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

Events

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 (either mass start or time trial) until the next championships. It currently includes the following championships:

Elite Men's road race Elite Men's time trial Under-23 Men's road race Under-23 Men's time trial Junior Men's road race Junior Men's time trial Elite Women's road race Elite Women's time trial Under-23 Women's road race Under-23 Women's time trial Junior Women's road race Junior Women's time trial Mixed team relay

Former events: Men's amateur road race (1921–1995) Men's team time trial (1962–2018) Women's team time trial (1987–2018)

History

The first world championships took place in 1921, though the only event that was contested was the men's road race for amateurs. 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. 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. In 2020, no under-23 or junior races were contested at the Championships owing to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, under-23 riders were eligible to compete in the elite races.

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 . 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 next edition of the UCI Cycling World Championships will be held in the Haute-Savoie region of France in 2027.

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 and the ) form the Triple Crown of Cycling.

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

EditionYearLocationHost countryEvents1 1921 Copenhagen 12 1922 Liverpool 13 1923 Zürich 14 1924 Paris 15 1925 Apeldoorn 16 1926 Milan 17 1927 Nürburgring 28 1928 Budapest 29 1929 Zürich 2 10 1930 Liège 2 11 1931 Copenhagen 212 1932 Rome 2 13 1933 Montlhéry 214 1934 Leipzig 2 15 1935 Floreffe 2 16 1936 Bern 217 1937 Copenhagen 2 18 1938 Valkenburg 219 1946 Zürich 220 1947 Reims 221 1948 Valkenburg 222 1949 Copenhagen 223 1950 Moorslede 2 24 1951 Varese 225 1952 Luxembourg 226 1953 Lugano 2 27 1954 Solingen 2 28 1955 Frascati 229 1956 Copenhagen 230 1957 Waregem 231 1958 Reims 332 1959 Zandvoort 333 1960 Karl-Marx-Stadt 334 1961 Bern 335 1962 Salò di Garda 436 1963 Ronse 437 1964 Sallanches 438 1965 San Sebastián 439 1966 Nürburgring 440 1967 Heerlen 441 1968 Imola 442 1969 Zolder 443 1970 Leicester 444 1971 Mendrisio 4 45 1972 Gap 2 46 1973 Barcelona 447 1974 Montreal 448 1975 Yvoir 449 1976 Ostuni 250 1977 San Cristóbal 4 51 1978 Nürburgring 452 1979 Valkenburg 4531980Sallanches2541981Prague455 1982 Chichester 4 EditionYearLocationHost countryEvents56 1983 Altenrhein 4 57 1984 Barcelona 158 1985 Giavera del Montello 459 1986 Colorado Springs 4 60 1987 Villach 561 1988 Ronse 262 1989 Chambéry 563 1990 Utsunomiya 564 1991 Stuttgart 565 1992 Benidorm 266 1993 Oslo 567 1994 Agrigento 768 1995 Duitama 569 1996 Lugano 6 70 1997 San Sebastián 1071 1998 Valkenburg 10 72 1999 Verona 1073 2000 Plouay 1074 2001 Lisbon 1075 2002 Zolder 10 76 2003 Hamilton 10 77 2004 Verona 10 78 2005 Madrid 679 2006 Salzburg 680 2007 Stuttgart 6 81 2008 Varese 682 2009 Mendrisio 683 2010 Geelong 684 2011 Copenhagen 1085 2012 Valkenburg 1286 2013 Florence 12 87 2014 Ponferrada 12 88 2015 Richmond 12 89 2016 Doha 12 90 2017 Bergen 1291 2018 Innsbruck 1292 2019 Harrogate 1193 2020 Imola 494 2021 Flanders 1195 2022 Wollongong 1196 2023 Glasgow 1197 2024 Zurich 1198 2025 Kigali 1399 2026 Montreal 13100 2027 Haute-Savoie 13101 2028 Abu Dhabi 13102 2029 Aarhus/Copenhagen 13103 2030 Brussels 131042031Trentino131052032Pune 131062033Not yet announced131072034Groningen/Drenthe13

Hosts Updated after 2026 UCI Road World Championships.

Times Nations14 11 10 9 8 - 7 6 5 3 - 2 - - 1 - - - - - - - -

All medals

Updated after the 2026 UCI Road World Championships.

The medal table includes only medals won in senior events. Mixed-nationality team events, including the Team Time Trial held from 2012 to 2018, are excluded.

Countries

Belgium at the UCI Road World Championships Denmark at the UCI Road World Championships Germany at the UCI Road World Championships Italy at the UCI Road World Championships Lithuania at the UCI Road World Championships Netherlands at the UCI Road World Championships New Zealand at the UCI Road World Championships Spain at the UCI Road World Championships United States at the UCI Road World Championships

See also UCI World Championships European Road Championships Triple Crown of Cycling

Notes

References

Sources