Seven editions. Seven different champions. Since the GCL Super Cup was first contested in Prague in 2018, the trophy has never been won by the same team twice. In Verona, for the first time, there is no defending champion at all: the 2025 winners, Rome Gladiators, finished the season 17th and miss out.
The door is open. Over four days, from Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 November, the GCL Super Cup comes to Verona for the first time, after Prague and Riyadh. Sixteen teams will try to get through it, and three of them have done it before.
Riesenbeck International: the benchmark
Riesenbeck arrive as 2026 GCL Champions, seeded first and straight through to Friday's Semi-Final. In 2023 they became the only team to win the Championship and the GCL Super Cup in the same year, and they have reached every final since: 1st in 2023, 3rd in 2024, 6th in 2025. Christian Kukuk and Philipp Weishaupt, whose decisive clear sealed the 2023 final, both ride again. A second title would also mean a second season double.
Shanghai Swans: the comeback route
Champions in 2019, third in 2022 and runners-up in 2024, Shanghai Swans have one of the strongest records in the field. A difficult season leaves them 14th, so they have to start in Thursday's Quarter Final. History is on their side. Three of the seven champions came through the Quarter Final, and last year Rome Gladiators won the title from the same 14th-place start. Daniel Deusser, part of Shanghai's 2019 winning team, is back with them.
Madrid in Motion: the originals
Madrid in Motion were the first Super Cup champions, and they won it from the Quarter Final. They reached five finals in a row from 2018 to 2023, before going out in the Quarter Final in 2024 and the Semi-Final in 2025. After a 2026 season with four podiums, including victory at the Miami Beach opener, they start Thursday ranked sixth. Maikel van der Vleuten, part of that 2018 winning team, is still in the line-up, eight years on and back where it started.
Riders chasing history
Teams have never won twice, but riders have. Peder Fredricson has two titles with two different teams: Shanghai Swans in 2019 and Rome Gladiators in 2025. In Verona he rides for Monaco Aces alongside Yuri Mansur, another of last year's champions, going for a record third title from the Quarter Final. Their 2025 teammate Emanuele Gaudiano is here too, riding for Riyadh Knights and competing at home in Italy.
In all, seven Super Cup-winning riders line up in the team competition in Verona.
When the trophy is lifted on Sunday 22 November, one of two things will happen. Either a first-time champion adds an eighth name to the trophy, or Riesenbeck, Shanghai or Madrid do something no team has done before.
Be there when history is made
The GCL Super Cup comes to Verona for the first time, from Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 November. Watch the Quarter Final, Semi-Final and Final live, and see which team lifts the trophy.