zandvoort's first sprint.

• 22 Aug – 13 Sep Vuelta a España cycling

  Monaco to GranadaThree weeks, starting with a time trial around the harbour.

• 30 Aug TCS Sydney Marathon marathon

  SydneyThe newest of the seven majors, and the only one in Australia.

• 20 – 27 Sep UCI Road World Championships cycling

  MontréalRainbow jerseys, in Canada.

• 10 Oct IRONMAN World Championship triathlon

  KonaBoth fields on one day again, ending the Kona–Nice split.

• 10 – 11 Oct UCI Gravel World Championships cycling

  Nannup, Western AustraliaA world championship three hours from Perth.

• 10 Oct Bledisloe Cup, first Test rugby

  Eden Park, AucklandThe first of two for the Cup.

• 9 – 13 Dec First Test v New Zealand cricket

  PerthA Wednesday start at Optus Stadium, opening a four-Test series.

Road cycling

Grand Tours, the last Monument, and the world championships. The Gravel Worlds are in Nannup in October.

Watching

• AUS Jai Hindley
• AUS Ben O'Connor
• AUS Sarah Gigante
• AUS Jay Vine
• AUS Luke Plapp
• AUS Michael Matthews
• AUS Amanda Spratt
• AUS Ruby Roseman-Gannon
• NZL Ally Wollaston
• NZL Niamh Fisher-Black

• 4 – 26 Jul Tour de France

  Barcelona to ParisThree weeks, ending over Montmartre and onto the Champs-Élysées.

  • AUS Hindley
  • AUS O'Connor
  • AUS Vine
  • AUS Matthews
• 1 – 9 Aug Tour de France Femmes

  Lausanne to NiceNine stages, a Swiss Grand Départ, and a finish on the Mediterranean.

  • AUS Gigante
  • AUS Spratt
  • AUS Roseman-Gannon
  • NZL Wollaston
  • NZL Fisher-Black
• 22 Aug – 13 Sep Vuelta a España

  Monaco to GranadaThe last Grand Tour of the year, and the first Vuelta to start in Monaco. Three weeks and 3,275km, through France and Andorra before it reaches Spain on stage five.

  • AUS Hindley
  • AUS O'Connor
  • AUS Vine
  • AUS Plapp
• 20 – 27 Sep UCI Road World Championships

  Montréal, CanadaA week of rainbow jerseys — time trials, then the road races on the closing weekend.

  • AUS Plapp
  • AUS Matthews
  • AUS Roseman-Gannon
  • NZL Wollaston
  • NZL Fisher-Black
• 10 Oct Il Lombardia

  Lombardy, ItalyThe race of the falling leaves, the fifth Monument, and the end of the road season.

  • AUS Hindley
  • AUS O'Connor
• 10 – 11 Oct UCI Gravel World Championships

  Nannup, Western AustraliaThe first gravel Worlds outside Europe, 40 minutes from Busselton, on courses that are at least 80% gravel. A nine-day festival of cycling in the South West leads into it.

Triathlon

World championships, plus Busselton in December. World Triathlon settles its short-course championships at Pontevedra and IRONMAN puts both pro fields back on Kona. The T100 tour has run women-only and men-only rounds all year; they meet again in Doha in December.

Watching

• NOR Kristian Blummenfelt
• NOR Gustav Iden
• FRA Sam Laidlow
• CAN Lionel Sanders
• NZL Hayden Wilde
• NZL Kyle Smith
• AUS Matt Hauser
• AUS Jake Birtwhistle
• AUS Luke Willian
• AUS Natalie Van Coevorden

• 12 – 13 Sep IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship

  Nice, FranceTwo days, one field each. Nice takes over the 70.3 title race through 2028.

  • FRA Laidlow
  • CAN Sanders
  • NZL Wilde
• 23 – 27 Sep World Triathlon Championship Finals

  Pontevedra, SpainElite titles decided on the Sunday, with the U23, junior, para and age-group crowns across the week.

  • AUS Hauser
  • AUS Birtwhistle
  • AUS Willian
  • AUS Van Coevorden
  • NZL Wilde
• 10 Oct IRONMAN World Championship

  Kailua-Kona, Hawai'iMen and women on the same day again, ending the Kona–Nice split.

