2023 UCI Cycling World Championships – all you need to know

Events across Scotland

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  3 – 5 August: Mountain Bike Downhill, Fort William

  It’s all downhill in Fort William where riders take on jumps, bumps, berms and rock gardens against the clock at white-knuckle speeds of up to 80km/h. The most fearless will bomb their runs. Others will bail. Only the fastest will win the Rainbow Jersey.

• 3 – 8 August: Para-Cycling Track, Glasgow

  Old records will fall and new heroes will rise at the The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome. Only the strongest survive the trials of track racing, where six events will test the power, poise, strategy and stamina of the planet’s best para-cyclists.

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  3 – 9 August, Track, Glasgow

  The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome will be a cauldron of noise, tension and kinetic energy as riders (cyclists and para-cyclists ) reach warp speeds as they race for a place in the record books. Eleven events will be contested, each of them a unique challenge of power, poise, strategy and stamina.

• 4 and 7 August: Gran Fondo, Perthshire, Dundee and Angus

  Gran Fondo (which translates as “Big Race”) is a long-distance, mass participation event that celebrates competitive cycling. This event alone is expected to attract thousands of participants from more than 50 nations. In both Time Trials and mass start Road Races, riders of varying ages and abilities take on a beautiful but challenging course.

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  5 – 6, 8 – 13 August: Road cycling, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling and Loch Lomond

  The Road Races pits riders against each other in an all-out battle for supremacy of Scotland’s roads. Throughout these events, the world’s best cyclists will savour some of Scotland’s most spectacular scenery, with racing taking place across the country. These races will be a real highlight of our sporting calendar with stars from across the world competing.

• 6 August: Mountain Bike Cross-Country Marathon, 8 – 12 August: Mountain Bike Cross-Country, Tweed Valley

  The Mountain Bike Marathon is unique for many reasons, but the mass start - where elite riders go first, then anyone brave enough to follow - makes it special. Elite or amateur, the distance brings a mountain of challenges… literally.

  Cross-Country races sees a massive crowd of riders pour off the start line, with rough terrain, steep slopes and mud-based mayhem the order of the day as they jostle for position, biding their time to attack in sprint finishes that separate the wannabes from the medal winners.

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  8 – 10 August: BMX Freestyle Flatland, 5 – 7 August: BMX Freestyle Park, 6 – 9, 12 – 13 August: BMX Racing, Glasgow

  Glasgow is where the BMX-ing is at. Visitors can watch breakdancing on bikes with riders performing dizzying routines of skill and creativity. There’s also BMX runs on a skatepark-like course. And if that’s not enough, there’s the toughness and top speeds as BMX riders clash in sprint races.

• 9 – 12 August: Trials, Glasgow

  Riders hop, hook and wheel jump their way up, down and over purpose-built obstacles designed to test the extremes of bicycle-based agility and technical skill. Bike handling is everything as they compete for “clean” rounds where they conquer rocks, blocks and more without ever putting a foot on the floor.

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  9 – 13 August: Para-Cycling Road, Dumfries & Galloway and Glasgow

  This is where the rubber meets the road for the world’s fastest and most fearless para-cyclists. Every mile matters in ruthless contests of speed, stamina and guts. Smart racing will win the day as riders battle for every tactical advantage that will take them to gold medal glory. 

• 11 - 13 August: Indoor Cycling, Glasgow

  Prepare to be seriously wowed by Artistic Cycling where riders perform handstands on handlebars and ride their saddles like surfboards in spectacular feats of bravery, balletic balance and physical strength. The beautiful game on bikes, Cycle-Ball will be more familiar, but no less thrilling. Riders must use their wheels to control, pass and strike the ball - no feet allowed.