The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) today announced the successful bids for an unprecedented number of upcoming UCI World Championships. In a demonstration of the sport’s continued globalisation and the UCI’s strong desire to take the sport to new territories and regions, eleven countries, including Turkey – a first in the history of UCI World Championships – Canada, Poland, Germany and the USA, have been awarded hosting rights for 15 flagship events across seven cycling disciplines up to 2020.
Among the successful bids are Yorkshire (Great Britain), which will host the 2019 UCI Road World Championships, Mont-Sainte-Anne (Canada), which has been awarded the 2019 UCI Mountain Bike (and Masters Mountain Bike) World Championships and Heusden-Zolder (Belgium) and Houston (USA), which will stage the 2019 and 2020 UCI BMX World Championships respectively. The 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships will be held in Berlin (Germany).
In addition, the UCI has announced that every two years, the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships will be held at the UCI World Cycling Centre (UCI WCC) Velodrome, situated at the headquarters of the International Federation in Aigle, Switzerland. The decision was made as part of the UCI’s ongoing strategy to help nurture and grow track cycling for young athletes by ensuring competing nations are fully supported through the state-of-the-art resources and facilities at the UCI’s Home of Cycling.
The full list of upcoming UCI World Championships and hosts is:
• 2017 UCI Mountain Bike Four-cross World Championships – Val di Sole, Italy
• 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships – Maniago, Italy
• 2018 and 2020 UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships – Aigle, Switzerland
• 2018 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships – Auronzo, Italy
• 2018 UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships – Liège, Belgium
• 2019 UCI Road World Championships – Yorkshire, Great Britain
• 2019 UCI Mountain Bike (and Masters Mountain Bike) World Championships – Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada
• 2019 UCI BMX World Championships – Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
• 2019 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships – Emmen, the Netherlands
• 2019 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships – Poznan, Poland
• 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Berlin, Germany
• 2020 UCI BMX World Championships – Houston, USA
• 2020 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships – Oostende, Belgium
• 2020 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships – Sakarya, Turkey
The announcement was made at the end of the first day of the UCI Management Committee meeting, which is taking place in Doha, Qatar, during the 2016 UCI Road World Championships. It is the first time that these Championships are organised in the Middle East, and only the second time that they are held within the Asian Confederation.
UCI President Brian Cookson said: “We are delighted to be able to reveal the names of so many new hosts from such a wide range of countries around the world and we look forward to working closely with the successful cities and regions in the coming months and years as we build towards each of these UCI World Championships.
“We were especially impressed by the strength of interest in hosting our flagship events, as demonstrated by the sheer number and calibre of the bids we received. The UCI is committed to expanding the reach of cycling worldwide and ensuring the sport continues to grow in both established and emerging markets.”
