In just 200 days, Montréal will host the 2026 UCI Road World Championships. The discipline’s flagship annual event will take place from September 20 to 27 in the Canadian metropolis, the largest city in the province of Quebec.
It will be the biggest sporting event organized in Montréal since the 1976 Summer Olympic Games, with 13 events on the program (individual time trials, road races and team time trial – mixed relay) and some 1,000 riders competing across the Elite, Under-23 and Junior categories, for both men and women.
The Men Elite and Women Elite road races will start in Brossard, a city located south of Montréal in the Montérégie region. The men will then pass through seven other municipalities in the region: Carignan, Chambly, Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Richelieu, Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Saint-Mathias-sur Richelieu. The women will ride through Brossard, Carignan, Chambly and Richelieu. This first part of the course along the South Shore of the St. Lawrence River will take the pelotons through vibrant autumnal orchards and pass through numerous towns celebrating their annual apple festivals, the regional speciality of this part of Quebec, as the harvest reaches its peak. Between rivers and hills, farmland and urban centers, the route will also offer an immersion into the rich historical, cultural and natural heritage of Montérégie.
The peloton will then head towards the final Mount Royal circuit via the Samuel-De Champlain Bridge. Inaugurated in 1876 and designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also created Central Park in New York (United States), Mount Royal is an iconic natural space in the heart of Montréal and a great source of pride for its residents, renowned for its spectacular views, winding roads and unique heritage. Crossing the Samuel De Champlain Bridge — used for a sporting event for the first time — will offer striking views of the St. Lawrence River and the Montréal skyline.
The final circuit (twelve laps for the men, eight for the women) will feature several major challenges: the Voie Camillien-Houde, the Chemin de la Polytechnique and its sections with gradients exceeding 11%, and the false flat rising along Avenue du Parc, which will serve as the finish for all 13 events. The Men Elite race will cover 273.7km with 3,803m of elevation gain, while the Women Elite race will span 180.4km with 2,570m of elevation gain. Most of this circuit has been used since 2010 for the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, part of the UCI WorldTour.
For the individual time trials, the Men Elite and Women Elite riders will share the same course (39.2km for 220m elevation gain) laid out around Montréal. The route will notably pass through Old Montréal, along the banks of the St. Lawrence River – using newly-created bike lanes that will form part of the events legacy, the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit, home of the Formula 1 Grand Prix, and Parc Jean-Drapeau, an iconic park created for Expo 67, comprising two picturesque islands in the heart of the St. Lawrence River, before crossing the Concorde Bridge to return to the heart of the city.
The UCI is also pleased to announce that anyone wishing to test themselves on the Mont Royal final circuit of the road races (13.4km with 269m elevation gain) may already ride it on their home trainer by connecting to the free-of-charge virtual indoor cycling platform MyWhoosh, Main Partner of the 2026 UCI Road World Championships.
A city of sport, culture and major events, Montréal combines organizational expertise with passionate public support. Host of the annual Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, a one-day men’s event that, together with the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec are the only UCI WorldTour events in America, the city is set to write a new chapter of its cycling history this year, having previously staged the first UCI World Championships for road cycling held outside Europe, in 1974.
For more information on the 2026 UCI Road World Championships in Montréal: 2026 UCI Road World Championships General Information Bulletin.
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