UCI Cycling World Championships events in Stirling
A guide to the UCI Cycling World Championships events taking place in and around the city in August 2023.
What is the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships?
The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships will be the biggest cycling event ever held.
Organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), it will bring together 13 cycling championships that used to be held separately. This includes events in cycling disciplines like:
- BMX racing
- indoor cycling
- mountain bike cross-country
- road and time trials
The Championships will involve over 8,000 athletes from 120 countries.
From 2023 onwards, the UCI Cycling World Championships will take place every 4 years. You can find out more about the Championships on the official UCI Cycling Worlds website.
Where events will take place
The 2023 UCI World Cycling Championships will take place in Glasgow and across Scotland. This includes parts of the Stirling Council area.
You can find more detailed information about the locations of the Stirling events in the Time Trial and Road Race sections.
When events will take place
Championships events will take place across Scotland from Friday 3 August to Sunday 13 August.
Events in the Stirling area will be held on:
- Sunday 6 August (Elite Men event)
- Wednesday 9 August (Time Trial event)
- Thursday 10 August (Time Trial event)
- Friday 11 August (Time Trial event)
- Saturday 12 August (U23 Men event)
- Sunday 13 August (Elite Women event)
Why we're hosting events
Hosting Championships events will bring a range of economic and social benefits to the Stirling area. You can read about these on our benefits of hosting Championships events page.
Time Trial events, 9 to 11 August
The Time Trial events will take place on up to 48 kilometres of closed roads:
- in and around Stirling city centre
- to the west of Stirling
The world-class event will be free for spectators, taking in some of rural Stirling’s beauty spots and internationally famous attractions like Stirling Castle.
Route of Time Trial events
All riders will set off from the King’s Knot in the shadow of Stirling Castle on a course that takes them fast through the flats of the River Forth. The Men Elite will head towards Thornhill and then down to Kippen before looping back towards Stirling city centre.
The Women Elite and Men U23 will also travel towards Thornhill but will turn left down the B8031 before looping back towards the city centre.
The Junior Men and Junior Women will do a smaller loop, heading out on the same route along the A811 as the Elite and U23 races, before turning back at Gargunnock to the finish.
Once back in the city centre all the riders will make the turn on to the Corn Exchange Road before they make their final accent up a short sharp climb through centuries of Scottish history to a unique finish at Stirling Castle esplanade.
Date and Times: 9 August, 2.30pm (Men Under 23); 10 August, 11.15am (Women Junior); 10 August, 2pm (Women Elite); 11 August 10am (Men Junior), 11 August, 2.35pm (Men Elite)
Distance: 36.2km (Men Under 23/Women Elite), 13.4km (Women Junior), 22.8km (Men Junior), 47.8km (Men Elite)
Elevation: 242m (Men Under 23/Women Elite), 132m (Women Junior), 187m (Men Junior), 352m (Men Elite)
How you can watch the Time Trial events
Spectators can watch Time Trial events from a number of areas, including dedicated fan zones.
We'll share more information about these zones soon.
Road Race events, 6, 12 and 13 August
Three Road Race events will pass through the Stirling area. These events are:
- the Elite Men Race on Sunday 6 August, which will start in Edinburgh and finish in Glasgow
- the U23 Men Race on Saturday 12 August, which will start at Loch Lomond and finish in Glasgow
- the Elite Women Race on Sunday 13 August, which will start at Loch Lomond and finish in Glasgow
Routes of Road Race events
Men Elite
Riders will set off from Holyrood Park before heading up the Royal Mile and through Edinburgh's Old Town, passing under Edinburgh Castle as they head down the Mound and towards Queensferry, where they will cross the Queensferry Crossing, one of three bridges connecting Edinburgh to Fife.
Once across the bridge, the riders will head up the Fife coast before crossing back over the Firth of Forth and heading past Falkirk and the iconic Kelpies, the 30-metre-high horse-head sculptures, and the incredible engineering of the Falkirk Wheel.
The riders will then go past Bonnybridge and Denny, heading along the Carron Valley to Fintry before they climb the Crow Road, a 5.8km ascent with an average gradient of 4%. From here, they will descend into the Glasgow finishing circuit.
Entering from Glasgow’s west end, the riders will complete 10 laps of a 14.3km technical city circuit with punchy short climbs (a total of 207.2metres of climbing per lap) starting with a climb to Park Circus and panoramic views across Kelvingrove Park before heading into the city centre, passing the internationally recognised Glasgow School of Art, University of Strathclyde, the historic Glasgow Cathedral and stylish Merchant City.
The Glasgow city centre circuit then takes riders back west, passing the Gallery of Modern Art and traversing Buchanan Street, before taking in the iconic Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery and the world-renowned University of Glasgow, both striking architectural landmarks in Glasgow’s west end.
The riders will then go along the eclectic Byres Road before racing back to conclude with an exciting finishing straight at George Square where this year’s UCI Road World Champion will be crowned.
Time: 9.30am, Sunday 6 August
Location: Edinburgh to Glasgow
Distance: 271.1km
Total elevation: 3,570 metres
Women Elite (including U23 Women) and U23 Men
Starting in the village of Balloch at the foot of Loch Lomond, the Women Elite will travel out through the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park – Scotland’s first National Park – towards Gartocharn, Drymen, Balfron, and heading towards Fintry.
After passing through the Stirling area, they will move into East Dunbartonshire, heading down the Crow Road and through the towns of Lennoxtown, Torrance and Bearsden before making their way into Glasgow where they will complete six laps of the same 14.3km city centre circuit as the Men Elite before crossing the line in George Square.
The Men U23 road race will follow the same route as the Women Elite, setting off from Balloch on Saturday 12 August before completing seven laps of the Glasgow city centre circuit.
Women Elite (including U23 Women)
Date and Time: 12 noon, Sunday 13 August
Location: Loch Lomond to Glasgow
Distance: 154.1km
Total elevation: 2229 metres
U23 Men:
Time: 12 noon, 12 August 2023
Location: Loch Lomond to Glasgow
Distance: 168.4km
Total elevation: 2436 metres
Road closures
Information about closures and diversions are available on our Service updates during the UCI Cycling World Championships page.
Information on Stirling
For more information on getting to Stirling for the UCI Cycling World Championships, where to stay and how to get around the city, head to YourStirling.