2023 UCI Road World Championships

The 2023 UCI Road World Championships were the 96th edition of the UCI Road World Championships, the annual world championships for road bicycle racing. There were held between 5 and 13 August 2023 in Scotland, as part of the inaugural UCI Cycling World Championships.

A total of thirteen events were held, consisting of six road races (all finishing in Glasgow city centre), six individual time trials (starting and finishing in Stirling) and a team time trial mixed relay (also held in Glasgow).

Routes
In March 2023, the routes for the championships were announced by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).

Road races
For all the road races, a 14.3 km finishing circuit was used, the majority of which has previously been used in the road races at the 2013 British National Road Championships, the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and the 2018 European Road Cycling Championships. However, the circuit begins at George Square rather than starting in Glasgow Green. The circuit then heads towards Kelvingrove Park via – amongst others – Queen Street, Argyle Street, Buchanan Street, St. Vincent Street, North Street and Sauchiehall Street. After exiting the park, the riders will pass the University of Glasgow before descending into the West End at Byres Road. Passing through Kelvingrove Park for a second time, the riders will go through the Park District as they head back towards the city centre. Having traversed the city, the riders will pass through the Rottenrow, High Street, Ingram Street and George Street before reaching Montrose Street, a 0.2 km climb at an average gradient of nearly 8%. From there, the riders will descend back into George Square, passing Glasgow Queen Street railway station and Nelson Mandela Square, before a pair of 90-degree left-handed corners onto the finishing straight. Both junior road races will be held over the circuit, with the women completing five laps and the men completing nine laps.

The men's road race on the first weekend will start at Holyrood Park in Edinburgh on a 271.1 km route, heading towards Fife via the Queensferry Crossing. The riders will then head alongside the Firth of Forth before crossing the estuary again at the Clackmannanshire Bridge into the Falkirk council area. After passing through Falkirk, Bonnybridge, Denny and Fintry, the riders will climb the Crow Road, a 5.7 km climb with an average gradient of 4.2%. Following this, the riders will descend into Glasgow via Lennoxtown, Torrance and Bearsden, entering the finishing circuit at Byres Road – 6 km around the lap – after 119.8 km. Ten full laps of the circuit will be completed before the race's conclusion, following 3570 m of total elevation.

The men's under-23 and women's road races on the second weekend will both start on the banks of Loch Lomond, at Balloch. The race follows the A811 road in the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park to Gartocharn and Drymen, before passing through Balfron and Fintry, before joining the same route as the men's race ahead of the Crow Road. Both races enter the finishing circuit after 60 km of racing; the women will complete six full laps of the circuit for a total distance of 154.1 km and 2229 m of total elevation, with the under-23 men completing one additional lap, for a total distance of 168.4 km and 2436 m of total elevation.

Time trials
The team time trial mixed relay will be held over two laps of a 20.15 km circuit, which starts on Argyle Street and follows the circuit used in the road races through to Byres Road. Thereafter, the route extends onto the A82 road between Hillhead and Kelvinside, before doubling back on itself, with the riders then rejoining the original circuit until High Street. An additional loop in and around Glasgow Green takes the riders alongside the River Clyde, and rejoin the original circuit via the Saltmarket.

All the individual time trial races will be held over three days in and around Stirling, with all the races finishing at Stirling Castle. On the first day, the men's under-23 race will be held over a 36.4 km route, following the A811 road out of Stirling towards Gargunnock. After a right-hand turn, the route heads towards Blair Drummond Safari Park from the south, before turning away to the left. After following several B-roads, the route returns to the A811 road in the other direction, and deviates first into Gargunnock and then for a second time towards Cambusbarron via Touch Road, passing near to Touch House. The route heads back towards Stirling thereafter, and is also used for the women's time trial the following day. Also on the second day, the junior women's event is being held over a distance of 13.6 km, following the A811 road to the junction with Touch Road, before turning back on itself, following the route to Cambusbarron and the finish in Stirling city centre.

On the third day, the junior men compete over a 23 km route, utilising the A811 road for around 10 km to Gargunnock, before turning towards the village and following the final 13 km of the men's under-23 route. The last of the races, the men's event, is held over the longest distance at 48.1 km in length. It follows the same route as the men's under-23 event for the first quarter, before heading towards the village of Thornhill. Turning left back to the south, the route passes the Flanders Moss national nature reserve, before rejoining the A811 road in the same direction as before. The race turns back before reaching the hamlet of Arnprior, passing through Kippen and then ultimately rejoining the route from Gargunnock to Stirling via Cambusbarron as before.

Schedule
All times listed below are for the local time – British Summer Time or UTC+01:00.

Broadcasters

 * Africa


 * Sub-Saharian Africa: SuperSport


 * Americas


 * Canada: FloSports


 * Asia


 * Brunei: Astro
 * China: China Central Television
 * Japan: NHK, Nippon TV and J Sports
 * Malaysia: Astro
 * Philippines: TAP
 * Singapore: StarHub
 * Thailand: JKN and TrueVisions


 * Europe


 * Belgium: RTBF and VRT
 * Czech Republic: ČT Sport
 * Denmark: TV2 Sport
 * France: France TV
 * Germany: ZDF
 * United Kingdom: BBC
 * Italy: RAI
 * Netherlands: NOS
 * Norway: TV2
 * Poland: TVP
 * Slovenia: RTV Slovenia
 * Sweden: SVT
 * Switzerland: SRG SSR
 * Spain: Televisión Española
 * Pan-Europe: Eurosport