Montréal made history in 1974 as the first city outside Europe to host the UCI Road World Championships. Its return as host in 2026 is a well-deserved recognition for one of the most vibrant sporting metropolises in North America.
The 2026 UCI Road World Championships take place from 20 to 27 September. The start and finish of the races will be at the foot of Mont Royal, the same iconic site that hosted the circuit 52 years earlier.
Beyond the races themselves, this edition stands out for the warmth of its host city. Designated a UCI Bike City in August 2023, Montréal combines hosting major events on the UCI International Calendar with the promotion of everyday cycling, which is rising sharply. It's a major sporting city, recognised around the world for its quality of life and the inimitable atmosphere of its neighbourhoods.
Throughout the summer, the Lachine Tuesday Criteriums have offered local riders a popular weekly meet-up for nearly 50 years, while the much-loved Tour de l'Île de Montréal lets thousands of cyclists ride safely each year through streets closed to traffic. Then in September, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal draws the international peloton to Mont Royal, just days after its sister race, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec.
This year, the Québec metropolis is very proud to welcome 1,000 athletes from around a hundred nations to its streets, a record turnout in America!
A city-wide celebration
Montréal will showcase its famous festive spirit with a host of free activities and entertainment along the race route. Six of the boroughs the athletes will pass through, Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, Le Sud-Ouest, Outremont, Verdun, and Ville-Marie, will set up giant screens so no one misses the action.
In addition, two exhibitions explore the city's cycling history. The Université de Montréal invites sports enthusiasts to discover “UdeM à vélo”, an open-air exhibition tracing the institution's ties to cycling, from the velodrome built on its campus for the 1974 Championships to its contribution to the design of the bike-share system BIXI. Meanwhile, the MEM – Centre des mémoires montréalaises –, is exhibiting photographs documenting 52 years of cycling in Montréal.
With so many visitors expected in Montréal, the city is also taking the opportunity to highlight its technological know-how. Since August, an AI-powered mascot, Bagel, has been answering the public's questions about the Championships online, making information easier to access.
A legacy beyond the UCI Road World Championships
With the 2026 UCI Road World Championships, Montréal intends to write a new chapter in its sporting history, while giving the public a chance to admire the world's best cyclists in action. The athletes will surely leave a lasting legacy, inspiring the next generation and sparking new passions. The Championships also give the city a golden opportunity to encourage its citizens of all ages toward an active, healthy lifestyle, while promoting everyday sport. Residents will soon have access to a new BIXI mega-station near the Université de Montréal campus, a legacy of the 2026 UCI Road World Championships.
A cycling city
Hosting such a prestigious event once again positions Montréal as a major sporting city of international standing, giving it tremendous visibility and reach. The 2026 UCI Road World Championships further cement Montréal's position as a reference point for active mobility and cycling.
In the 2025 Copenhagenize Index, the biennial global ranking of bike-friendly cities, Montréal ranked first in North America and 15th in the world, well ahead of well-known American cycling cities.
With more than 1,100 km of bike paths, Montréal has an extensive, secure cycling network, alongside the year-round BIXI, which logged 14.2 million trips in 2025. It's a great way to get around the city, and to discover, or rediscover, it during the Championships by checking out Montréal's bike path map!