Scotland is gearing up to host a major summer sporting event as the UCI World Championships come to Glasgow and beyond.
Some of the biggest stars in cycling will compete across the country from August 3 to 13, with a predicted economic boost of £67m just in Glasgow – the main host – alone.
World champions past and reigning, Grand Tour winners and rising stars will all be racing on the road, the track and the mountains over the course of 10 days.
Here’s everything you need to know before the action gets under way.
Read More: Glasgow prepares to host biggest-ever cycling world championships
What are the UCI World Championships?
For the first time the sport’s governing body is bringing the various disciplines it oversees into one event, to be held in Scotland.
Male and female athletes will compete in road, track, BMX, mountain and para-cycling. The winner in each category earns the right to wear the rainbow jersey for the next 12 months.
In total there will be 13 disciplines, rising to 27 in France in four years’ time when cyclo-cross and gravel will be included,
Who will be there?
Some of the biggest names in road cycling will take part in the men’s road race. Slovakia’s Peter Sagan, a three-time back-to-back winner of the rainbow jersey in the past, will compete in the event for the last time while last year’s Vuelta a Espana winner and reigning world champion Remco Evenepoel is expected to defend his crown.
Julian Alaphilippe, who won in both 2020 and 2021, will be competing as will Portugal’s Joao Almeida after his podium finish at the Giro d’Italia earlier this year. Tour de France runner-up Tadej Pogacar is still considering whether to race.
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The men’s time trial will feature former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas as well as two-time winner Filippo Ganna, widely considered the best time-trialist in the world, looking to take the jersey once again. The Italian will also compete on the track as he looks to defend his individual pursuit jersey, having won the event a record five times.
Lizzie Deignan, winner of the women’s road race in 2023, will return to the World Championships, with Lizzie Holden to compete in both the road race and time trial.
At the Chris Hoy Velodrome, Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen is looking to win his fifth time trial on the spin, while Paisley’s Jack Carlin will compete in the sprint.
Germany's Lea Friedrich looks the woman to beat in the women’s sprint as she bids to regain her sprint world title from Mathilde Gros.
What lingo do I need to know?
When it comes to road cycling, many of the terms used are borrowed from European languages. The ‘peloton’ is the name for the mass group of riders, which is likely to be reduced to a ‘grupetto’ as the riders tackle the climb on the Crow Road.
A ‘domestique’ is a rider who works on behalf of his or her team leader, the person on their squad with the most chance of winning, a ‘rouleur’ is a specialist over long distances who will look to win the road race in a breakaway.
BMX is a veritable cornucopia of jargon including ‘berm’ (the embankment on the outside of a track), ‘flare’ (backflip and 180-degree rotation in the same motion) and ‘X-up’ (when the handle bars are turned a full 180 degrees).
Where will the events take place?
The track cycling and para-cycling will he held at the Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow’s East End, with the indoor cycling at the Commonwealth Arena.
BMX events will be held at Glasgow Green and the Glasgow BMX Centre, while mountain bike events will be in Glentress Forest in the Borders and the Nevis Range near Fort William.
The men and women’s elite road races will both end in George Square, with the start line in Edinburgh and Loch Lomond respectively. Road time trial events will end with a climb to Stirling Castle.
Will there be road closures?
There will be road closures in Glasgow throughout the championships, as well as in other areas when races pass through.
In Glasgow, road closures will come into effect from 00:01 on Friday August 4 until 23:59 on Tuesday, August 8.
Read More: UCI Cycling World Championships: Glasgow road closures
Closures will then come into effect once more from 00:01 on Saturday August 12 until 23:59 on Sunday August 13.
The men’s elite road race travels from Edinburgh to Glasgow, taking in locations such as the Queensferry Crossing and Crow Road and there will be closures along the route. The women’s race goes from Loch Lomond to the finish in George Square and takes in Stirling and East Dunbartonshire.
Both the men’s and women’s elite time trials finish at Stirling Castle.
Will there be parking restrictions in place?
Though the UCI Cycling World Championships don’t start until August 3, people have been warned to expect parking restrictions from Monday, July 31.
These restrictions will come into force along the road race route, with work building the courses and deploying barriers from Tuesday, August 1.
The majority of the restrictions will stay in place until the championships close on August 13.
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