Highlights: 2026 Elite Road World Championships – Montreal, Canada
The 2026 UCI Road World Championships delivered attacking racing, tactical battles and dramatic finales in the Elite categories.
Elite Women
The women’s race was incredibly exciting, but the finale came down to a two-rider showdown. Demi Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney arrived at the finish together after a fiercely fought final lap. With the rainbow jersey on the line, Vollering produced the crucial kick in the sprint to claim her first elite world road-race title. Elisa Longo Borghini finished third, four seconds behind, with Marlen Reusser fourth.
For Vollering, it was a race built on patience with almost-perfectly timed aggression. She attacked early – with 39 kilometers to go and was caught some 12 kilometers before the finish. For anyone watching, it was another reminder of why world championships are so special: different tactics, different roads, national teams as opposed to trade teams and it’s a long race that can produce surprising results. Despite being caught, Vollering was determined to secure her first elite rainbow jersey and as they approached the line she outkicked Niewiadoma-Phinney to take the win.
Elite Men
The elite men’s race also delivered a proper world-championship thriller. Over 273.4km around Montreal, the race gradually whittled down the field before Brandon McNulty launched a decisive long-range attack. The American committed fully, turning the closing kilometers into a solo battle against the ever-changing chasing groups that were packed with star power like Pidcock, MvdP, Healy, Seixas, Del Torro, Evenepoel and others. At one stage, McNulty was almost reeled in but held on to take the rainbow jersey – the USA’s first elite men’s road-race world title since 1993.
Michael Matthews produced a superb burst of speed for silver, winning the sprint from the chasing group and Mathieu van der Poel completed the podium. The result was a fitting reward for McNulty’s bravado and willingness to take the race on from a distance rather than wait for the final few kilometers.
| IMAGES: UCI |