World Road Cycling Championships

Winners, podium, distance, average speed
Complete results for every edition

Les Woodland's book Cycling's World Championships: The Inside Story is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

The race:

Skip down to world championship results. Click on any year for complete results of that edition. Later years have all events.

The World Cycling Championships are held near the end of the European racing season. The races are for elite men (formerly for professional men), men under 23 (formerly the race was for amateur men), women, junior men and junior women. Both individual time trial and massed-start road championship races are held. Each road championship race is a single-day race. The road race winner has the privilege of wearing a white jersey with rainbow stripes in road races until the next championship. The time trial champion can wear his rainbow jersey only during time trials. A former world champion can have rainbows on his jersey collar and cuffs.

The world championships are run on a national team format. The riders are expected to forget their trade team allegiances during the race and compete for their countries. They usually do.

In recent years world champions have taken to wearing rainbow decorated shorts, gloves, helmets, shoes and riding rainbow'd bikes.

Before cycling's governing body, the UCI, began running the championships, a discontinued French race called the GP Wolber, which was run in September, was considered by many to be the unofficial road racing championship. In time trialing, the Grand Prix des Nations held the same status.

Four riders have won the world road championship three times: Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbergen, Eddy Merckx and Oscar Freire.

Two riders have won the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and World Championship in the same year: Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987).

Click on any year in the left-hand column for complete results of that edition.

