Veloviews for September 16, 2022 -The Road World Championships

With the professional road cycling season mostly over, the last test of endurance for both pro, semi-pro, and amateur riders is the UCI Road World Championships. This year the event takes place in Wollongong, Australia from the 18th – 25th of September. The best way to describe this event in the most succinct way is to call it the all-star game of cycling.

The UCI Road World Championships are for men and women riders. This year over 1000 riders are expected to take part in the races. I say races because there are several events that occur over the 7 days in which the event takes place. They are as follows:

• 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
• Junior Women’s road race
• Junior Women’s time trial
• Mixed team relay

The Road World Championships was first held in 1921, but it didn’t become an international event until 1927. And women cyclists didn’t start participating until 1958. The event always takes place at the end of the European road event season, which usually occurs with the La Vuelta Espana.

This premier road cycling event is in a different part of the world every year. It features road races and individual time trials. But what differentiates these races from events like the Le Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta Espana is that they are circuit races and not stage races. That means the riders contend through a series of laps around a hilly and flat courses versus riding long distances.

Each team that wins a race category walks away with the coveted rainbow jersey. It relates to the colors in the Olympic flag. Winners of the jersey are entitled to wear it in specific events in which they participate for one year.

After that year has passed (and assuming they don’t win in the following year’s event), they can wear the rainbow designation on jersey shirt sleeves or in some diminished way for the rest of their careers. Interesting to note is that if a winner of the rainbow jersey doesn’t wear it for any events, he can receive a fine from the UCI.

Have you ever been to the Road World Championships? Or have you been to Australia to bike ride? I’d love to know. Please like, comment, and share this post. Have a good weekend everyone and enjoy some bike rides while the weather still feels like summer.