STATE OF THE NATIONS – Road Cycling World Champs Retrospective

Montreal hosted the 2026 Road Cycling World Championships on a compelling parcours. There was climbing, although focused into smaller climbs rather than one big climb per circuit.

This led to some intriguing racing and a star-studded podium in the Women’s Elite race – but also raised questions – as Peter Barnes explains.

The Canadian course for the 2026 Road Cycling World Championships revealed interesting lessons for viewers. In the junior race, Spain were supreme again, netting their second World Champion in as many years, this time with Alejandra Neira.

It seems that after years of GB being on the top of the juniors with Zoë Bäckstedt and then Cat Ferguson, now it is Spain who rule the roost.

For the Under-23 race, Viktoria Chladonova (below) took a victory for Slovakia after coming second in the junior ranks back in Switzerland. Team Visma-Lease a Bike have a real talent on their hands with Chladonova showing her potential here.

The top-three in the World Championships Elite race were also the top-three in the most recent Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift, which the BBC commentators were quick to laud as a good thing.

But is it really a good thing?

When Puck Pieterse did her final turn at the front of the peloton to launch her compatriot Demi Vollering, the race became a monumental battle. Only four riders plus Puck were at the front of the race and each kilometre brought something new.

For every rider the race seemed to oscillate between being over and them being back with a chance at victory.

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney tried valiantly to overcome Vollering (below) in the sprint and even risked losing by refusing to work with her, in the hope she could save enough energy for the victory.

Elisa Longo-Borghini threatened to catch the lead duo and break both their hearts, and Marlen Reusser kept coming back with an irrepressible force, undeterred.

By all accounts it was an interesting and entertaining race. However, it was longer than the maximum distance allowed for a women’s road race (160km) – but the UCI can give dispensation to races to exceed this maximum, and as it was the UCI World Championships, they allowed it.

With the race being so long, only those with exceptional stamina – and typically the strongest riders – came to the fore. As an idealist, you would want the strongest rider to become the champion and represent what a champion is. However, this negates the chances of a vast majority of the field.

New stars?

The previous year in Rwanda, the racing was incredibly open and a shock winner took the crown in Magdeleine Vallieres. This meant a new star was born and there were more chances for a lesser-known rider to get visibility.

For me the platonic ideal of a world championships race is one where multiple riders have a chance of victory, a delicate balance between tactics and power, finesse and force, brains and brawn.

In Montreal the race skewed more to the power side, but tactics were still important and Vollering showed she is a fully-fledged champion.

Photos: Instagram