Year	City	First	Second	Third	Distance, Av. Speed (km/hr)	Starters Finishers
July 21 1927	Nürburgring Germany	Alfredo Binda (It) 6hr 37min 29sec	Costante Girardengo (It) @ 7min 16sec	Domenico Piemontesi (It) @ 10min 51sec	182.48 km 27.545	55s 18f
Aug 16 1928	Budapest Hungary	Georges Ronsse (Bel) 6hr 20min 10sec	Herbert Nebe (Ger) @ 19min 43sec	Bruno Wolke (Ger) @ s.t.	192 km 30.302	16s 8f
Aug 16 1929	Zurich Switzerland	Georges Ronsse (Bel) 6hr 48min 5sec	Nicolas Frantz (Lux) @ s.t.	Alfredo Binda (It) @ s.t.	200 km 29.405	21s 16f
Aug 30 1930	Liège Belgium	Alfredo Binda (It) 7hr 30min 45sec	Learco Guerra (It) @ s.t.	Georges Ronsse (Bel) @ s.t.	210 km 27.953	26s 17f
Aug 26 1931	Copenhagen Denmark	Learco Guerra (It) 4hr 53min 43sec	Ferdinand Le Drogo (Fra) @ 4min 37sec	Albert Buchi (Switz) @ 4min 48sec	170 km 34.727	17s 13f
Aug 31 1932	Rome Italy	Alfredo Binda (It) 7hr 1min 28sec	Remo Bertoni (It) @ 15sec	Nicolas Frantz (Lux) @ 4min 52sec	206.1 km 29.340	21s 17f
Aug 14 1933	Monthléry France	Georges Speicher (Fra) 7hr 8min 58sec	Antonin Magne (Fra) @ 5min 3sec	Marinus Valentijn (Ned) @ 5min 4sec	250 km 34.967	28s 13f
Aug 18 1934	Leipzig Germany	Karel Kaers (Bel) 5hr 56min 15.8sec	Learco Guerra (It) @ s.t.	Gustave Danneels (Bel) @ s.t.	225.6 km 37.994	26s 15f
Aug 18 1935	Floreffe Belgium	Jean Aerts (Bel) 6hr 5min 19sec	Luciano Montero (Fra) @ 2min 57sec	Gustave Danneels (Bel) @ 9min 8sec	216 km 35.476	29s 13f
Sep 6 1936	Berne Switzerland	Antonin Magne (Fra) 5hr 53min 32sec	Aldo Bini (It) @ 9min 27sec	Theo Middelkamp (Ned) @ s.t.	218.4 km 36.997	39s 9f
Aug 23 1937	Copenhagen Denmark	Eloi Meulenberg (Bel) 7hr 59min 48sec	Emil Kijewski (Den) @ s.t.	Paul Egli (Switz) @ s.t.	297.5 km 37.203	34s 9f
Sep 5 1938	Valkenburg Netherlands	Marcel Kint (Bel) 7hr 53min 25sec	Paul Egli (Switz) @ s.t.	Leo Amberg (Switz) @ s.t.	273 km 34.599	36s 8f
1939- 1945	No championships held
Sep 1 1946	Zurich Switzerland	Hans Knecht (Switz) 7hr 24min 28sec	Marcel Kint (Bel) @ 10sec	Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) @ 59sec	270 km 36.448	30s 17f
