The UCI Road World Championships Elite Women'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 the right to wear the ''
Rainbow Jersey
The rainbow jersey is the distinctive jersey worn by the reigning world champion in a cycling discipline, since 1927. The jersey is predominantly white with five horizontal bands in the UCI colours around the chest. From the bottom up the c ...
'' 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
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...
as opposed to commercially sponsored or ''trade teams'', which is the standard in professional cycling.
History
The UCI Road World Championships for women made its debut in
Reims
Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne.
Founded by ...
, France in
1958. Due to the
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
, the Road World Championships were not held in 1984, 1988 and 1992.
Until about 1990, the race varied in length from a low of 46.6 km in 1966 to around 72 km (30 to 50 miles). From 1991, the race length began to gradually increase, first to 79 km (
Stuttgart, Germany
Stuttgart (; Swabian German, Swabian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fe ...
), and then to over 100 km in 1996 (
Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
, Switzerland). Since 2010, the course has varied in length between and .
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
A climbing specialist or climber, also known as a grimpeur, is a road bicycle racer who can ride especially well on highly inclined roads, such as those found among hills or mountains.
Role of climber in a race
In a sustained climb, the average ...
or
all-round type of cyclist. It usually involves laps of a circuit, albeit with less laps than the Elite Men's race.
Historically, European nations have dominated this event.
Results
Most successful riders
''Updated after the
2022 UCI Road World Championships''
Medalists per nation
''Updated after the
2022 UCI Road World Championships''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uci Road World Championships - Women's road race
Women's road race
Women's road bicycle races
Lists of UCI Road World Championships medalists