Cycle-ball Worlds: Schnetzer and Bröll reflect on seventh title together
Patrick Schnetzer and Markus Bröll went through the cycle-ball World Championships in Ludwigsburg without a single defeat and crowned their run with an 8-1 win over Germany in the final on Sunday, 1 November. It is the pair's seventh world title together and their first since 2019. According to Cycling Austria, the Austrians had already claimed the European title earlier this year.
Schnetzer had reached the previous two world finals, in 2024 and 2025, alongside Stefan Feurstein, losing to Germany both times. When Feurstein was sidelined by injury, Bröll returned as his partner. Schnetzer said the two had achieved a great deal together over the years and got on extremely well, adding that back in December they could not have imagined a season like this.
A World Championship is a tournament of its own, Schnetzer explained, because every round starts from scratch. The crowd was behind the Germans, but he said that only gave his team extra motivation. Bröll, now 39, said the pair had understood each other instinctively since their very first tournament together, and admitted he was fighting back tears after the final.
The next indoor cycling world championships follow in 2027. They will be held in France's Haute-Savoie region as part of the UCI event that awards world titles in all cycling disciplines in one place.