Aug 3 1947	Reims France	Theo Middelkamp (Ned) 7hr 28min 17sec	Albert Sercu (Bel) @ 10sec	Jef Jansen (Ned) @ s.t.	274.04 km 36.677	31s 7f
Aug 22 1948	Valkenburg Netherlands	Briek Schotte (Bel) 7hr 30min 42sec	Apo Lazaridès (Fra) @ 1sec	Lucien Teisseire (Fra) @ 3min 41sec	266.8 km 35.517	37s 10f
Aug 21 1949	Copenhagen Denmark	Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) 7hr 33min 44sec	Ferdi Kübler (Switz) @ s.t.	Fausto Coppi (It) @ s.t.	290 km 38.013	35s 22f
Aug 20 1950	Moorslede Belgium	Briek Schotte (Bel) 7hr 49min 54sec	Theo Middelkamp (Ned) @ 1min 1sec	Ferdi Kübler (Switz) @ 1min 48sec	284 km 36.263	40s 12f
Sep 2 1951	Varese Italy	Ferdy Kübler (Switz) 8hr 28min 28sec	Fiorenzo Magni (It) @ s.t.	Antonio Bevilacqua (It) @ s.t.	295.2 km 34.834	46s 24f
Aug 24 1952	Luxembourg	Heinz Muller (Ger) 7hr 5min 51.4sec	Gottfried Weilenmann (Switz) @ s.t.	Ludwig Hörmann (Ger) @ s.t.	280 km 39.449	48s 38f
Aug 30 1953	Lugano Switzerland	Fausto Coppi (It) 7hr 30min 59sec	Germain Derijcke (Bel) @ 6min 22sec	Stan Ockers (Bel) @ 7min 33sec	270 km 35.921	70s 27f
Aug 22 1954	Solingen- Klingenring Germany	Louison Bobet (Fra) 7hr 24min 36sec	Fritz Schaer (Switz) @ 12sec	Charly Gaul (Lux) @ 2min 12sec	240 km 32.389	71s 22f
Aug 28 1955	Frascati Italy	Stan Ockers (Bel) 8hr 43min 33sec	Jean-Pierre Schmitz (Lux) @ 1min 3sec	Germain Derijcke (Bel) @ 1min 15sec	293.132 km 33.593	65s 22f
Aug 26 1956	Copenhagen (Ballerup) Denmark	Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) 7hr 26min 15sec	Rik Van Looy (Bel) @ s.t.	Gerrit Schulte (Ned) @ s.t.	285.12 km 38.335	71s 27f
Aug 18 1957	Waregem Belgium	Rik Van Steenbergen (Bel) 7hr 43min 10sec	Louison Bobet (Fra) @ s.t.	André Darrigade (Fra) @ s.t.	285.6 km 36.997	70s 34f
Aug 31 1958	Reims-Gueux France	Ercole Baldini (It) 7hr 29min 32sec	Louison Bobet (Fra) @ 2min 8sec	André Darrigade (Fra) @ 3min 47sec	276.964 km 36.972	67s 26f
Aug 16 1959	Zandvoort Netherlands	André Darrigade (Fra) 7hr 30min 43sec	Michele Gismondi (It) @ s.t.	Noël Foré (Bel) @ s.t.	292.033 km 38.875	69s 44f

