UCI Road World Championships

The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and as of 2019, a mixed team relay.

UCI Road World Championships
StatusActive
GenreRoad bicycle racing
Date(s)August–September
FrequencyAnnually
Location(s)Various
Inaugurated1921
Previous event2023
Next event2024
Organised byUCI
2024 UCI Road World Championships

Events

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Outfit of Jean-Pierre Monseré as world champion (1970), consisting of victory ribbon, cap, medal and rainbow jersey (collection KOERS. Museum of Cycle Racing)

All the world championship events are ridden by national teams, not trade teams such as in most other major races. The winner of each category is entitled to wear the rainbow jersey in races of that category[1] (either mass start or time trial) until the next championships. It currently includes the following championships:

Former events:

History

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The first world championships took place in 1921, though the only event that was contested was the men's road race for amateurs.[2] The first professional world championship took place in July 1927 at the Nürburgring in Germany where Italian Alfredo Binda won the professional men's race and Belgian Jean Aerts won the men's amateur race. The women's road race was introduced in 1958.[1] A men's team time trial, contested by national teams, was introduced in 1962. Beginning in 1972, the team time trial was discontinued in Olympic years only. Individual time trials in all categories were added in 1994, which was also the last year for the original incarnation of the men's team time trial. In 2012, the men's team time trial was reinstated, and a women's team time trial added to the program; both were contested by trade teams. In 2019, the team time trial events for men and women were replaced by a mixed relay team time trial.[3]

Until 1995, there were separate races for male professional and amateur riders. In 1996, the amateur category was replaced with a category for men under-23 years old, with the professional category becoming an open (later elite) category.

Since 1995 until 2022, the event has been held towards the end of the European season in late September, usually following the Vuelta a España. Before that, the event had always been a summer race, held in late August or the first week of September (except for 1970, when it was a mid-season summer event). An exception to this was in 2023, when it was held in August as part of a combined multi-disciplinary UCI Cycling World Championships, intended to be held every four years.

The world championships are located in a different city or region every year. The event can be held over a relatively flat course which, in the case of the road race, favors cycling sprinters or a hilly course which favors a climbing specialist or all-rounder. In each case, the latter part of course is usually held on a circuit, of which the riders complete multiple laps.

The world championship road race and two of the three Grand Tours (namely the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France) form the Triple Crown of Cycling.

Editions

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Note: Not held from 1939 to 1945 because of World War II.

Edition Year Location Host Country Events
1 1921 Copenhagen   Denmark 1
2 1922 Liverpool   Great Britain 1
3 1923 Zürich   Switzerland 1
4 1924 Paris   France 1
5 1925 Apeldoorn   Netherlands 1
6 1926 Milan   Italy 1
7 1927 Nürburgring   Germany 2
8 1928 Budapest   Hungary 2
9 1929 Zürich   Switzerland 2
10 1930 Liège   Belgium 2
11 1931 Copenhagen   Denmark 2
12 1932 Rome   Italy 2
13 1933 Montlhéry   France 2
14 1934 Leipzig   Germany 2
15 1935 Floreffe   Belgium 2
16 1936 Bern   Switzerland 2
17 1937 Copenhagen   Denmark 2
18 1938 Valkenburg   Netherlands 2
19 1946 Zürich   Switzerland 2
20 1947 Reims   France 2
21 1948 Valkenburg   Netherlands 2
22 1949 Copenhagen   Denmark 2
23 1950 Moorslede   Belgium 2
24 1951 Varese   Italy 2
25 1952 Luxembourg   Luxembourg 2
26 1953 Lugano   Switzerland 2
27 1954 Solingen   West Germany 2
28 1955 Frascati   Italy 2
29 1956 Copenhagen   Denmark 2
30 1957 Waregem   Belgium 2
31 1958 Reims   France 3
32 1959 Zandvoort   Netherlands 3
33 1960 Karl-Marx-Stadt   East Germany 3
34 1961 Bern   Switzerland 3
35 1962 Salò di Garda   Italy 4
36 1963 Ronse   Belgium 4
37 1964 Sallanches   France 4
38 1965 San Sebastián   Spain 4
39 1966 Nürburgring   West Germany 4
40 1967 Heerlen   Netherlands 4
41 1968 Imola   Italy 4
42 1969 Zolder   Belgium 4
43 1970 Leicester   Great Britain 4
44 1971 Mendrisio   Switzerland 4
45 1972 Gap   France 2
46 1973 Barcelona   Spain 4
47 1974 Montreal   Canada 4
48 1975 Yvoir   Belgium 4
49 1976 Ostuni   Italy 2
50 1977 San Cristóbal   Venezuela 4
51 1978 Nürburgring   West Germany 4
52 1979 Valkenburg   Netherlands 4
Edition Year Location Host Country Events
53 1980 Sallanches   France 2
54 1981 Prague   Czechoslovakia 4
55 1982 Chichester   Great Britain 4
56 1983 Altenrhein   Switzerland 4
57 1984 Barcelona   Spain 1
58 1985 Giavera del Montello   Italy 4
59 1986 Colorado Springs   United States 4
60 1987 Villach   Austria 5
61 1988 Ronse   Belgium 2
62 1989 Chambéry   France 5
63 1990 Utsunomiya   Japan 5
64 1991 Stuttgart   Germany 5
65 1992 Benidorm   Spain 2
66 1993 Oslo   Norway 5
67 1994 Agrigento   Italy 7
68 1995 Duitama   Colombia 5
69 1996 Lugano   Switzerland 6
70 1997 San Sebastián   Spain 10
71 1998 Valkenburg   Netherlands 10
72 1999 Verona   Italy 10
73 2000 Plouay   France 10
74 2001 Lisbon   Portugal 10
75 2002 Zolder   Belgium 10
76 2003 Hamilton   Canada 10
77 2004 Verona   Italy 10
78 2005 Madrid   Spain 6
79 2006 Salzburg   Austria 6
80 2007 Stuttgart   Germany 6
81 2008 Varese   Italy 6
82 2009 Mendrisio   Switzerland 6
83 2010 Geelong   Australia 6
84 2011 Copenhagen   Denmark 10
85 2012 Valkenburg   Netherlands 12
86 2013 Florence   Italy 12
87 2014 Ponferrada   Spain 12
88 2015 Richmond   United States 12
89 2016 Doha   Qatar 12
90 2017 Bergen   Norway 12
91 2018 Innsbruck   Austria 12
92 2019 Harrogate   Great Britain 11
93 2020 Imola [a]   Italy 4
94 2021 Flanders   Belgium 11
95 2022 Wollongong   Australia 11[b]
96 2023 Glasgow [c]   Great Britain 11[d]
97 2024 Zurich [e]   Switzerland 11[f]
98 2025 Kigali   Rwanda 13
99 2026 Montreal   Canada 13
100 2027 Haute-Savoie [g]   France 13
101 2028 Abu Dhabi   United Arab Emirates 13
102 2029 Copenhagen   Denmark 13
103 2030 Brussels   Belgium 13

