UCI ANNOUNCE SECOND EDITION OF ‘SUPER’ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

The second ‘super’ world cycling championships will be held in the French Alps in 2027, the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced Thursday. The UCI voted for Haute-Savoie over the Netherlands as host in its congress at the ongoing road world championships in Wollongong, Australia. The UCI also chose Montreal to host the 2026 world road championships. The UCI is experimenting with merging world championships from different disciplines in pre-Olympic years. In other seasons the championships will remain separate.

The first enlarged event, in Glasgow in 2023, will include road, track, BMX, trials, mountain biking, para-cycling and indoor cycling (which includes artistic cycling and cycle ball). Glasgow will include 13 disciplines. That will increase to 19 in France in September 2027.

While France has not hosted the annual road championships since 2000, Haute-Savoie hosted the mountain bike championships this year in Les Gets. The 2027 road race will be run on the course used when French cycling legend Bernard Hinault won the 1980 world title. The championships face challenges from French environmentalists who have filed a legal complaint in Grenoble.

RBA/AFP Photos: Sprint Cycling Agency