 

Aug 14 1960	Hohenstein- Sachsenring East Germany (DDR)	Rik Van Looy (Bel) 7hr 47min 27sec	André Darrigade (Fra) @ s.t.	Pino Cerami (Bel) @ s.t.	279.392 km 35.861	67s 32f
Sep 3 1961	Bern Switzerland	Rik Van Looy (Bel) 7hr 46min 35sec	Nino Defilippis (It) @ s.t.	Raymond Poulidor (Fra) @ s.t.	285.252 km 36.675	71s 32f
Sep 2 1962	Salo Italy	Jean Stablinski (Fra) 7hr 34min 11sec	Seamus Elliot (Ire) @ 1min 22sec	Joseph Hoevenaars (Bel) @ 1min 44sec	296.24 km 38.374	69s 36f
Aug 11 1963	Renaix/ Ronse Belgium	Benoni Beheyt (Bel) 7hr 25min 26sec	Rik Van Looy (Bel) @ s.t.	Jo De Haan (Ned) @ s.t.	278.8 km 37.544	70s 36f
Sep 6 1964	Sallanches France	Jan Janssen (Ned) 7hr 35min 52sec	Vittorio Adorni (It) @ s.t.	Raymond Poulidor (Fra) @ s.t.	290 km 38.169	62s 40f
Sep 5 1965	Lasarte (San Sebastian) Spain	Tom Simpson (GB) 6hr 38min 19sec	Rudi Altig (Ger) @ s.t.	Roger Swerts (Bel) @ 3min 40sec	267.4 km 40.18 km/hr	74s 56f
Aug 28 1966	Nürburgring Germany	Rudi Altig (Ger) 7hr 21min 10sec	Jacques Anquetil (Fra) @ s.t.	Raymond Poulidor (Fra) @ s.t.	273.72 km 36.401	74s 22f
Sep 3 1967	Heerlen Netherlands	Eddy Merckx (Bel) 6hr 44min 42sec	Jan Janssen (Netherlands) @ s.t.	Raymond Saez (Sp) @ s.t.	265.18 km 39.315	70s 45f
Sep 1 1968	Imola Italy	Vittorio Adorni (It) 7hr 27min 39sec	Herman Van Springel (Bel) @ 9min 50sec	Michele Dancelli (It) @ 10min 18sec	277.318 km 37.169	85s 19f
Aug 10 1969	Zolder Belgium	Harm Ottenbros (Ned) 6hr 23min 44sec	Julien Stevens (Bel) @ s.t.	Michele Dancelli (It) @ 2min 18sec	262.86 km 41.10	92s 62f
Aug 16 1970	Leicester Great Brit.	Jean-Pierre Monseré (Bel) 6hr 33min 58sec	Leif Mortensen (Den) @ 2sec	Felice Gimondi (It) @ s.t.	271.16 km 41.418	95s 69f
Sep 5 1971	Mendrisio Switzerland	Eddy Merckx (Bel) 6hr 39min 6sec	Felice Gimondi (It) @ s.t.	Cyrille Guimard (Fra) @ 1min 13sec	268.8 km 40.41	93s 57f
Aug 6 1972	Gap France	Marino Basso (It) 7hr 5min 59sec	Franco Bitossi (It) @ s.t.	Cyrille Guimard (Fra) @ s.t.	272.564 km 38.392	89s 42f
Sep 2 1973	Barcelona Spain	Felice Gimondi (It) 6hr 31min 26sec	Freddy Maertens (Bel) @ s.t.	Luis Ocaña (Sp) @ s.t.	248.6 km 38.106	87s 39f
Aug 25 1974	Montreal Canada	Eddy Merckx (Bel) 6hr 52min 22sec	Raymond Poulidor (Fra) @ 2sec	Mariano Martinez (Fra) @ 37sec	262.5 km 38.194	66s 18f
Aug 31 1975	Yvoir Belgium	Hennie Kuiper (Ned) 6hr 39min 19sec	Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel) @ 17sec	Jean-Pierre Danguillaume (Fra) @ s.t.	266 km 39.968	79s 28f
Sep 5 1976	Ostuni Italy	Freddy Maertens (Bel) 7hr 6min 10sec	Francesco Moser (It) @ s.t.	Tino Conti (It) @ 11sec	288 km 40.547	77r 53s
Sep 4 1977	S. Cristobal Venezuela	Francesco Moser (It) 6hr 36min 24sec	Dietrich Thurau (Ger) @ s.t.	Franco Bitossi (It) @ 1min 19sec	255 km 38.597	89s 33f
Aug 27 1978	Nürburgring Germany	Gerrie Knetemann (Ned) 7hr 32min 4sec	Francesco Moser (It) @ s.t.	Jorgen Marcussen (Den) @ 20sec	273.72 km 36.329	111s 31f
Aug 25 1979	Valkenburg Netherlands	Jan Raas (Ned) 7hr 3min 9sec	Dietrich Thurau (Ger) @ s.t.	Jean-René Bernaudeau (Fra) @ s.t.	274.8 km 38.965	114s 44f
