Last year, Magdeleine Vallieres Mill became the first Canadian to win an Elite road race at the UCI Road World Championships, and as if coming back as the defending champion wasn’t going to be stressful enough, she gets to do it in her home country.
There’s no doubt the 25-year-old deserves to be on the list of top contenders at the 2026 UCI Road World Championships, but she’ll now have some of the most eager and experienced riders from across the globe keeping a close eye on her.
More than 175 women will line up for the Women Elite Road Race in Montreal on Sept. 26. It’s the second-to-last of this year’s 13 races, and every minute will be broadcast live on FloBikes and the FloSports app for subscribers in the United States.
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The competition at the 2026 UCI Road Worlds will begin Sept. 20 and run through Sept. 27. The action will begin with the Elite time trials and conclude with the Men Elite Road Race.
The Elite women will get underway Sept. 26 at 9 a.m. Eastern and face a 180.4-kilometer journey from Brossard-Montérégie into the heart of Montreal that includes eight laps of the fame Mont Royal Circuit.
The women’s race was held for the first time in 1958, with riders for the Netherlands winning 14 times on the way to 37 total medals. France is second on the all-time wins list with 10.
Along with Mill, this year’s field includes two-time world road race winner Lotte Kopecky of Belgium (2023, 2024), along with a handful of other riders who have claimed gold medals and rainbow jerseys in other events and disciplines.
Here’s a look at some of the favorites and a few of their top accomplishments:
Lotte Kopecky, Belgium
- Won the Elite road race at the UCI Road Worlds in 2023 and 2024; Was the runner-up in 2022
- Three-time winner at the Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen) in 2022, 2023 and 2025
- 2026 winner at Milano-Sanremo Women
Demi Vollering, Netherlands
- No. 1 rider in the latest UCI Women’s World Tour rankings (as of Aug. 18, 2026)
- Elite road race runner-up at the UCI Road Worlds in 2023
- Five Grand Tour victories – Tour de France Femmes (2023, 2026), La Vuelta Femenina (2024, 2025), Giro d’Italia Women (2026)
Elisa Longo Borghini, Italy
- Bronze medalist in the Elite road race at the UCI Road Worlds in 2012, 2020 and 2024
- Seven-time national road race champion in Italy
- Won the Giro d’Italia Women in 2024 and 2025
Magdeleine Vallieres Mill, Canada
- Defending champion in the Elite road race at the UCI Road World Championships
- Won the Junior road race and time trial at the 2019 Canadian National Junior Road Championships
- Will be joined in Montreal by three-time Canadian road race champion Alison Jackson (2021, 2023, 2025)
Read more: Magdeleine Vallières Mill Will Defend The Rainbow Jersey At Home In Canada
Kristen Faulkner, United States
- Olympic Road Race winner in 2024
- Road race champion at 2024 and 2025 USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships
- Won two stages and the Mountains Classification at the 2022 Giro d’Italia women
Other riders to watch: Kimberley Le Court, Mauritius; Puck Pieterse, Netherlands; Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney, Poland; Marlen Reusser, Switzerland; Kate Courtney, United States.
With the Road World Championships just a couple days away, the list of expected participants has ballooned to more than 1,700, hailing from 100 nations.
The Women Elite Road Race is expected to have 177 entries representing 57 countries. To see the complete list of participants, click here.
On the men’s side, which we’ll cover separately, there will be 252 entries from 62 nations.
One top contender, also the two-time reigning champion and easily the early favorite in the road race, won’t be there. That’s Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogačar, who crashed out of the recent Vuelta a España and chose to end his season prematurely to focus on his recovery.
The five-time Tour de France winner, including 2024, 2025 and 2026, wrecked during Stage 8 of the 21-stage Vuelta, which was held Aug. 22 through Sept. 13. He was leading the race by nearly four minutes, but he left in an ambulance with a fractured collarbone that ultimately required season-ending surgery.
About Montreal And Its History In Cycling
Montreal and the surrounding areas certainly are familiar with top-tier bike racing and sporting events, including the recent one-day Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on Sept. 13.
But the history goes back even further.
In the 1970s, Montreal was a hotspot for elite athletic competition, including the 1974 UCI Road World Championships, which marked the first time the event had been held outside of Europe.
The world’s best road cyclists returned to Canada (Hamilton, Ontario) in 2003 for the Road World Championships, and this year’s visit to Montreal will include celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Montreal Summer Olympics in 1976.
