The Road Cycling World Championship 2020 will take place in Imola

Image: Road bike race in Imola (Source: imago images)

 

Originally, the 2020 Road Cycling World Championships were to be held in French-speaking Switzerland (Aigle/Martigny) between September 20-27, 2020. After the Swiss Federal Council banned large events with more than 1,000 people until October 1, 2020 due to the rampant Corona pandemic, the World Championships in Switzerland had to be cancelled. Now the international cycling federation UCI has found a replacement. The 2020 UCI Road World Championships will be held in Imola and the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy from September 24-27 on a very challenging course.

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is pleased to announce that it has awarded the organization of the 2020 UCI Road World Championships to Imola. The world-famous Italian city and its Emilia-Romagna region will host the event from September 24-27. The awarding of this event follows the cancellation of the 2020 UCI Road World Championships in Aigle-Martigny, Switzerland on August 12, which meant that the UCI had to find a new organizer very quickly.

The competition program for the UCI World Championships has been adjusted in light of the current world health situation due to the Covid 19 pandemic: This year, only the races (road race and time trial) in the elite categories will be held. In fact, the majority of the top athletes in the elite men's and women's categories are already in Europe, unlike their younger counterparts (juniors and under 23) whose national delegations cannot travel to Italy in a significant number of cases due to travel restrictions in many countries. The restriction of the program to the elite categories means that the vast majority of young athletes should not be unfairly prevented from competing.

Although the start and finish of all events will take place at the Imola Automobile Circuit, the routes proposed by the Organizing Committee stand out for their extremely demanding character: The men's road race will be 259.2 km long with a total ascent of almost 5000 m, while the length of the women's race will be 144 km with a cumulative ascent of 2750 m. The circuit (28.8 km) is the same length for the men (9 laps) and women (5 laps) and includes two difficult climbs (a total of 3 km with an average gradient of 10% and sections that reach 14%). These features will offer riders a profile comparable to Aigle-Martigny (Switzerland), which will suit boxers and climbers and should make for exciting and lively races.
The time trial course (which must be covered once by both men and women), which is fairly flat, will measure 32 km with 200 m of elevation gain, which will suit the strongest specialists of the race against the clock.

Located about 40 kilometers from Bologna, Imola hosted the 1968 UCI Road World Championships, during which Italian Vittorio Adorni and Dutchwoman Keetie van Oosten-Hage were victorious. The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari has also hosted several stage finishes of the Giro d'Italia. The organizing committee of the 2020 UCI Road World Championships Imola can therefore benefit from extensive experience in organizing international events and first-class facilities.

Program of the 2020 UCI Road World Championships:
- Thursday, September 24: Elite individual time trial women
- Friday, September 25: Men's Elite Individual Time Trial
- Saturday, September 26: Elite women's road race
- Sunday, September 27: Men's Elite Road Race.

UCI President David Lappartient said: "I congratulate the Imola Organizing Committee for the excellent quality of its bid documents, which it was able to produce in a short time. I would also like to thank the three other candidates, Peccioli (Italy), Alba Adriatica (Italy) and Haute-Saône (France), who also sent solid documentation to the UCI. It was not an easy choice, but it shows that even in these difficult times we are living through, the UCI World Championships are still very attractive for the cities and their regions.

"Although the awarding of the 2020 UCI Road World Championships to Imola is excellent news, my thoughts also go to the Aigle-Martigny organizing committee, whom I sincerely thank for their commitment and the quality of our collaboration over the past two years.

"The awarding of the UCI Road World Championships to Italy this year has great symbolic value for the UCI: in a country that has suffered enormously from the Covid 19 pandemic but has been able to confront it effectively and courageously, holding our premier annual event in its own way will be a sign of a return to normalcy in a region where the health situation is now under control.

"I am convinced that the 2020 UCI Road World Championships in Imola, despite the current difficult situation, will give us all the opportunity to witness a great sporting festival. I invite you all to follow this event in Italy, a true cycling territory, on one of the most demanding circuits in the history of the UCI Road World Championships. I look forward to following these races that promise to be great".