Road World Championships 2009: Cycling Weekly's full coverage

Road World Championships 2009 logo

The 2009 UCI Road World Championships take place over September 23-27 in Mendrisio, Switzerland.

The championships are split into two disciplines: road race and time trial. For each of these there are three categories: men, women and under-23 men, giving six events in all.

Time trials are individual efforts against the clock, with each rider timed over a set distance. The winner is the one that completes the course in the least amount of time.

Each of the road races has a mass start, the winner being the one who crosses the line first!

The winner of each of the six categories earns the right to wear the coveted world champion's rainbow jersey every time they race in that discipline for a year. Gold, silver and bronze medals are also awarded to the top three finishers in each category.

British interest in this year's world championships will be sky high, with a realistic chance of a medal in each of the four senior categories.

Nicole Cooke will be out to defend the title she won last year (2008) in Varese, Italy, in the women's road race, she's backed by a strong squad that includes two other riders who could medal - Emma Pooley and Lizzie Armitstead.

David Millar is the leader of Team GB's nine-man road race squad, and has an outside chance of a medal particularly given his blistering form at the end of the Vuelta a Espana, where he won the penultimate stage.

Olympic TT silver medallist Emma Pooley will be the one to watch in the women's time trial and 2009 Tour de France fourth place finisher Bradley Wiggins will be going all out for the men's title against the clock.

Cycling Weekly will be covering the women's and men's time trials on Wednesday (September 23) and Thursday (September 24) with live text coverage. We will also be posting up reports and photos right after each event here on www.cyclingweekly.com.

Schedule of events

All times are local time

Wednesday, September 23

09:30-12:45: Individual time trial - Under-23 men, 33.2km: Report>>

14:00-17:15: Individual time trial - Elite women, 26.8km: Report>>

Thursday, September 24

11:30-17:00: Individual time trial - Elite men, 49.8km Report>>

Saturday, September 26

09:00-12:30: Road race - Elite women, 124.2km Report>>

13:30-18:00: Road race - Under-23 men, 179.4km Report>>

Sunday, September 27

10:30-17:30: Road race - Elite men, 262.2km Report>>

Defending World Champions (2008)

Road race men: Alessandro Ballan (Italy)

Road race women: Nicole Cooke (Great Britain)

Road race under-23 men: Fabio Andres Duarte (Colombia)

Time trial men: Bert Grabsch (Germany)

Time trial women: Amber Neben (USA)

Time trial under-23 men: Adriano Malori (Italy)

Course information: Road race

Start/finish: Mendrisio, Switzerland

Circuit length: 13.8km

Climbing: 245m

Laps for men: 19

Laps for women: 9

Laps for under-23 men: 13

Course information: Time trial

Men and Under-23 TT, World Championships 2009 profile

Elite and under-23 men

Start/finish: Mendrisio, Switzerland

Circuit length: 16.6km

Climbing: 120m

Laps for men: 3

Laps for under-23 men: 2

Women TT, World Championships 2009 profile

Women

Start/finish: Mendrisio, Switzerland

Circuit length: 13.4km

Climbing: 110m

Laps for women: 2

Team Great Britain

Elite Men's Road Race

Stephen Cummings

Russell Downing

Christopher Froome

Roger Hammond

Daniel Lloyd

David Millar

Ian Stannard

Ben Swift

Geraint Thomas

Elite Men's Time Trial

Chris Froome

Bradley Wiggins 

Elite Women's Road Race

Lizzie Armitstead

Katie Colclough

Nicole Cooke (defending world champion)

Nikki Harris

Sharon Laws

Lucy Martin

Emma Pooley 

Elite Women's Time Trial

Wendy Houvenaghel

Emma Pooley

Under 23 Men's Road Race

Mark Christian

Peter Kennaugh

Jonny McEvoy

Luke Rowe

Erick Rowsell

Under 23 Men's Time Trial

Alex Dowsett

Andy Fenn

Television coverage

All UK times.

BBC

Wednesday, September 23

13:00-16:45 Women's TT on BBC Interactive Service.

 

Thursday, September 24

10:30-16:00 Men's TT on BBC Interactive Service.

 

Friday, September 25

13:30-14:30 Highlights package of women's and men's TT events on BBC2

 

Saturday, September 26

08:00-11:30 Women's Road Race on BBC Interactive Service.

13:00-14:00 Highlights of the women's RR on BBC1.

 

Sunday, September 27

09:30-16:30 Men's Road Race on BBC Interactive Service.

17:00-17:45 Highlights of the men's RR on BBC2.

British Eurosport

Wednesday, September 23

08:15-11:45: Live cycling (U23 TT)

12:40-16:15: Live cycling (Women's TT)

16:15-17:00: Cycling highlights

Thursday, September 24

10:30-16:00: Live cycling (Men's TT)

21:00-22:00: Cycling highlights

Saturday, September 26

07:45-11:50: Live cycling (U23/Women's RR)

Sunday, September 27

09:00-16:30: Live cycling (Men's RR)

23:00-00:00: Cycling highlights

Road World Championships 2009: Related links

News

Brits look to learn from difficult day in Mendrisio

Kennaugh proud of gutsy fourth place performance

Pooley disappointed with ride in women's road race

Cooke to fight back in women's road race after difficulat season

Millar ready to take command of Worlds team

Kennaugh ready for under-23 road race

Wiggins accepts time trial defeat

Cancellara says TT victory was 'most beautiful ever'

Men's time trial start list

Pooley disappointed with 11th in time trial

Ellingworth explains Cavendish withdrawal from Worlds

Dowsett happy with world-class ride in under-23 TT

Manning praises Dowsett after Worlds TT ride

It's Cavendish or Stannard for final worlds place

Great Britain names world championships team

Millar won't ride worlds time trial despite Vuelta win

Wiggins quits Tour of Britain to focus on worlds TT

Out of sorts Cooke abandons Tour de l'Ardeche

Cavendish keen to ride worlds despite illness

Millar set to lead GB road race team at the Worlds

Brits head home to fight for worlds places

Reports

Evans wins World Champs road race

Kennaugh notches up fourth for GB in U23 road race

Guderzo solos to victory in women's road race

Cancellara blasts to third Worlds time trial title

Men's time trial as it happened

Armstrong repeats 2006 world champs win for USA

Under-23 Men Time Trial

Women's and under-23 men's time trials as they happened

Photos

Men's road race by Graham Watson

Men's time trial gallery by Graham Watson

Women's time trial gallery by Graham Watson

Under-23 men time trial gallery by Graham Watson

External links

Road World Championships 2009 official website

Union Cycliste Internationale website

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Nigel Wynn
Former Associate Editor

Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.