UCI Road World Championships Montréal 2026: Routes, how to watch and favourites

The 2026 UCI Road Cycling World Championships take place in Montréal, Canada from 20th to 27th September. Returning to Montréal for the first time since 1974, 13 rainbow jerseys across the disciplines of time-trialling and road racing will be dished out across the week.

Last year in Rwanda, Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) and Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) won the elite time-trial races with Jakob Söderqvist (Sweden) and Zoe Bäckstedt (Great Britain) U23 champions, Michiel Mouris (Netherlands) and Megan Arens (Netherlands) securing the titles in the junior field. Australia would beat France and Switzerland in the mixed relay.

As for the road races, Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) took home the men’s crown as Magdeleine Vallieres (Canada) became a surprise winner in the women’s peloton. Lorenzo Finn (Italy) and Célia Gery (France) were U23 winners while Harry Hudson (Great Britain) and Paula Ostiz (Spain) were victorious in the junior races.

UCI Road World Championships 2026 key information

Zac Williams – Pool/Getty Images

Dates: Sunday 20th September – Sunday 27th September
Location: Montréal, Québec, Canada
TV coverage: TNT Sport (United Kingdom and Ireland); BBC (United Kingdom); Flosport (United States); TVA/CBC/TOU.TV (Canada); Stan (Australia); Sky (New Zealand); More broadcasters listed below

UCI Road World Championships 2026 full race programme

KIGALI, RWANDA - SEPTEMBER 21: Gold medalist Marlen Reusser of Team Switzerland celebrates winning during the medal ceremony after the 98th UCI Cycling World Championships Kigali 2025 - Women Elite Individual Time Trial a 31.2km race from Kigali to Kigali on September 21, 2025 in Kigali, Rwanda. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) — David Ramos/Getty Images

All timings BST and subject to change by organisers

Day 1: Sunday 20th September

14:19: Women’s Elite Individual Time-Trial
18:00: Men’s Elite Individual Time-Trial

Day 2: Monday 21st September

14:00: Women’s U23 Individual Time-Trial
17:00: Men’s U23 Individual Time-Trial

Day 3: Tuesday 22nd September

13:00: Team Time-Trial Mixed Relay
17:15: Men’s Junior Individual Time-Trial
20:15: Women’s Junior Individual Time-Trial

Day 4: Wednesday 23rd September

Day 5: Thursday 24th September

14:00: Women’s U23 Road Race
18:30: Men’s Junior Road Race

Day 6: Friday 25th September

14:00: Men’s U23 Road Race
19:15: Women’s Junior Road Race

Day 7: Saturday 26th September

14:00: Women’s Elite Road Race

Day 8: Sunday 27th September

14:00: Men’s Elite Road Race

UCI Road World Championships 2026 route maps and profiles

Time-Trials

Men and Women’s Elite Individual Time-Trial, 39.2km

This year, the men and women race the same 39.2km time-trial course. It’s a flat parcours aside from a brief uphill kick in the final kilometre.

Women U23 Individual Time-Trial, 20.3km

The U23 women will follow a similar route to the elite field, but avoid crossing the river to cut out the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve section for a total of just over 20km.

Men U23 Individual Time-Trial, 31.3km

The route for the U23 men is almost the same course and length as the elite men and women, but it removes the flat stretch of straight road after L’écluse de Saint-Lambert on the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve section to shave off 8km.

Junior Women Individual Time-Trial, 10.7km

The junior women’s course is just 10.7km in length, taking place primarily around the start/finish location of Parc Jeanne Mance. Like the others, it’s flat until the last uphill section.

Junior Men Individual Time-Trial, 20.3km

The junior men will race on the same course as the U23 women, clocking 20.3km in the saddle.

Mixed Relay Team Time-Trial, 40.6km (20.3 x 2)

The mixed relay team time-trial sees three men complete one 20.3km circuit that makes up the U23 women and junior men’s ITTs, as three women then follow in their footsteps upon their return.

Road Races

Women U23 Road Race, 134km

All the road races take place on the same course, but the number of laps changes (and the elite fields get some more kilometres prior to the circuit). The U23 women complete eight laps of the 13.4km circuit that situated around the Mount Royal Park. Beginning and finishing at Parc Jeanne Mance, riders will hit the Voie Camillien-Houde ascent (1.7km, 7.7%) that hits 9% at its peak at the beginning, slap bang in the middle and in the final third. Then comes the with the Côte de Polytechnique (0.8km, 5.7%), which hits 10% at its peak.

The U23 women will complete ten laps. 20-year-old Célia Gery (France) is the defending champion, but she will race with the elite women this time around.

Men Junior Road Race, 134km

The junior men follow the same route as the U23 women, with 10 laps that account for 2,690m of elevation. In 2025, Harry Hudson became the first British male rider to win this event.

Men U23 Road Race, 174.2km

The U23 men will notch 3,497m of elevation over 174.2km that takes on 13 laps. Lorenzo Finn (Italy) was victorious in the past two editions but a new name will emerge as champion as 19-year-old Finn is another to step up to the elite field.

Women Junior Road Race, 80.4km

Six laps await the junior women for 1,614m of elevation. Paula Ostiz (Spain) beat Chantal Pegolo (Italy) and Anja Grossmann (Switzerland) in a sprint last year, and would go on to double up in the junior field at the European Championships too. The 19-year-old is racing the U23 race in both the road race and time-trial this year.

Women Elite Road Race, 180.4km

The elite road races deviate from the norm in their beginnings, instead starting across the Samuel De Champlain Bridge in Brossard for a loop around Chambly and returning to Brossard before crossing over the river to complete eight laps of the 13.4km circuit. In 2025, Canada’s Magdeleine Vallieres broke away from Niamh Fisher-Black (New Zealand) and Mavi García (Spain) to win the rainbow jersey.

Men Elite Road Race, 273.7km

The men ride over the same course as the women, just with a larger loop north from Chambly to tack on more kilometres in addition to 12 laps of the Mont-Royal circuit. This adds up to 273.7km of racing with 3,803m of elevation. Tadej Pogačar will not be back to defend his title having crashed out of the Vuelta a España.

How to watch the UCI Road World Championships 2026

In the UK, all races will be live to watch on TNT Sports/HBO Max with the BBC also providing coverage of the elite races. In the United States the action can be caught on FloBikes with Canadian viewers able to catch the action on TVA/CBC/TOU.TV. Stan is providing coverage in Australia with Sky for those in New Zealand. A full list of broadcasters is available below.