Small nations, rising stars, and the home advantage – Eight side quests and subplots to follow at the Montreal World Championships

The UCI Road World Championships are invariably compelling, from the opening countdown of the individual time trials all the way through to the final riders crossing the line at the end of the gruelling road races. Across age categories, the men and women at the top of the sport battle for 13 rainbow jerseys, this year in Montreal, Canada.

As the event approaches, you'll certainly read a host of articles assessing the favourites for victory but, let’s be honest, when it comes to sport, we all love an underdog story. A side quest if you will, shooting off from the main narratives, with characters who will bring the races to life, even if they may not ultimately be the victors.

With trade team loyalties set aside, and national pride coming to the fore, there’s even more at stake, and though the headline acts will undoubtedly have their say, there’s always space for unexpected heroes to add their names to the history books.

Before the Worlds kick off this weekend, here are some of the side quests, storylines and subplots you should be following this year on the streets of Montreal.

United nations

The beauty of a World Championships is not just in the necessary shift from trade team tactics to national allegiances, but the impact that your nationality has on your chances in the race.

While the likes of Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Italy, and Spain have an embarrassment of riches to select from, for those riders representing smaller nations, opportunism must take over.

Take last year’s breakaway story Red Walters, the sole representative for Granada, shooting his shot in the biggest race in the world, or the solo riders from Monaco and Malta, Victor Langelotti and Andrea Mifsud, mixing it with the big guns in the lead group in the European Championships road race last autumn. Minor characters making sure the story is all about them, even if only for a brief while.

When it comes to an outsider who could make it all the way, look no further than five-time Latvian national champion Toms Skujiņš, who has an uncanny knack for not only choosing the right moves to go in, but having the legs to back it up. Skujiņš has finished in the top 10 in the past three elite road races at the World Championships – twice in the top five – and fourth at the Olympics in Paris. He is overdue a big win, and if he can engineer his way into the lead group, the course is perfectly suited to his capabilities.

On the women’s side, the lone representative from Luxembourg could well be this year’s tip for an upset; their in-form national champion Nina Berton will hope to fly the flag for her country in the elite women’s road race, and like her EF Education-Oatly teammate Magdeleine Vallieres last year, perhaps she could spring the most audacious of surprises.

The lesser-known race against the clock

The increasing prevalence of mixed relays across various sports seems to be more than just a passing fad. There is something truly compelling about mixing the best from both genders within a competitive environment, and athletics, swimming and para-cycling have all produced excellent events featuring mixed competitors.

Cycling’s mixed time trial relay has been running in its current format since 2019 and has developed into one of the most underrated events of the World Championships programme – the ultimate side quest of rainbow jerseys.

Michael Matthews gritting his teeth up the final climb and Amanda Spratt clawing her way back to the wheel of Brodie Chapman at the climax of last year’s event to bring home a hard-fought victory for Australia over France and Switzerland made for fantastic viewing – the top three teams were separated by a margin of just 10 seconds in the end. For the nations who put together strong teams, the rare chance to win a rainbow jersey is not one to be taken lightly.

Watch this race – you will not be disappointed.

Big dreams, golden opportunities

Michael Matthews may be a two-time world champion in the mixed time trial relay, but he has made no secret of his desire to achieve one of the biggest goals in cycling – to win the men’s elite road race. Matthews is no stranger to success; with 10 Grand Tour stages to his name he is a master of managing tough courses, and has previous in Canada, having won both WorldTour one-day races on Canadian soil.

The Montréal course may appear too challenging for a green jersey winner, with over 3,800m of elevation, but Matthews’ most recent Tour de France stage win in 2022 included a similar amount of climbing over a shorter distance.

Pogačar’s absence leaves the men’s road race wide open, and Matthews will relish the golden opportunity afforded by the absence of the reigning world champion, who he also calls a friend. Matthews affirms his ability to tap into a greater resource and dig deep when he pulls on his national kit, and with the support of a strong Australian squad, he will be ready to shoot his shot.

Africa rising

Biniam Girmay and Kim Le Court-Pienaar have raised the profile of African cycling over the past few seasons, but there’s still a great deal of work to be done to bring talented riders to the mainstream cycling calendar, though teams such as BikeAID and Canyon-SRAM Generation are doing their best to offer space to allow riders from less well represented nations to develop.

This year, look out for two big talents from Africa in the under-23 categories. For the women, reigning Ethiopian time trial champion Tsige Kahsay Kiros made a big impression in last year’s women’s junior road race, finishing seventh in a race won by Movistar’s Paula Ostiz. This year she will move up to the ultra-competitive women’s U23 category, but don’t count her out.