  • NOR Blummenfelt
  • NOR Iden
  • FRA Laidlow
  • CAN Sanders
  • NZL Smith
• 6 Dec IRONMAN Western Australia

  Busselton, WAFull and half distance on the same day, on some of the flattest courses IRONMAN runs, starting off the jetty.

• 11 – 12 Dec T100 World Championship Final

  Doha, QatarBoth fields together, and the tour titles settled on best-three results plus this one.

  • NZL Wilde
  • AUS Birtwhistle
  • NOR Blummenfelt

Marathon majors

Seven majors now that Sydney has joined, and the season runs through to New York in November. Cape Town stays provisional until it passes a second evaluation, so there's no eighth this year.

• 30 Aug TCS Sydney Marathon

  Sydney, AustraliaThe only major in Australia, and already sold out: over the Harbour Bridge to the Opera House, with a 5km on the Saturday.

• 27 Sep BMW Berlin Marathon

  Berlin, GermanyThe world-record course, entered by ballot.

• 11 Oct Bank of America Chicago Marathon

  Chicago, USALocked to the second Sunday in October.

• 1 Nov TCS New York City Marathon

  New York City, USAThe biggest marathon in the world, five boroughs on a Sunday in November.

Formula 1

The rules reset this year — new power units, active aero, fully sustainable fuel, Audi and Cadillac on the grid. The back half of the calendar starts with Hungary.

Watching

• AUS Oscar Piastri, McLaren
• NZL Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

• 24 – 26 Jul R11 · Hungarian Grand Prix

  Hungaroring, HungarySeventy laps on Sunday, then four weeks off.

• 21 – 23 Aug R12 · Dutch Grand Prix

  Zandvoort, NetherlandsZandvoort gets a sprint.

• 4 – 6 Sep R13 · Italian Grand Prix

  Monza, ItalyThe fastest circuit on the calendar, and the loudest Ferrari crowd.

• 11 – 13 Sep R14 · Spanish Grand Prix

  MADRING, MadridNew this year: 5.4km and 22 corners around IFEMA, signed through 2035. Spain now gets two races.

• 24 – 26 Sep R15 · Azerbaijan Grand Prix

  Baku, AzerbaijanA Thursday-to-Saturday weekend: the race moves off Sunday to clear Azerbaijan's Remembrance Day.

• 9 – 11 Oct R16 · Singapore Grand Prix

  Marina Bay, SingaporeThe other new sprint, under lights.

• 23 – 25 Oct R17 · United States Grand Prix

  Circuit of the Americas, AustinFirst of the three North American rounds.

• 30 Oct – 1 Nov R18 · Mexico City Grand Prix

  Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, MexicoThin air, long straight, and the stadium section.

• 6 – 8 Nov R19 · São Paulo Grand Prix

  Interlagos, BrazilA normal weekend for once — Interlagos loses its sprint this year.

• 19 – 21 Nov R20 · Las Vegas Grand Prix

  Las Vegas Strip Circuit, USASaturday night down the Strip.

• 27 – 29 Nov R21 · Qatar Grand Prix

  Lusail, QatarPenultimate round, and the last chance to settle the title early.

• 4 – 6 Dec R22 · Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

  Yas Marina, UAEThe finale.

Rugby

The All Blacks and the Wallabies, and nobody else. The Rugby Championship doesn't run this year; it makes way for New Zealand's tour of South Africa. That leaves the Bledisloe Cup on its own in October, and the new Nations Championship takes both teams north in November.

Watching

• NZL All Blacks
• AUS Wallabies

• 8 – 15 Aug v Japan — 2 Tests

  Japan, then TownsvilleLes Kiss's first Tests in charge.

  • AUS Wallabies
• 22 Aug – Sep Tour of South Africa — 4 Tests

  Johannesburg, Cape Town, and a neutral venueThe first full tour of South Africa in thirty years: eight matches, four of them Tests, opening at Ellis Park. The fourth Test's venue is still to be announced.

  • NZL All Blacks
• 29 Aug – 5 Sep v Argentina — 2 Tests

  ArgentinaBoth away, venues still to be confirmed.

  • AUS Wallabies
• 27 Sep v South Africa

  AustraliaA one-off at home against the Springboks, venue to be confirmed.

