The UCI Road World Championships are the annual

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

s 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 The rainbow jersey is the distinctive cycling jersey, jersey worn by the reigning World Cycling Championship, world champion in a cycling discipline, since 1927. The jersey is predominantly white with five horizontal bands in the Union Cycli ...

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 The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

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where Italian

Alfredo Binda Alfredo Binda (11 August 1902 – 19 July 1986) was an Italian road bicycle racing, road cyclist of the 1920s and 1930s. He was the first to win five editions of the Giro d'Italia, and a three-time UCI Road World Championships – Men's road rac ...

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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

; 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

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, 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 and the ) form the Triple Crown of Cycling.

Editions

Note: Not held from 1939 to 1945 because of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Hosts

:''Updated after

2024 UCI Road World Championships The 2024 UCI Road World Championships was the 97th edition of the UCI Road World Championships, the annual world championships for road bicycle racing. It was held between 22 and 29 September 2024 in Zürich, Switzerland, alongside the 2024 UCI ...

.''

All medals

:''Updated after

.'' 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

* 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

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uci Road World Championships Road World Championships Road bicycle races Recurring sporting events established in 1921