End of Australian racing means passing of baton to £54 million cross-discipline championships with 8,000 competitors
Road World Championships overview
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(Image credit: Getty Images)
Annemiek van Vleuten won her second world road title, after Yorkshire in 2019, at the 2022 UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong(Image credit: Getty Images)
Niamh Fisher-Black wins U23 women's road title at 2022 UCI Road World Championships(Image credit: Getty Images)
Zoe Backstedt of United Kingdom captured a solo victory at the Women's Junior Road Race(Image credit: Getty Images)
Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kazakhstan) celebrates the men's U23 road race title at 2022 UCI Road World Championships(Image credit: Getty Images)
Emil Herzog of Germany (right) won junior men's road race world title in two-up sprint against António Morgado of Portugal(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Switzerland claimed its first UCI World Road Championships title in the team time trial mixed relay (Image credit: Getty)
Junior men's time trial World Champion Joshua Tarling (Great Britain) receives his gold medal and rainbow jersey(Image credit: Getty Images)
Women's junior time trial podium at the 2022 Road World Championships: winner Zoe Backstedt of Great Britain (centre), silver medalist Justyna Czapla of Germany (left), and Febe Jooris of Belgium with bronze medal (left)(Image credit: Luca Bettini/SprintCyclingAgency)
Norway's Søren Wærenskjold celebrates the under-23 men's world time trial title(Image credit: Getty Images)
U23 men's time trial podium: Norway's Søren Wærenskjold (centre) in rainbow jersey(Image credit: Getty Images)
Ellen van Dijk of the Netherlands wins elite women's time trial world title for third time(Image credit: Getty Images)
Elite women's time trial world championship podium, with Ellen van Dijk of the Netherlands in the rainbow jersey a third time(Image credit: Getty Images)
Norway's Tobias Foss won the elite men's time trial world title in Wollongong(Image credit: Getty Images)
Elite men's time trial podium at UCI Road World Championships, with Tobias Foss of Norway (center) in rainbow jersey(Image credit: Getty Images)
Belgian Remco Evenepoel has soared to a spectacular solo victory in the 2022 World Championships Elite Men Road Race, with Christophe Laporte taking silver for France and Michael Matthews the bronze for host nation Australia.
In a memorably dominating and clinically efficient performance, the 22-year-old claimed the victory alone and more than two minutes ahead of the field.
After despatching his most persistent pursuer Alexey Lutsenko (Kazakhstan) with some 25 kilometres to go, Remco Evenepoel forged his own path to Belgium’s first World Championships in a decade.
As the first Belgian Grand Tour champion in 44 years in the Vuelta a España this September, as well as being the winner of Liege-Bastogne-Liege this spring, Evenepoel’s latest victory culminates a dramatically successful year.
Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) pulled off a spectacular late attack and won the elite women's road race at the 2022 UCI Road World Championships. It was her second road title at the Worlds, last winning in 2019 in Yorkshire, and this time racing with a fractured elbow.
Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) took the silver medal as she led a group of 11 across the rain-soaked finish line one second behind the Dutch winner, while Silvia Persico (Italy) rounded out the podium with the bronze medal.
The Dutchwoman, who had crashed badly and was injured in the mixed relay team time trial event just three days before, launched her winning move in the final kilometre of the 164.3km event, held from from Helensburgh to Wollongong.
With medals on offer for both the women’s elite and the under-23 category in the same race, Niamh Fisher-Black (New Zealand), 12th across the line, was the first-ever U23 champion. Pfeiffer Georgi (Great Britain) claimed the U23 silver medal and Ricarda Bauernfeind (Germany) the bronze.
Great Britain's Zoe Backstedt won her second rainbow jersey of the week in Wollongong at the UCI Road World Championships as she dominated the 67.2km junior women's road race.
The remaining two spots on the podium were decided in a two-up sprint, Eglantine Rayer (France) taking the silver while Nienke Vinke (Netherlands) earned bronze. The pair finished 2 minutes, 7 seconds behind the defending junior world champion.
Backstedt won the individual time trial for junior women on Tuesday. It was also her fifth consecutive world title having defended the junior women's road race world title that she won last year in Flanders, to go along with the world titles she won in the Madison and cyclo-cross disciplines earned earlier in the year.
Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kazakhstan) won the men's under-23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Australia, surging near the line to outdistance breakaway companion and silver medalist Mathias Vacek (Czech Republic).
Under-23 time trial World Champion Søren Wærenskjold (Norway) won the bronze medal, taking the sprint ahead of a chase group of just 20 riders.
The duo of Fedorov and Vacek, who both ride for WorldTour teams, struck out on a late attack and went clear on the final climb of Mount Pleasant on the 169.8km race. They opened an 18-second gap, enough to hold off the chasers and sprint for the world title.