  • AUS Wallabies
• 10 Oct Bledisloe Cup, first Test

  Eden Park, AucklandTwo Tests for the Cup this year rather than three, and the first is at the ground Australia haven't won at since 1986.

  • NZL All Blacks
  • AUS Wallabies
• 17 Oct Bledisloe Cup, second Test

  Accor Stadium, SydneyThe return leg a week later, and the whole series settled in a fortnight.

  • AUS Wallabies
  • NZL All Blacks
• 8 – 22 Nov Northern series — Scotland, Wales, England

  Edinburgh, Cardiff, TwickenhamThree Sundays, three away Tests, all of them Nations Championship points.

  • NZL All Blacks
• 8 – 21 Nov Northern series — England, Scotland, Wales

  Twickenham, Edinburgh, CardiffThe same three grounds in the other order.

  • AUS Wallabies
• 27 – 29 Nov Nations Championship finals

  Allianz Stadium, TwickenhamAll twelve teams, six play-offs, one weekend, and the first Nations Championship title.

  • NZL All Blacks
  • AUS Wallabies

Cricket

Australia and New Zealand, plus the two local sides: Western Australia and the Scorchers. Australia barely stop from August; New Zealand host India for twelve matches and then fly to Perth in December.

Australia

• 13 – 26 Aug v Bangladesh — 2 Tests

  Darwin and MackayBangladesh's first tour here in 23 years, played up north in the dry season.

  • Australia
• 15 – 30 Sep Zimbabwe and South Africa — 6 ODIs

  Harare, then Durban, Johannesburg and PotchefstroomThree in Harare, then straight on to South Africa.

  • Australia
• 9 – 31 Oct v South Africa — 3 Tests

  Durban, Gqeberha, Cape TownThe first Test tour of South Africa since 2018, finishing at Newlands.

  • Australia
• 9 – 22 Oct Women v Bangladesh — 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is

  Brisbane and North SydneyThe ODIs at the Gabba, the T20Is at North Sydney Oval.

  • Australia women
• 13 Nov – 2 Dec v England — 3 ODIs, 5 T20Is

  Perth, then the east coastEight white-ball matches, opening in Perth.

  • Australia
• 9 Dec – 8 Jan v New Zealand — 4 Tests

  Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, SydneyThe first four-Test trans-Tasman series, and New Zealand's first Test tour here since 2019-20. Perth starts on a Wednesday; Boxing Day is the third.

  • Australia
  • New Zealand

New Zealand

• 22 Oct – 15 Nov v India — 5 T20Is, 5 ODIs

  Eight venues, top to bottomThe white-ball half of a twelve-match tour, the biggest NZC has hosted.

  • New Zealand
• 19 Nov – 1 Dec v India — 2 Tests

  Wellington and ChristchurchThe Basin Reserve, then Hagley Oval.

  • New Zealand
• 9 Dec – 8 Jan v Australia — 4 Tests

  AustraliaEight days after India leave, the Test side lands in Perth.

  • New Zealand
  • Australia
• 10 – 23 Dec White Ferns v Bangladesh — 3 T20Is, 3 ODIs

  Nelson, Wellington, Mount MaunganuiTheir only home tour of the summer.

  • New Zealand women

Western Australia and the Scorchers

• 18 Sep One-Day Cup opens

  WACA GroundWA v South Australia under lights, and Beau Casson's first match as coach.

  • Western Australia
• 8 – 11 Oct Sheffield Shield opens

  WACA GroundWA v Queensland, with Aaron Hardie captaining.

  • Western Australia
• 31 Oct – 5 Dec Scorchers in WBBL|12

  WACA Ground and awayTen games in five weeks, opening at home on Halloween. All four home games are at the redeveloped WACA, none at Optus.

  • Perth Scorchers women
• 23 – 26 Nov WA v Tasmania

  Optus StadiumThe first Shield match at Optus since 2018, put on as a lead-in to the Perth Test.

  • Western Australia
• 12 Dec BBL|16 opens — Renegades v Scorchers

  Chennai, IndiaThe first Big Bash match played outside Australia.

  • Perth Scorchers
• 20, 26 and 30 Dec Scorchers at home

  Optus StadiumThe Hurricanes, then the Stars on Boxing Day, then the Thunder.

  • Perth Scorchers