Aug 31 1980	Sallanches France	Bernard Hinault (Fra) 7hr 32min 16sec	Giambattista Baronchelli (It) @ 1min 1sec	Juan Fernandez (Sp) @ 4min 25sec	268 km 35.554	107s 15f
Aug 30 1981	Prague Czechoslov.	Freddy Maertens (Bel) 7hr 21min 59sec	Giuseppe Saronni (It) @ s.t.	Bernard Hinault (Fra) @ s.t.	281.4 km 38.15	112s 69f
Sep 5 1982	Goodwood Great Brit.	Giuseppe Saronni (It) 6hr 42min 22sec	Greg LeMond (USA) @ 5sec	Sean Kelly (Ire) @ 10sec	275.13 km 41.01	136s 55f
Sep 4 1983	Altenrhein Switzerland	Greg LeMond (USA) 7hr 1min 21sec	Adrie Van der Poel (Ned) @ 1min 11sec	Stephen Roche (Ire) @ s.t.	269.89 km 38.31	117s 46f
Sep 2 1984	Barcelona Spain	Claude Criquiélion (Bel) 6hr 46min 46sec	Claudio Corti (It) @ 14sec	Steve Bauer (Can) @ 1min 1sec	255.55 km 37.69	119s 31f
Sep 1 1985	Giavera di Montello Italy	Joop Zoetemelk (Ned) 6hr 26min 38sec	Greg LeMond (USA) @ 3sec	Moreno Argentin (It) @ s.t.	265.5 km 41.201	149s 66f
Sep 6 1986	Colorado Springs USA	Moreno Argentin (It) 6hr 32min 38sec	Charly Mottet (Fra) @ 1sec	Giuseppe Saronni (It) @ 9sec	261.8 km 39.88	141s 87f
Sep 6 1987	Villach Austria	Stephen Roche (Ire) 6hr 50min 2sec	Moreno Argentin (It) @ 1sec	Juan Fernandez (Sp) @ s.t.	276 km 40.386	168s 71f
Aug 28 1988	Renaix/ Ronse Belgium	Maurizio Fondriest (It) 7hr 2min 11sec	Martial Gayant (Fra) @ 27sec	Juan Fernandez (Sp) @ 41sec	272 km 38.66	178s 79f
Aug 27 1989	Chambéry France	Greg LeMond (USA) 6hr 45min 59sec	Dimitri Konyshev (Rus) @ s.t.	Sean Kelly (Ire) @ s.t.	259.35 km 38.33	190s 42f
Sep 2 1990	Utsunomiya Japan	Rudy Dhaenens (Bel) 6hr 51min 59sec	Dirk De Wolf (Bel) @ s.t.	Gianni Bugno (It) @ 8sec	261 km 38.01	145s 57f
Aug 25 1991	Stuttgart Germany	Gianni Bugno (It) 6hr 20min 23sec	Steven Rooks (Ned) @ s.t.	Miguel Indurain (Sp) @ s.t.	252 km 39.75	191s 96f
Sep 6 1992	Benidorm Spain	Gianni Bugno (It) 6hr 34min 28sec	Laurent Jalabert (Fra) @ s.t.	Dimitri Konyshev (Rus) @ s.t.	261 km 39.70	193s 90f
Aug 29 1993	Oslo Norway	Lance Armstrong (USA) 6hr 17min 10sec	Miguel Indurain (Sp) @ 19sec	Olaf Ludwig (Ger) @ s.t.	257.6 km 40.979	171s 66f
Aug 28 1994	Agrigente Italy	Luc Leblanc (Fra) 6hr 33min 54sec	Claudio Chiappucci (It) @ 9sec	Richard Virenque (Fra) @ s.t.	251 km 38.23	170s 57f
Oct 8 1995	Duitama Colombia	Abraham Olano (Sp) 7hr 9min 55sec	Miguel Indurain (Sp) @ 35sec	Marco Pantani (It) @ s.t.	265.5 km 37.05	98s 20f
Oct 13 1996	Lugano Switzerland	Johan Museeuw (Bel) 6hr 23min 50sec	Mauro Gianetti (Switz) @ 1sec	Michele Bartoli (It) @ 29sec	252 km 39.39	151s 49f
Oct 12 1997	San Sebastian Spain	Laurent Brochard (Fra) 6hr 16min 48sec	Bo Hamburger (Den) @ s.t.	Leon Van Bon (Ned) @ s.t.	256.5 km 40.84	163s 87f
Oct 11 1998	Valkenburg Netherlands	Oscar Camenzind (Switz) 6hr 1min 30sec	Peter van Petegem (Bel) @ 23sec	Michele Bartoli (It) @ 24sec	258 km 42.82	152s 66f
Oct 10 1999	Verona Italy	Oscar Freire (Sp) 6hr 19min 29sec	Markus Zberg (Switz) @ 4sec	Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra) @ s.t.	260 km 41.109	172s 49f

