Switzerland and Flanders to host Road World Championships
UCI awards 2021 Track World Championships to Turkmenistan
Switzerland and Flanders in Belgium have been chosen as the hosts of the two Road World Championships after Yorkshire in 2019.
The UCI has awarded a slew of countries the right to host events between 2020 and 2024.
Cantons of Vaud and Valais in Switzerland will host the Road World Championships in 2020.
>>>UCI Road World Championships 2018: dates, route, where to watch and more
The races will run through the Rhone valley in the heart of the Alps, so you can expect there to be a fair bit of climbing involved.
The following year the Worlds will move to the cycling-mad region of Flanders, which last hosted the championships in 2002.
While exact details of the course aren’t yet available, the UCI said it would be a “typical Flanders circuit”, which will therefore almost certainly use the regions cobbled climbs.
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The sport's governing body also chose to award Switzerland with the 2024 Road World Championships which will take place alongside the Para-cycling Road World Championships in the country’s German-speaking region, which sits between the Jura and the Alps.
It also revealed the 2021 Track World Championships will be held in Achgabat, Turkmenistan, in one of the world’s largest velodromes with seating for 6,000 people.
This will be the third time the track worlds has been held in Asia.
The UCI also awarded 13 further World Championships for mountain biking, BMX, masters cyclo-cross and Grand Fondo riders, which UCI President David Lappartient said brought the number of competitions awarded today to a record number.
>>>Yorkshire UCI Road World Championships 2019 routes and schedule revealed
He added: “With the UCI Road World Championships, which will take place in Africa in 2025, several continents are now preparing to welcome UCI Worlds.
“Our 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships which, and this will be a first, will bring together multiple disciplines – road, mountain bike (cross-country Olympic, cross-country Marathon and downhill), track, BMX Racing, Urban Cycling (BMX Freestyle Park, trials and mountain bike Eliminator), para-cycling road and para-cycling track, indoor cycling and Gran Fondo – and transform their host into a true world cycling capital for nearly three weeks, will in principle be awarded at the latest during the next management committee meeting to one of the candidates in contention.”
The 13 other world champions awarded were:
2021 Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole, Italy
2022 Mountain Bike World Championships in Les Gets, France
2024 Mountain Bike World Championships in Vallnord Pal Arinsal, Andorra
2021 UCI BMX World Championships in Papendal, the Netherlands
2019 and 2020 UCI Masters Cyclo-cross World Championships in Mol, Belgium
2020 and 2021 UCI Masters Mountain Bike World Championships in Pra-Loup, France
2021 Gran Fondo World Championships in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovin
2022 Gran Fondo World Championships in Trentino, Italy
2019, 2020 and 2021 UCI Four-cross World Championships in Val di Sole, Italy
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Having trained as a journalist at Cardiff University I spent eight years working as a business journalist covering everything from social care, to construction to the legal profession and riding my bike at the weekends and evenings. When a friend told me Cycling Weekly was looking for a news editor, I didn't give myself much chance of landing the role, but I did and joined the publication in 2016. Since then I've covered Tours de France, World Championships, hour records, spring classics and races in the Middle East. On top of that, since becoming features editor in 2017 I've also been lucky enough to get myself sent to ride my bike for magazine pieces in Portugal and across the UK. They've all been fun but I have an enduring passion for covering the national track championships. It might not be the most glamorous but it's got a real community feeling to it.