Germany’s Emil Herzog outsprinted António Morgado of Portugal and won the men’s junior road race title at the Road World Championships on a rainy Friday morning in in Wollongong, Australia.
In the bunch sprint for the bronze medal, Vlad van Mechelen (Belgium) was the best of a 11 riders. Paul Magnier (France) was fourth and Artem Shmidt (United States) was fifth.
With 42.5km to go in the 135.6km race, Morgado was part of a chase group that caught an early breakaway, and then powered away from his companions on the final 17km. Herzog attacked on the descent of Mount Pleasant and caught Morgado with 2.4km to go to set up the two-man contest.
On the first of eight descents of Mount Pleasant, the slippery roads caused a crash of three favourites, Joshua Tarling (Great Britain), Harnish McKenzie (Australia) and Max van der Meulen (Netherlands). McKenzie finished 37th among the 60 finishers of the 106 riders to start the race, while Tarling and Van der Meulen were not able to complete the event.
Switzerland claimed its first UCI World Road Championships title in the team time trial mixed relay on a 28.2km course in Wollongong, securing the victory by three seconds over Italy. The Australian team spent a good part of the day in the hot seat with an early lead, but settled for bronze, 38 seconds off the winning pace.
The Swiss trio of Stefan Küng, Mauro Schmid, and Stefan Bissegger was the fastest of the men's squads on the course in New South Wales, setting up the trio of Elise Chabbey, Marlen Reusser, and Nicole Koller to hold the lead and take the win.
The Dutch squad, winners in 2019 and second in 2021, finished a disappointing fifth after Bauke Mollema experienced an early mechanical and then Olympic TT champion Annemiek van Vleuten crashed just moments after the women rolled down the start ramp.
Josh Tarling captured the men’s junior time trial title at the UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong on Tuesday afternoon in a sweep for Great Britain in the junior races.
Australia's Hamish McKenzie sat in the hot seat for most of the event, but was bumped to the silver medal by Tarling's fast time of 34:59, which was 19 seconds faster. Germany's Emil Herzog took the bronze in a time of 35:32.
Tarling turns 19 in February, when he will ride for WorldTour squad Ineos Grenadiers in 2023. The Welsman won a silver medal last year but moved to the top step of the podium and pulled on the rainbow jersey just hours after Zoe Backstedt won the junior women’s title for Britain.
Great Britain's Zoe Backstedt won the junior women's time trial title in dominant fashion Tuesday morning at the UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia. She covered the 14.1km course in 18:26, a full minute and 35 seconds faster than runner-up Justyna Czapla (Germany). Febe Jooris (Belgium) posted a time another 13 seconds back to claim third.
The clear favourite after taking the silver medal in the same event last year in Flanders, Backstedt was the last of 37 riders on the rolling and technical course. By the half-way point on the climb of Mount Ousely, she was the only rider to go under nine minutes. She never eased her pace and captured a second rainbow jersey to her collection, having won the junior road race in 2021.
Jooris had a strong second-half ride and was in the top spot by half a second over Eliška Kvasničkova (Czech Republic) with three riders on the course. Czapla ousted her from the top spot and then both were steamrolled by Backstedt but held on to podium positions.
Norway's Søren Wærenskjold claimed the under-23 men's world time trial title on Monday in Wollongong, covering the 28.8km World Championship course in 34:13 to take the rainbow jersey.
The 22-year-old, who rides for Uno-X, secured the top step of the final podium with Alec Segaert (Belgium) the runner-up and Leo Hayter (Great Britain) taking third on the day.
One month after he nabbed a third career stage win at the Tour de l'Avenir, Wærenskjold put in a powerful and consistent ride out on the TT course in Wollongong, delivering a particularly solid second half of his effort to take over the provisional lead from Hayter.
Wærenskjold then spent nearly an hour in the hot seat as rivals tried to match his mark. Segaert, the day's penultimate starter and a major rival came closest, going faster through the first split, but he could not maintain the high pace through the remainder of his ride.
Ellen van Dijk picked up her second straight elite world time trial gold, and the third of her career, on Saturday in Wollongong, Australia, successfully defending her title in a 34.2km race.
"I never expected to win. I didn't think it was a perfect course for me but I had a good mental and physical approach with my coach. I just thought I would give it my all today, a podium spot would be nice, but if it's not, it's not, I still had a great year. I never thought I would win today," Van Dijk said.
As the reigning champion, Van Dijk was the final starter out on the road, and she did not disappoint. When Van Dijk set out of the start ramp, the hot seat was in the possession of Grace Brown, and the Australian's time continued to stand out as the day's best as one rival after another crossed the finish line.