Hosts

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Updated after 2024 UCI Road World Championships.
Times Nations
14   Italy
11   Switzerland
10   Belgium
9   France
8   Germany -   Netherlands
7   Spain
6   Denmark
5   Great Britain
3   Austria
2   Australia -   Canada -   Norway -   United States
1   Colombia -   Czechoslovakia -   Hungary -   Japan -   Luxembourg -   Portugal -   Qatar -   Venezuela

All medals

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Updated after 2023 UCI Road World Championships.

Medal table includes only medals achieved in senior events. Mixed nation team events such as the Team Time Trial from 2012 to 2018 are excluded.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Italy544944147
2  Belgium413331105
3  Netherlands393428101
4  France34323096
5  Switzerland17242162
6  United States15141342
7  Germany14172152
8  Great Britain13111337
9  Soviet Union12161644
10  East Germany102416
11  Spain9131638
12  Sweden95721
13  Denmark7111129
14  Poland77418
15  Australia613827
16  West Germany44513
17  Russia44412
18  Lithuania33511
19  Norway3249
20  Slovakia3104
21  Colombia2125
22  Belarus2013
23  Luxembourg1348
24  New Zealand1225
25  Ukraine1214
26  Ireland1135
27  Latvia1102
28  Portugal1001
29  Canada0336
30  Czechoslovakia0224
31  Austria0134
32  Slovenia0123
33  Hungary0112
34  Brazil0101
35  Kazakhstan0022
36  Czech Republic0011
  Finland0011
  Uruguay0011
Totals (38 entries)314314314942

Countries

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Originally planned to be held in the Aigle and Martigny area in Switzerland, however this was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
  2. ^ 13 titles were given out in the course of the 11 events, as women in the U23 age category participated in the elite events
  3. ^ Held in conjunction with the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships
  4. ^ 13 titles were given out in the course of the 11 events, as women in the U23 age category participated in the elite events
  5. ^ Held alongside the 2024 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships
  6. ^ 13 titles were given out in the course of the 11 events, as women in the U23 age category participated in the elite events
  7. ^ To be held in conjunction with the 2027 UCI Cycling World Championships

References

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  1. ^ a b Mikkelsen, Sebastian (7 August 2023). "Cycling: Full list of men's and women's road race world champions". Olympics.com. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Road Cycling: World Championships: Men: Road Race for Amateurs". Sports 123. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  3. ^ Cotton, Jim (2021-09-21). "Mixed relay team time trial explainer: What is it, how does it work, why should we care?". Velo. Retrieved 2023-07-31.