Montreal to host 2026 UCI road world championships
52 years after Eddy Merckx won the rainbow jersey on Mount Royal, the big race returns
After much speculation, the news is finally here: Montreal will host the 2026 road worlds.
At the UCI Congress on Thursday, held in conjunction with the 2022 UCI road world championships in Wollongong, Australia, the governing body offically awarded the 2026 UCI Road World Championships to the city of Montréal.
The event will be organized by the promoter of the Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal, with support from Cycling Canada.
This won’t be the first time the worlds are taking place in la belle province, but it’s been a while.
In 1974, the first‐ever edition of the road worlds presented outside Europe took place on the now legendary Mount Royal circuit, with Belgium’s Eddy Merckx and France’s Geneviève Gambillon taking the rainbow jerseys. 52 years later, the event will return to Montréal, fromSeptember 20 to 27, 2026, just one week after the Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal, the first and still the only events on the UCI WorldTour presented in the Americas.
The big race will be among the major events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Montréal Summer Olympics.
“We are thrilled that the UCI Road World Championships, our annual flagship event, will return to North America, 11 years after the UCI Worlds in Richmond, Virginia, and we are just as pleased that they will be back in Canada, which hosted them in Hamilton in 2003, and in Montréal, 52 years after they were first held in Québec’s largest city. Both the country and the province love cycling, and have proved it every year for more than a decade now at the Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal , two races on the UCI WorldTour, the most prestigious men’s road cycling circuit. I have no doubt that this event, thanks to its seasoned organizing committee, which is responsible for the success of the GPCQM, will be a fantastic showcase for the sport of cycling in North America.” David Lappartient,the President of the UCI said.
For Sébastien Arsenault, the organizer of the worlds and son of Serge, who has been putting on the Grands Prix, the race is a culmination of making Canada into a destination for big races.
“Our organization has been presenting the Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal for more than ten years now, in the process making a significant contribution to one of the major objectives of the UCI: the globalization of cycling. By producing the 2026 UCI Road World Championships and acting as host broadcaster for this major gathering, we will take our commitment to the next level and confirm our heritage in the world of sports in Canada.” Sébastien said.
