For the first time ever, the 2023 World Championships will be a ‘super event’ with all cycling disciplines fighting for their world titles in the same week in Glasgow. This week spans from August 3-13, with the elite men’s road race taking place on August 6 and the elite women’s on August 13 (the women’s race is later to allow space after the finish of the 2023 edition of the Tour de France Femmes). The road race courses in Glasgow – similarly to those in Wollongong last year – are a puncheur’s paradise, with a 14.3km finishing circuit that includes a steep climb every lap which will provide an ideal springboard for attacks. The technical nature and road furniture of the finishing circuit will undoubtedly have an impact on the race outcome too, it will need to be a well-rounded rider to take the win.
As always at the World Championships, the person who pulls on the rainbow jersey in Glasgow will be a deserved winner; these are going to be extremely tough races of attrition. The long distance of the men’s race especially (close to 300km) will be a challenge of endurance for the riders and the final couple of ascents up the city centre Montrose Street climb will really begin to hurt the legs in the final sections of the race. For fans, this event will be a huge spectacle too, the city centre circuit will invite aggressive racing and spectators will see the riders multiple times as they tick off laps of the loop. We can always rely on the World Championships to provide plenty of drama.
Here’s everything you need to know about the routes for the 2023 UCI Road Race World Championships and the individual time trial events.
UCI Road World Championship 2023 elite men’s road race map and profile
Date: August 6, 2023
Start time: 9:30 (GMT)
Finish time (approx): 15:26 (GMT)
Distance: 271.1km
Elevation gain: 3,570m
The elite men’s road race kicks off in Edinburgh with a 120km rolling route to the start of the city centre circuit in Glasgow. On this early section of the course, there is one key climb, Crow Road. The distance of this ascent is 5.9km with an average gradient of 4.8%, with a maximum pitch of 9.7% at its steepest. Coming after just 96.4km of racing in a 271.1km route, this is early in the race to ignite any serious attacks from the big names, but it could still prove crucial in splitting up the peloton. Any riders with bad legs on the day will likely be found out here and we could also get a look at which riders we can…