In the men’s U23, Nahom Efriem of Eritrea will seek to make a similar impact, following his impressive 11th place finish in the men’s junior road race last year – the best result for any male African rider at the event. Riding for BikeAID, Efriem has recorded some strong results in Europe this season.

In a one-day race, anything can happen, and riders who rarely have the opportunity to shine at the top level will seize the chance to elevate themselves, their home nations, and African cycling, in the eyes of the cycling world.

Dutch TT understudies

It may seem somewhat ridiculous to consider a Dutch woman as a supporting character, but hear me out. By far the most successful and populous nation in the women’s peloton, Dutch riders have been responsible for a remarkable 47% of the total victories at the top level of women’s cycling so far in 2026.

In the elite time trial, however, there is one stand-out favourite, Switzerland's Marlen Reusser. Overcoming the experienced powerhouse looking to defend a title she first won in Kigali last year will be a tall order, but if any nation can hope to challenge her, it will be the Netherlands, who boast a strong pedigree riding against the clock.

While this season’s double Grand Tour winner Demi Vollering will garner the most headlines heading into the event, the Dutch also have an under-the-radar rider in the form of Visma-Lease a Bike’s Lieke Nooijen. The 25-year-old put in a stunning ride at the Tour de France Femmes to finish just four seconds behind time trial victor Reusser, so to challenge Switzerland, the Netherlands have been wise to look to Nooijen for the solution.

The future is now

Though the elite road races are often the domain of the more experienced riders in the peloton, on occasion young riders can make waves at a higher level – case in point, Paul Seixas’ debut in Kigali, in which he finished as France’s highest placed finisher. Seixas skipped the U23 category to head straight to the elites, and this year, a future potential rival takes the same step, albeit with one major difference.

Italian 19-year-old Lorenzo Finn is only three months younger than Seixas, and he opted to ride his first year at U23 level in 2025, winning at the first possible opportunity. The U23 world champion went on to win the two bellwether development races in 2026 – the Giro Next Gen and the Tour de l’Avenir – giving new Italian head coach Roberto Amadio the evidence he needed to promote Finn to the elite squad for the Montréal road race.

It could prove an inspired move, and keeping an eye on the way both Seixas and Finn race will offer a precious window into the future of men’s cycling. Like Seixas, Finn’s youth and relative inexperience won’t hold him back from giving his all for Italy, and while France will pile the pressure onto Seixas as team leader, Finn can enjoy his first year as part of a stacked Italian line-up, with the outside chance that he could be the real outsider to watch out for, should the race go his way.

Unlikely winners

A completely different prospect to the men’s racing, which invariably sees the best rider rise to the top, women’s road races are often far less predictable, and this was never more in evidence than in the 2025 elite road race, when against the odds, Canada’s Magdeleine Vallieres used her tactical acumen and strong form to overcome Grand Tour winners, Olympic medallists, and legends of the sport on a tough Kigali course.

It was the surprise of last year’s event and with women’s cycling continuing to develop strength in depth, there’s every possibility it could happen again. With a smaller bunch and less control within the peloton, the rider with the best legs on the day can legitimately break through and upset the favourites.

There is no fear in women’s cycling, and this has been proven in recent Grand Tours, with lesser-known riders such as Petra Stiasny and Sigrid Haugset rising above the best in the business to claim memorable stage wins. The women’s elite road race is far from a side quest – it’s the main event – but there’s every chance the rider who pulls on the rainbow jersey won’t be a main character.

Home advantage

Competing on home soil in any sport gives athletes wings, an extra boost of energy that derives from national pride and the loyal support of a partisan crowd. With that in mind, could a Canadian rider deliver a surprise and delight the home fans in 2026?

Despite her valiant triumph in 2025, seeing Vallieres defend her title after a relatively quiet year would once again be a major surprise. Canada may look to Sarah Van Dam for success in the women’s elite road race, while Nadia Gontova may hope to upset the favourites in the individual time trial. Derek Gee-West must struggle against the might of Wout van Aert and Remco Evenepoel in both the time trial and the road race, but he would be a popular winner, if not a major upset.

Perhaps Canada’s greatest hope for success comes in the shape of Isabella Holmgren in the women’s U23 road race. A victory for the rider from Lidl-Trek would be far from an upset given her quality, but look out for the maple leaf jersey in the other races to see how the home riders perform.

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