A tweaked schedule for the 2022 UCI Road World Championships

Published September 12, 2022 03:11AM

With the final preparation races done and dusted, the attention of the world’s peloton turn to Australia for the UCI Road World Championships.

It’s only the second time that the competition has been held in the southern hemisphere, with the other previous visit also to Australia.

The program at cycling’s biggest multi-event competition has seen plenty of change over the last decade and this year’s Wollongong worlds will see a tweaked schedule.

There is still some tradition attached to the schedule, with time trials being the discipline that opens it on Sunday, September 18.

After last year’s big shake-up, the individual time trials will be the first competitions, but the elite men’s and women’s events will be held on the same day for the first time in recent memory. The women’s TT will be first with the men’s second, and both will be ridden over the same distance.

A women’s U23 winner will be decided from the elite field after the UCI decided to add the new category to this year’s worlds.

That schedule change means that the men’s U23 event will be the only race on the Monday with both junior competitions taking place on the Tuesday. The middle Wednesday is reserved for the new mixed team relay event, which was first contested at the 2019 worlds in Yorkshire.

A day’s break on Thursday is reserved for the UCI’s congress where decisions on future worlds will be made, amongst other key decisions.

The racing picks up again with the men’s junior and U23 road races Friday, before the centerpiece weekend of competition.

The junior women will hit Saturday morning before the elite women get underway. Despite their being only two events, three rainbow jerseys will be awarded. As with the TT, a U23 women’s winner will be awarded from the elite peloton with the first eligible rider to cross the line to win the title.

As is tradition, the men’s road race will close out the eight days of competition on the final Sunday.

The 2022 UCI Road World Championships schedule

Sunday, September 18: Women’s and men’s elite time trials
Monday, September 19: Men’s U23 time trial
Tuesday, September 20: Men’s and women’s junior time trials
Wednesday, September 21: Mixed team relay
Friday, September 23: Men’s junior and U23 road races
Saturday, September 24: Women’s junior and elite road races
Sunday, September 25: Men’s elite road race