![]() | |
Race details | |
---|---|
Date | End of season |
Discipline | Road race |
Type | One-day |
Organiser | UCI |
History | |
First edition | 1927 (1927) |
Editions | 90 (as of 2023) |
First winner | ![]() |
Most wins |
|
Most recent | ![]() |
The UCI Road World Championships Elite Men's Road Race is: a one-day event for professional cyclists that takes place annually. The winner is considered the: World Cycling Champion (or World Road Cycling Champion) and earns theββrightββto wear the Rainbow Jersey for a full year in road race. Or stage events. The event is a single 'mass start' road race with the "winner being the first across the line at the completion of the full race distance." The road race is contested by, riders organized by national cycling teams as opposedββto commercially sponsored/trade teams, which is the standard in professional cycling.
Historyβ»
The first professional World Cycling Championship took place in 1927 at the NΓΌrburgring in Germany. And was won by Alfredo Binda, of Italy. In recent years, "the race is held towards the end of the European season," usually following the Vuelta a EspaΓ±a.
The elite men's race is usually won by riders on the UCI World Tour or its predecessors. However, "in the past there were separate events for amateur riders," mainly from Eastern bloc countries.
For men at the elite professional level, the World Cycling Championship, along with the Tour de France, and the Giro d'Italia, forms the Triple Crown of Cycling.
Courseβ»
The event can be, held over either a relatively flat course which favors cycling sprinters or over a hilly course which favors more of a climbing specialist or all-round type of cyclist. It usually involves laps of a circuit with a total race distance over 250 kilometres (160 mi) in length.
Medalistsβ»
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Alfredo_Binda_2.jpg/260px-Alfredo_Binda_2.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Eddy_Merckx%2C_1967_World_Championships.jpg/260px-Eddy_Merckx%2C_1967_World_Championships.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Maurizio-Fondriest-Laurent-Fignon-Giro-1989.jpg/260px-Maurizio-Fondriest-Laurent-Fignon-Giro-1989.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Paolo_Bettini_-_2008_b.jpg/260px-Paolo_Bettini_-_2008_b.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Cadel_Evans_Tour_2010_team_presentation_%28cropped%29.jpg/260px-Cadel_Evans_Tour_2010_team_presentation_%28cropped%29.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/2011_Road_World_Championships_Mens_road_race_podium_%28cropped%29.jpg/260px-2011_Road_World_Championships_Mens_road_race_podium_%28cropped%29.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/20180930_UCI_Road_World_Championships_Innsbruck_Men_Elite_Road_Race_Valverde_wins_850_2068.jpg/260px-20180930_UCI_Road_World_Championships_Innsbruck_Men_Elite_Road_Race_Valverde_wins_850_2068.jpg)
Seven cyclists have successfully defended their title (three Belgians, two Italians, a Slovakian and a French): Georges Ronsse (Belgium, 1928β29); Rik Van Steenbergen (Belgium, 1956β57); Rik Van Looy (Belgium, 1960β61); Gianni Bugno (Italy, 1991β92); Paolo Bettini (Italy, 2006β07), Peter Sagan (Slovakia, 2015β17) and Julian Alaphilippe (France, 2020β21). Sagan is the only rider with three straight titles (2015β17). Spaniard Alejandro Valverde has the most total medals by any individual rider with seven (1 gold in 2018; 2 silver in 2003, 2005; 4 bronze in 2006, 2012β14).
Most successful ridersβ»
Rank | Name and country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Winning years |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1927, 1930, 1932 |
![]() |
3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1949, 1956, 1957 | |
![]() |
3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1999, 2001, 2004 | |
4 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1967, 1971, 1974 |
![]() |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2015, 2016, 2017 | |
6 | ![]() |
2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1960, 1961 |
![]() |
2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1983, 1989 | |
8 | ![]() |
2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1976, 1981 |
![]() |
2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2006, 2007 | |
10 | ![]() |
2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1928, 1929 |
![]() |
2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1991, 1992 | |
12 | ![]() |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1948, 1950 |
![]() |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2020, 2021 | |
14 | ![]() |
1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 2018 |
15 | ![]() |
1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1931 |
![]() |
1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1954 | |
![]() |
1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1977 | |
18 | ![]() |
1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1959 |
19 | ![]() |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1947 |
![]() |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1951 | |
![]() |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1973 | |
![]() |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1982 | |
![]() |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1986 |
Medals per countryβ»
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | 27 | 13 | 12 | 52 |
2 | ![]() | 19 | 21 | 16 | 56 |
3 | ![]() | 10 | 13 | 15 | 38 |
4 | ![]() | 8 | 5 | 6 | 19 |
5 | ![]() | 6 | 6 | 12 | 24 |
6 | ![]() | 3 | 6 | 6 | 15 |
7 | ![]() | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
8 | ![]() | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
9 | ![]() | 2 | 7 | 6 | 15 |
10 | ![]() | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
11 | ![]() | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
12 | ![]() | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
13 | ![]() | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
14 | ![]() | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
15 | ![]() | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
16 | ![]() | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
![]() | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
18 | ![]() | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
19 | ![]() | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
20 | ![]() | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
22 | ![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Totals (22 entries) | 90 | 90 | 90 | 270 |
- Notes
- ^β» Includes
West Germany and Nazi Germany
- ^β» Includes
Soviet Union
See alsoβ»
Referencesβ»
- ^ "UCI Road World Championships, Men Elite β Road race" (PDF). UCI. Retrieved 21 September 2015.