2023 World Championships in Scotland suits sprinters and Classics contenders

The 2023 Road World Championships in Scotland will suit the sprinters and Classics riders in action in this year’s World Championships in Australia, with the final circuits and finish on the city centre streets.   

Glasgow and Scotland will host the first edition of the so-called 'Super World Championships' or mega-event, with 13 cycling disciplines, including track, mountain biking and road racing, held together between August 3-13.  

The women’s elite road race will bring down the curtain on the racing on August 13, with the men’s road race on Sunday August 6, just two weeks after the Tour de France ends in Paris.

The men’s road race starts in Edinburgh and the women’s road race starts in Loch Lomond, with the finish for all the road races in central Glasgow after laps of a 14.4km urban circuit that includes several short climbs. 

The Glasgow circuit includes 193 metres of climbing per lap, around 30 metres fewer than this year’s circuit in Wollongong in Australia, and it is more technical and on city streets.  

Matteo Trentin beat Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert to win the 2018 European road race title on a similar circuit from a breakaway, and the 2023 Worlds ought to suit similar riders. Marta Bastianelli beat Marianne Vos and Lisa Brennauer in a 20-rider sprint in the women’s race.

The time trial events will be held on a circuit that starts and finishes in Sterling to the north of Glasgow, with only the Team Relay time trial held in Glasgow.  

“The spectacular and challenging routes will guarantee the show that the organisers had promised us. The athletes now have a clear vision of what awaits them in the battle for the rainbow jersey next year,” UCI president David Lappartient said.

The elite men’s road race is over 277km and includes 3.167 metres of climbing. It will start in the shadow of Arthur’s Seat, and then pass through Edinburgh’s Old Town, near Edinburgh Castle before crossing the Firth of Forth and following the Fife coastline towards Glasgow. 

The ride from Edinburgh to Glasgow is around 80km, with the rest of the race on the 14.4km circuit. 

The women’s and under-23 men’s road races start in Loch Lomond to the west of Glasgow. The women will race for 157km, with 1,930 metres of climbing, while the under-23 men cover 172km and 2,123 metres. And an extra lap in central Glasgow.  

The Glasgow circuit passes the Gallery of Modern Art and Buchanan Street, the city’s premier shopping street and the University of Glasgow in the city’s west end.

The junior road races take place on the Glasgow circuit on Saturday 5 August. The junior men will cover nine laps and 129km and the junior women 5 laps and so 72km.