This year’s World Championships are especially exciting for me as I will in attendance in Scotland! I was last able to attend a World Championships in 1986 at Colorado Springs. Still in High School, I was only able to see the Men’s, Women’s, and Amateur Road Races held on the grounds of the Air Force Academy, and what a treat!
This year we will enjoy the Mountain, Road, and Track events over a two-week period in a veritable celebration of cycling! Winners of the rainbow jersey compete in it for the entirety of the next year. Even after relinquishing the jersey to the next winner, past winners may wear the rainbow stripes on the cuffs and collars of their jersey for the remainder of their careers, such is the achievement! I can’t wait to be there for the international color, spectacle, and passion in person!
Test your knowledge about the World Championships with a few brain-teasers below…
- Q1. Riders who can win both Grand Tours and one-day races like the World Road Championships were becoming increasingly rare until the emergence of this new generation of all-arounders like Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogacar. Still, the prestigious combo of the World Road Title and the Tour de France in the same year remains rare. Who was the last rider to win both in the same season?
- Q2. Scotland has precious few professional riders and none it would appear with the capacity to win the World Title. However, riders from the host nation have succeeded in winning the World’s title on several occasions. When was the last time a rider from the host nation triumphed in the Elite Men’s Road race?
- Q3. When was the last time a host nation’s rider became the Women’s World Road Champion?
- Q4. When was the last time an American stood on the podium at an elite World Road Championship?
- Q5. This year’s World Championships has been called a “Super Worlds” because Road, Track, and Mountain Bike events will all be held together in the same area at the same time! The UCI plans to hold a “Super Worlds” every four years in the year preceding the Summer Olympics to fire up the public for the following year’s Olympic competition. Mountain Bike Worlds have never before been held in conjunction with Road and Track events. Road and Track races, however, had a decades-long tradition of being held concurrently. When was the last time the public enjoyed the Road and Track World Championships together and what was the venue?
- Bonus Question: Speaking of the 1986 World Championships, which riders took the wins (and the accompanying jersey) in the Men’s, Women’s, and Amateur races?
Click to the next page to view the answers.
