Montréal 2026 has unveiled the 13 official courses for the upcoming UCI Road World Championships. The highlight of the road races will be Mount Royal, with its demanding climb and 13.4 km circuit—52 years after Eddy Merckx and Geneviève Gambillon were crowned there during the first-ever UCI Road World Championships held outside Europe.
Kigali, September 26, 2025 – The local organizing committee today presented all the official courses of the UCI Road World Championships Montréal 2026, which will take place from September 20 to 27, 2026. At the heart of the routes: a challenging 13.4 km circuit around Mount Royal, the defining feature of the road races.
The announcement was made in Kigali, Rwanda, during the 2025 UCI Road World Championships, in the presence of a Montréal 2026 delegation joined by dignitaries from Québec and Canada.
The two Elite road races will start in Brossard, Montérégie, before passing through seven other municipalities in the region and crossing the Samuel De Champlain Bridge to reach the final Mount Royal circuit. Riders will face several major challenges, including the Camillien-Houde climb (2.3 km at a 6.2% average gradient), the Polytechnique climb with sections over 11%, and the uphill false flat on Parc Avenue—the common finish line for all 13 events.
The time trials will take on the same 39.9 km circuit around Montréal, featuring the Gilles-Villeneuve Circuit and Parc Jean-Drapeau, before crossing the Concorde Bridge into the city centre.
With these courses, Montréal 2026 aims to combine sporting excellence with a showcase of the region's beauty: rivers, mountains, orchards, and urban landscapes will provide a unique setting, reflecting both the city's international outlook and its proud local roots.
The UCI Road World Championships will be the city's largest sporting event since the 1976 Olympic Games, with 13 events (time trials, road races, and mixed relay), bringing together nearly a 1,000 cyclists across Junior, under 23 years old, and Elite categories, men and women alike.
On Sunday, during the closing ceremony of the 2025 UCI Road World Championships, Mr. David Lappartient, President of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) will officially hand over the UCI flag to Mr. Joseph Limare, General Manager of Montréal 2026, Mr. Alain Vaillancourt, Executive Committee Member of the City of Montréal responsible for Public Security, and Ms. Mylène Gagnon, Vice-President, Sales and Convention Services at Tourisme Montréal. This highly symbolic gesture marks the transition from Kigali to Montréal and the official start of the countdown to September 2026.