How To Watch The 2026 UCI Road World Championships
For viewers in the United States, the 2026 UCI Road World Championships will be streaming on FloBikes and the FloSports app.
Highlights, race replays and breaking news will be available on both platforms.
Stage highlights, replays and more breaking news, including recaps and rider interviews, will be on both platforms.
2026 UCI Road World Championships Schedule
Date, event, (start – finish), start time
*All Times Eastern
- Sept. 20 – Women’s Elite Individual Time Trial (Avenue du Parc – Parc Jeanne Mance), 9 a.m.
- Sept. 20 – Men’s Elite Individual Time Trial (Avenue du Parc – Parc Jeanne Mance), 12:45 p.m.
- Sept. 21 – Women’s U23 Individual Time (Avenue du Parc – Parc Jeanne Mance), 9 a.m.
- Sept. 21 – Men’s U23 Individual Time Trial (Avenue du Parc – Parc Jeanne Mance), noon
- Sept. 22 – Team Time Trial Mixed Relay (Avenue du Parc – Parc Jeanne Mance), 8:30 a.m.
- Sept. 22 – Men’s Junior Individual Time Trial (Avenue du Parc – Parc Jeanne Mance), 12:15 p.m.
- Sept. 22 – Women’s Junior Individual Time Trial (Avenue du Parc – Parc Jeanne Mance), 3:15 p.m.
- Sept. 24 – Women’s U23 Road Race (Parc Jeanne Mance), 9 a.m.
- Sept. 24 – Men’s Junior Road Race (Parc Jeanne Mance), 1:30 p.m.
- Sept. 25 – Men’s U23 Road Race (Parc Jeanne Mance), 9 a.m.
- Sept. 25 – Women’s Junior Road Race (Parc Jeanne Mance), 2:15 p.m.
- Sept. 26 – Women’s Elite Road Race (Quartier Dix30 – Parc Jeanne Mance), 9 a.m.
- Sept. 27 – Men’s Elite Road Race (Quartier Dix30 – Parc Jeanne Mance), 9 a.m.
The time in Montreal matches Eastern Daylight Time.
Who Were The Winners At The 2025 UCI Road World Championships?
Elite Events
- Men’s Road Race – Tadej Pogačar, Slovenia
- Men’s Time Trial – Remco Evenepoel, Belgium
- Women’s Road Race – Magdeleine Vallieres Mill, Canada
- Women’s Time Trial – Marlen Reusser, Switzerland
- Mixed Relay – Australia
Under-23 Events
- Men’s U23 Road Race – Lorenzo Finn, Italy
- Men’s U23 Time Trial – Jakob Soderqvist, Sweden
- Women’s U23 Road Race – Celia Gery, France
- Women’s U23 Time Trial – Zoe Backstedt, Great Britain
Junior Events
- Men’s Junior Road Race – Henry Hudson, Great Britain
- Men’s Junior Time Trial – Michiel Mouris, Netherlands
- Women’s Junior Road Race – Paula Ostiz, Spain
- Women’s Junior Time Trial – Megan Arens, Netherlands
About The UCI Road World Championships
The UCI Road World Championships boasts more than a century of history and tradition, though it took a gradual evolution to become the spectacle it is today.
The amateur-only debut of the event came in 1921, followed by the inclusion of professional in 1927. The addition of a women’s category came in 1958, and youth categories were added to the menu in 1975.
The weeklong UCI Road World Championships also now includes a team time trial mixed relay (2019) and a U23 women’s title (2022), which was earned in a standalone women’s event for the first time in 2025.
In 2026, the schedule includes 13 separate events over the eight days of competition.
The winners are considered the world champions and get to wear the rainbow jersey during all competitions of the same discipline during the following season.
In 2025, the UCI Road World Championships was held Kigali, Rwanda, in Southeast Africa, marking the first time in race history the action took place on the continent of Africa. All of the news, notes and results from last year can be found here.
For those who are ready to see what happens in Montreal in 2026, the complete schedule is listed below.
Is This This Year An American Brings Home A Rainbow Jersey From The UCI Road World Championships?
The biggest stars from around the globe are headed to Montreal for the 2026 UCI Road World Championships, where 13 titles will be up for grabs.
Team USA is stacked. How many rainbow jerseys will be coming back to the United States?
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FloBikes is the streaming home to some of the best cycling from across the globe. Check out the broadcast schedule to watch more of your favorites in action.
FloBikes Archived Footage
Video footage from each event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloBikes subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.