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 the right 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 ...

'' 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 team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...

s as opposed to commercially sponsored or ''trade teams'', which is the standard in professional cycling.

History

The first professional World Cycling Championship took place in 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 ...

in Germany and was won by

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 ...

, of Italy. In recent years, the race is held towards the end of the European season, usually following the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

. The elite men's race is usually won by riders on the

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ranking system based upon perfor ...

or its predecessors. However, in the past there were separate events for amateur riders, mainly from

Eastern bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

countries. For men at the elite professional level, the World Cycling Championship, along with the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, and the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

, forms the Triple Crown of Cycling.

Course

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 in length.

Medalists

20180930 UCI Road World Championships Innsbruck Men Elite Road Race Valverde wins 850 2068

Seven cyclists have successfully defended their title (three Belgians, two Italians, a Slovakian and a French): Georges Ronsse (Belgium, 1928–29);

Rik Van Steenbergen Hendrik Van Steenbergen (9 September 1924 – 15 May 2003) was a Belgium, Belgian racing cyclist, considered to be one of the best among the great number of successful Belgian cyclists. Early life Van Steenbergen was born in Arendonk into ...

(Belgium, 1956–57); Rik Van Looy (Belgium, 1960–61);

Gianni Bugno Gianni Bugno (; born 14 February 1964) is a retired Italy, Italian professional road racing cyclist. Biography Bugno was a versatile rider, able to do well in different types of races. He won numerous stages in the Tour de France, and the Mi ...

(Italy, 1991–92);

Paolo Bettini Paolo Bettini (born 1 April 1974) is an Italian former champion road racing cyclist, and the former coach of the Italian national cycling team. Considered the best classic cycle races, classics specialist of his generation, and probably one of th ...

(Italy, 2006–07), Peter Sagan (Slovakia, 2015–17) and Julian Alaphilippe (France, 2020–21). Sagan is the only rider with three straight titles (2015–17). Spaniard

Alejandro Valverde Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish cyclist, who competed as a professional in road bicycle racing from 2002 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2022, and now competes in gravel cycling for the Movistar Team Gravel Squad. During ...

has the most total medals by any individual rider with seven (1 gold in 2018; 2 silver in 2003, 2005; 4 bronze in 2006, 2012–14).

Most successful riders

Medals per country

;Notes * *

References