What will the 2026 World Championships in Montreal look like? Who will be the favorites? The distances and elevation profiles of the routes

The Kigali World Championships have just ended, but the UCI has already approved the course for the 2026 World Championships. Here, then, are the official elevation profiles of the upcoming rainbow races. The course will be 95% similar to the classic GP de Montréal, featuring a circuit of about 12 kilometers with 269 meters of elevation gain.

Each lap includes the Côte Camillien-Houde (1.8 km at 8%), the Côte de Polytechnique (780 meters at 6%, max 11%), the Pagnuelo (535 meters at 7.5%), and the final climb on Avenue du Parc (560 meters with an average gradient of 4%).

The circuit will be repeated 12 times in the men’s elite race and 8 times in the women’s (profiles below). The men’s race will total 273.2 kilometers, while the women’s will be 180 kilometers. A different story for the time trials, which, as in previous years, will have the same length: 39 kilometers. It will be a flat, specialist-friendly time trial, except for the uphill finish.

The favorites for the men’s road race are more or less the same as in recent years: riders suited to the classics. Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel, Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, Mads Pedersen… the usual big names of recent seasons. With an elevation gain under 4000 meters, the race will clearly be decided on the final circuit. Tadej Pogačar, boosted by his Canadian classic win in 2024 and his parade finish with McNulty this year, will once again start as the clear favorite.

The World Championship week will begin on September 20 and conclude on September 27. Before that, however, the GP de Montréal is expected to take place.

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