The UCI inaugurates a new World Championships format in Scotland

Christophe Laporte, Remco Evenepoel and Michael Matthews on the final podium of the 2022 road world championship.

The universal cycling festival will have its first edition in history starting today in Glasgow. Of course, this is not the first World Championships of this traditional Olympic sport, but it will be the first time that the International Cycling Union (UCI) will have its 13 disciplines on two wheels meeting simultaneously.

Similar to what World Aquatics does with all its branches every two years -from pool races to high-altitude jumps-, the UCI will hold an unprecedented event in the Scottish city, which will include activities on the road, at the velodrome, in the mountains and in the BMX parks.

Road cycling will start tomorrow, Friday, and will end on August 13. As always, there will be five elite world titles at stake: men’s and women’s singles, the men’s and women’s time trials and the mixed team time trial. To this will be added the possibility of obtaining places for Paris 2024, since the first four placed in each test will ensure a place for their countries (not nominal).

The star Remco Evenepoel will defend his title in the individual road race. At the age of 23, the Belgian has been having a great season, despite having to leave the Giro d’Italia due to a positive COVID test. The runner-up of the Tour de France and Olympic bronze medalist on the road, Tadej Pogacar, who in the last World Cup was in the main peloton that accompanied Evenepoel’s solo victory, will also seek to star in Glasgow.

The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome will host the action on the track, with Olympic qualification points at stake. A total of 22 world titles and the coveted rainbow jerseys will be defined there: 11 for men, 11 for women, including the Paris 2024 Olympic disciplines of individual sprinting, team sprinting, keirin, team pursuit, Madison and Omnium.

The Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen is the undisputed king of track racing today. After winning the sprint and the keirin at the February European Championships in Grenchen, it’s hard to imagine his reign ending anytime soon. Among women, the one hoping to climb the podium is the two-time Keirin Olympic medalist, the Malaysian Azizulasni Awang. Local hopes are pinned on Tokyo 2020 sprint bronze medalist, Jack Carlin, who has six medals worldwide but is still looking for his first gold medal.

In BMX, the best freestylers in the world will be in Glasgow showing their best tricks to score points to qualify for the next Olympic Games. Japan’s Rim Nakamura aims to retain her world title from last year in Abu Dhabi, while reigning women’s champion, Hannah Roberts, will be looking for her fifth rainbow jersey.

Colombian Mariana Pajón, double Olympic champion and silver medalist in Tokyo 2020 in BMX races, will be in Scotland dreaming of her sixth world title. Despite having suffered several injuries, Pajón closed last season with a World Cup win in Colombia, and also took the top of the podium at the Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023. With his sights set on Paris 2024, which would be his fourth Olympic Games, Pajón is one of the main stars to watch in the 2023 BMX Racing World Championship.

Downhill mountain bike competitions will be set in the background of the Nevis mountain range. On the other side of Scotland, Glentress Forest in the Tweed Valley will host endurance racing. Cross country competitions will also take place in Glentress, a paradise for cross country fans located 85 km southwest of Glasgow.