UCI Road World Championships

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 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

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

|}

Hosts

:Updated after 2025 UCI Road World Championships.

All medals

:Updated after 2024 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.

Countries

• BEL Belgium at the UCI Road World Championships
• DEN Denmark at the UCI Road World Championships
• GER Germany at the UCI Road World Championships
• ITA Italy at the UCI Road World Championships
• LTU Lithuania at the UCI Road World Championships
• NED Netherlands at the UCI Road World Championships
• NZL New Zealand at the UCI Road World Championships
• ESP Spain at the UCI Road World Championships
• USA United States at the UCI Road World Championships

Notes

References

References

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