UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race
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Race details | |
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Date | End of season |
Discipline | Road race |
Type | One-day |
Organiser | UCI |
History | |
First edition | 1927 |
Editions | 88 (as of 2021) |
First winner | ![]() |
Most wins |
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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 the right to 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 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 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 España. 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.
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.
Medalists[]
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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/20180930_UCI_Road_World_Championships_Innsbruck_Men_Elite_Road_Race_Valverde_wins_850_2068.jpg/220px-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, 1928–29); Rik Van Steenbergen (Belgium, 1956–57); Rik Van Looy (Belgium, 1960–61); Gianni Bugno (Italy, 1991–92); Paolo Bettini (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 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).
Championships | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
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1927 Nürburgring |
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1928 Budapest |
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1929 Zürich |
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1930 Liège |
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1931 Copenhagen |
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1932 Rome |
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1933 Montlhéry |
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1934 Leipzig |
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1935 Floreffe |
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1936 Bern |
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1937 Copenhagen |
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1938 Valkenburg |
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1946 Zürich |
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1947 Reims |
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1948 Valkenburg |
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1949 Copenhagen |
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1950 Moorslede |
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1951 Varese |
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1952 Luxembourg |
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1953 Lugano |
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1954 Solingen |
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1955 Frascati |
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1956 Copenhagen |
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1957 Waregem |
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1958 Reims |
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1959 Zandvoort |
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1960 Karl-Marx-Stadt |
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1961 Bern |
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1962 Salò di Garda |
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1963 Ronse |
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1964 Sallanches |
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1965 San Sebastián |
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1966 Nürburgring |
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1967 Heerlen |
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1968 Imola |
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1969 Zolder |
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1970 Leicester |
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1971 Mendrisio |
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1972 Gap |
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1973 Barcelona |
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1974 Montreal |
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1975 Yvoir |
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1976 Ostuni |
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1977 San Cristóbal |
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1978 Nürburgring |
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1979 Valkenburg |
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1980 Sallanches |
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1981 Prague |
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1982 Goodwood |
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1983 Altenrhein |
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1984 Barcelona |
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1985 Giavera del Montello |
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1986 Colorado Springs |
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1987 Villach |
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1988 Ronse |
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1989 Chambéry |
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1990 Utsunomiya |
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1991 Stuttgart |
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1992 Benidorm |
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1993 Oslo |
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1994 Agrigento |
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1995 Duitama |
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1996 Lugano |
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1997 San Sebastián |
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1998 Valkenburg |
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1999 Verona |
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2000 Plouay |
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2001 Lisbon |
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2002 Zolder/Hasselt |
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2003 Hamilton |
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2004 Verona |
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2005 Madrid |
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2006 Salzburg |
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2007 Stuttgart |
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2008 Varese |
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2009 Mendrisio |
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2010 Geelong |
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2011 Copenhagen |
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2012 Valkenburg |
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2013 Florence |
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2014 Ponferrada |
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2015 Richmond |
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2016 Doha |
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2017 Bergen |
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2018 Innsbruck |
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2019 Yorkshire |
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2020 Imola |
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2021 Flanders |
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Most successful riders[]
Rank | Name and country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Winning years |
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1 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1927, 1930, 1932 |
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3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1949, 1956, 1957 | |
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3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1999, 2001, 2004 | |
4 | ![]() |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1967, 1971, 1974 |
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3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2015, 2016, 2017 | |
6 | ![]() |
2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1960, 1961 |
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2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1983, 1989 | |
8 | ![]() |
2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1976, 1981 |
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2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2006, 2007 | |
10 | ![]() |
2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1928, 1929 |
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2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1991, 1992 | |
12 | ![]() |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1948, 1950 |
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2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2020, 2021 | |
14 | ![]() |
1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 2018 |
15 | ![]() |
1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1931 |
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1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1954 | |
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1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1977 | |
18 | ![]() |
1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1959 |
19 | ![]() |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1947 |
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1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1951 | |
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1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1973 | |
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1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1982 | |
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1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1986 |
Medals per country[]
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
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1 | ![]() | 26 | 12 | 12 | 50 |
2 | ![]() | 19 | 21 | 16 | 56 |
3 | ![]() | 10 | 12 | 15 | 37 |
4 | ![]() | 7 | 5 | 6 | 18 |
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 | 2 | 7 |
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 |
21 | ![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Totals (22 nations) | 88 | 88 | 88 | 264 |
- Notes
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "UCI Road World Championships, Men Elite - Road race" (PDF). UCI. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race
- Events at the UCI Road World Championships
- Recurring sporting events established in 1927
- Men's road bicycle races
- Lists of UCI Road World Championships medalists
- Super Prestige Pernod races