 

Oct 15 2000	Plouay France	Romans Vainsteins (Latvia) 6hr 15min 28sec	Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) @ s.t.	Oscar Freire (Sp) @ s.t.	268.9 km 42.678	156s 109f
Oct 14 2001	Lisbon Portugal	Oscar Freire (Sp) 6hr 7min 21sec	Paolo Bettini (It) @ s.t.	Andrej Hauptmann (Slo) @ s.t.	254.1 km 41.503	171s 94f
Oct 13 2002	Zolder Belgium	Mario Cipollini (It) 5hr 30min 3sec	Robbie McEwen (Australia) @ s.t.	Eric Zabel (Ger) @ s.t.	256 km 46.538	202s 168f
Oct 12 2003	Hamilton Canada	Igor Astarloa (Sp) 6hr 30min 19sec	Alejandro Valverde (Sp) @ 5sec	Peter Van Petegem (Bel) @ s.t.	260.4 km 40.029	180s 112f
Oct 3 2004	Verona Italy	Oscar Freire (Sp) 6hr 57min 15sec	Erik Zabel (Ger) @ s.t.	Luca Paolini (It) @ s.t.	265.5 km 38.178	200s 88f
Sep 25 2005	Madrid Spain	Tom Boonen (Bel) 6hr 26min 10sec	Alejandro Valverde (Sp) @ s.t.	Anthony Geslin (Fra) @ s.t.	273 km 42.416	188s 123f
Sep 24 2006	Salzburg Austria	Paolo Bettini (It) 6hr 15min 36sec	Erik Zabel (Ger) @ s.t.	Alejandro Valverde (Sp) @ s.t.	265.9 km 42.476	198s 126f
Sep 30 2007	Stuttgart Germany	Paolo Bettini (It) 6hr 44min 43sec	Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) @ s.t.	Stefan Schumacher (Ger) @ s.t.	267.4 km 39.642	197s 72f
Sep 28 2008	Varese Italy	Alessandro Ballan (It) 6hr 37min 30sec	Damiano Cunego (It) @ 3sec	Matti Breschel (Den) @ s.t.	260.25 km 39.283	205s 77f
Sep 27 2009	Mendrisio Switzerland	Cadel Evans (Australia) 6hr 56min 26sec	Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) @ 27sec	Joaquin Rodriguez (Sp) @ s.t.	262.2 km 37.777	202s 108f
Oct 3 2010	Melbourne Australia	Thor Hushovd (Norway) 6hr 21min 49sec	Matti Breschel (Denmark) @ s.t.	Allan Davis (Australia) @ s.t.	259.9 km 40.842	178s 99f
Sep 25 2011	Copenhagen Denmark	Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) 5hr 40min 27sec	Matthew Harley Goss (Australia) @ s.t.	André Greipel (Germany) @ s.t.	266.0 km 45.821	209s 177f
Sep 23 2012	Valkenburg, Netherlands	Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) 6hr 10min 41sec	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway) @ 4sec	Alejandro Valverde (Spain) @ 5sec	261 km 43.541	207s 122f
Sep 29 2013	Tuscany, Italy	Rui Alberto Faria da Costa 7hr 35min 44sec	Joaquin Rodriguez @ s.t.	Alejandro Valverde @ 15sec	272.26 km 36.648	208s 61f
Sep 28 2014	Ponferrada, Spain	Michal Kwiatkowski 6hr 29min 7sec	Simon Gerrans @ 1sec	Alejandro Valverde @ s.t.	254.8 km 39.288	204s 95f
Sept 27 2015	Richmond, VA, USA	Peter Sagan 6hr 14min 37sec	Michael Matthews @ 3sec	Ramunas Navardauskas @ s.t.	261.4 km 41.867	191s 110f
2016	Doha, Qatar	Peter Sagan 5hr 40min 43sec	Mark Cavendish @ s.t.	Tom Boonen @ s.t.	257.3 km 45.310	197s 53f
2017	Bergen, Norway	Peter Sagan 6hr 28min 11sec	Alexander Kristoff @ s.t.	Michael Matthews @ s.t.	267.5 km 41.346 km/hr	195s 132f
2018	Innsbruck, Austria	Alejandro Valverde 6hr 46min 41sec	Romain Bardet @ s.t.	Michael Woods @ s.t.	258 km 38.064 km/hr	188s 76f
2019	Yorkshire, U.K.	Mads Pedersen 6hr 27min 28sec	Matteo Trentin @ s.t.	Stefan Küng @ 2sec	261.8 km 40.540 km/hr	197s 46f
2020	Imola, Italy	Julian Alaphilippe 6hr 38min 34sec	Wout Van Aert @ 24sec	Marc Hirschi @ s.t.	258.2 km 38.869 km/hr	174s 88f
2021	Flanders, Belgium	Julian Alaphilippe 5hr 56min 34sec	Dylan Van Baarle @ 32sec	Michael Valgren @ s.t.	268.3km 45.147 km/hr	194s 68f
2022	Wollongong, Australia	Remco Evenepoel 6hr 16min 8sec	Christophe Laporte @ 2min 21sec	Michael Matthews @ s.t.	266.9 km 42.575 km/hr	169s 103f
2023	Glasgow, Scotland	Mathieu van der Poel 6hr 7min 27sec	Wout van Aert @ 1min 37sec	Tadej Pogacar @ 1min 45sec	271.1 km 44.267 km/hr	193s 51f