Switzerland's Marlen Reusser appeared on pace to challenge Brown after setting a faster time through the first intermediate, and then Van Dijk stormed through the time check nine seconds faster than that.
Van Dijk did not fade. The Dutchwoman cruised through the twists and turns of the occasionally lumpy course to arrive 12 seconds faster than Reusser, securing a second world time trial title in a row with a time of 44:29.
Norway's Tobias Foss took a stunning victory in the elite men's time trial at the UCI Road World Championships on Sunday in Wollongong, Australia.
The 25-year-old bested Stefan Küng (Switzerland), Remco Evenepoel (Belgium), and quite a few other TT talents on a 34.2km course to claim his first title in the event.
Filippo Ganna (Italy), winner of the past two world titles, was way off the pace and finished seventh at nearly a minute in arrears.
Foss, Norway's two-time reigning champion in the discipline, set a time of 40:02 on the course to take over the hot seat from Stefan Bissegger (Switzerland).
Küng, who seemed to be in the driver's seat after a fast start, faded slightly in the second half of his effort and settled for runner-up honours at just three seconds back, with Evenepoel rounding out the podium nine seconds slower than Foss.
When all was said and done, Foss was still in the hot seat, having secured Norway's first men's world TT title.
Julian Alaphilippe (France) celebrating a second consecutive win in the elite men's road race in Flanders at 2021 Road World Championships (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
The Australian coastal city of Wollongong will host the UCI Road World Championships in 2022, marking only the second time the the rainbow jersey deciding event has been held in the nation.
It will provide a stark contrast to the well-raced roads of Flanders in 2021, presenting fresh territory for the majority of the field, just like the last Road World Championships in the nation, which was held in Geelong in 2010.
The racing for 13 world titles – with an Under 23 women's time trial and road race rainbow jersey being added for the first time – will largely take place on circuits around Wollongong. The elite road races also incorporate a Helensburgh start which takes riders past some of the spectacular coastal cliffs south of Sydney, opening up the possibility of some action in the cross winds before the field takes to the inland Mount Keira circuit and city circuit, which includes the Mount Pleasant climb.
It's a course which delivers a mixture of fast straights, sharp climbs and technical sections.
The racing through the rainforest, and past the cliffs and coastline of New South Wales marks the welcome return of international racing to Australia, which has been off the menu the past two years with COVID-19 related border closures having led to the cancellation of the Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in 2021 and 2022.
Road Worlds information
When is the 2022 Road World Championships?
The 2022 Road World Championships takes place from September 18-25.
Where is the Road World Championships?
Most of the racing starts and finishes in the Australian city of Wollongong – which is located on Dharawal country – and is just 80 kilometres south of the centre of Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales.
The elite road races start in the town of Helensburgh, which sits about 250 metres above sea level and is about halfway between Wollongong and Sydney.
Elisa Balsamo (Italy) outsprints Marianne Vos (Netherlands) to take the rainbow jersey in the elite women's race in Belgium in 2021 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
The 2022 UCI Road World Championships is the 95th edition of the event, first contested 101 years ago for amateurs in 1921. It will be the first edition of the race where titles are rewarded in the women's Under 23 category, with the two additional rainbow jerseys taking the number of titles up for grabs to 13. That will not, however, mean any extra events are added to the schedule with the U23 competition taking place within the elite women's event.
Last year's host Belgium has welcomed the Road World Championships nine times – six of those being in Flanders – while 2022 is only the second time the event will be held in the Southern Hemisphere. The Victorian city of Geelong was the first time, in 2010.
In 2023 the event will be in Glasgow, Great Britain, then the racing will move to Zurich, Switzerland in 2024 and the 2025 host is Kigali, Rwanda.
UCI Road World Championships Facts and Figures
First edition: Race for amateurs began in 1921
First UCI Road World Champion: Sweden’s Gunnar Sköld
First edition with professionals: In 1927 the first Championships for professional men took place in Nürburgring, Germany
First women's race at event: In 1958 the women's road race was added to the program
First women to win a rainbow jersey: Luxembourg’s Elsy Jacobs
Most world titles: French rider Jeannie Longo won five rainbow jerseys in the road race and four more in the individual time trial
Youth categories: Dedicated races and medals were introduced in 1975
Most recent event added to schedule: The team time trial mixed relay was put on the schedule in 2019
U23 Women's titles: 2022 will be the first year titles are awarded to U23 women in the time trial and road race, with the winner being the first under 23 rider over the line in the elite women's events
U23 Women stand-alone events: The category will have its own races on the schedule from 2025
Races
UCI Road World Championships 2022
17 September 2022 - 25 September 2022|Wollongong, NSW|CM
