The 2023 UCI World Championships was the first edition of the ‘Super Worlds’, the bringing together almost all of the cycling disciplines except for cyclocross and gravel. Over the course of 10 days in Glasgow and across Scotland, over 200 rainbow jerseys were awarded.
This year, the UCI Road World Championships was six weeks earlier than usual, in close proximity to the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes. As such, the elite men’s road race, usually the closing event, took place on the first weekend while the elite women’s road race concluded the unified Worlds.
Typically held in the late winter, the UCI Track World Championships were shifted to late summer – a timing adjustment that will help with preparation for the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.
A unified World Championships will be held every four years to coincide with the Summer Olympic Games cycle. In 2027, the next combined championships will be held in Haute Savoie, France.
Were the Cycling Super World Championships a success? That has still to be decided. However the event sparked lot of excitement, great racing, polemics and so debate.
Cyclingnews brings you our six major talking points from the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.
The Glasgow circuits revealed the best riders
Before the Road World Championships, riders looked at the crazy Glasgow circuits and couldn’t believe what they were seeing. There were over 45 turns per lap – some counted 48 – and numerous short, steep hills and fast, technical turns.
The organisers were accused of designing a ‘criterium World Championships’. If that’s the case, Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) and Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) are very good at criteriums and a lot more.
Thanks to some luck with the weather, the many corners and the city centre course didn’t spark too many egregious crashes. The under-23 men’s race was the sole exception. Even there, Axel Laurance (France) had already shown himself to be a huge talent before claiming the rainbow jerseys.
Were the road races too hard? Seeing the faces of the riders after each event, it was clear that the athletes had to absolutely bury themselves to win medals in Glasgow. The selections were based purely on power, bike skills and the will to go beyond one’s limits.
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig said she “lost count of how many times I vomited”, Tadej Pogačar had to excuse himself after his bronze…
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