The UCI world championships are annual competitions promoted by the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues raci ...

(UCI) to determine

world champion 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, ...

cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winners wear a white jersey with coloured bands around the chest for the following year. The similarity to the colours of a rainbow gives them the colloquial name of " the rainbow jersey." The first three individuals or teams in each championship win gold, silver and bronze medals. Former world champions are allowed to wear a trim to their collar and sleeves in the same pattern as the rainbow jersey. Championships are held for men and for women in road cycling,

track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it ...

, cyclo-cross,

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the earl ...

, and indoor cycling. There are also championships for disabled competitors.

History

The first recognised world championships were promoted by the International Cycling Association, a body formed in November 1892 by cycling bodies from Britain, Canada, France, Holland, Italy, Germany and Belgium. The ICA was formed at the initiative of the

National Cyclists' Union The National Cyclists' Union (NCU) was an association established in the Guildhall Tavern, London, on 16 February 1878 as the Bicycle Union. Its purpose was to defend cyclists and to organise and regulate bicycle racing in Great Britain. It merged ...

in Britain. Until then its own championships, open to riders from any country, were considered the unofficial championships of the world. It was because the sport needed world championships independent of any national body that Henry Sturmey of the magazine ''The Cyclist'' and later founder of the Sturmey-Archer gear company proposed an International Cyclists Association in 1892. The first recognised world championship was held in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

in 1893, with track races at one mile, 10 kilometres, and a 100 km race in which riders were paced by tandems of up to six riders.The Bicycle, 14 August 1946, p13 An American,

Arthur Augustus Zimmerman Arthur Augustus Zimmerman (June 11, 1869 – October 22, 1936) was one of the world's greatest cycling sprint riders and winner of the first world championship in 1893. His prizes as an amateur were a consideration in the establishment of the Int ...

, won the mile and 10 km races and a South African, Mentjes, won the 100 km. The 1894 championship in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

were, like Chicago, for amateurs. Lehr, a German, won the mile, Jaap Eden of Holland won the 10 km and Henie of Norway the 100 km. Professionals raced from 1895, in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, when Jimmy Michael of Britain won the 100 km. The definition of amateurs and professionals was important for the International Cycling Association, to which the National Cyclists Union would allow only national bodies which shared its own strict definition of

amateurism An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

. That definition excluded the main French body, the Union Vélocipèdique Française, which had been allowed to observe the founding meeting but not to vote. French discontent at that exclusion, and that the British insisted on separate votes for England, Wales, Ireland and its colonies, led France and other countries to set up a rival body before the 1900 races. The Union Cycliste Internationale became the world governing body and the International Cycling Association vanished.

Elite World Championships

Current championships

;Events are organized in the following disciplines: #

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships 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 ...

UCI Track Cycling World Championships The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI ...

# UCI Mountain Bike World Championships # UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships # UCI Urban Cycling World Championships # UCI Trials World Championships # UCI Cycling Esports World Championships #

UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships The UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships are the world championships for cyclo-cross organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Starting in 2020, six events are organized each year – men's elite, women's elite, men's under 23, wome ...

UCI Gravel World Championships The UCI Gravel World Championships are the world championship events for gravel cycling in the disciplines of cross country. They are organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the governing body of world cycling. The discipline cov ...

UCI BMX World Championships UCI BMX World Championships are the world championships for BMX racing (bicycle motocross) held under the regulations of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the sport's international governing body. The UCI BMX World Championships are held an ...

UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships The UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the disciplines of artistic cycling and a tournament of cycle ball. The World Championships are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The UCI awards ...

# UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships # UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships

Defunct championships

UCI B World Championships The UCI B World Championships were the world championship for Level B bicycle road racing and bicycle time trials organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) for nations with developing competitive cycling. The UCI B World Championships in ...

Junior World Championships

Road cycling

*1975–2004: part of

*2005–2009: part of

UCI Juniors World Championships The UCI Juniors World Championships were a set of UCI World Championships events for junior bicycle cyclists in 2005 to 2009. In 2010 it was divided into: *The Junior men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Champi ...

*2010: 2010 UCI Juniors Road World Championships *2011–current: part of

Track cycling

*2005–2009: part of

*2010–current:

UCI Juniors Track World Championships The UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships (named the UCI Juniors Track World Championships before 2016) are a set of world championship events for junior riders, for various disciplines and distances in track cycling and are regulated by t ...

References

External links

Union Cycliste Internationale
{{Main world championships

World Championships 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, ...

UCI