The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships will take place in Glasgow and across Scotland, from 3 to 13 August. For the first time in history, 13 different UCI World Championships will take place at the same event, making this the biggest cycling event ever.
Before venturing further afield across Scotland, we take a look at the five Glaswegian competition venues.
Glasgow Green – BMX Freestyle and Trials
Modernity will meet tradition when the BMX Freestyle (Park and Flatland) and trials competitions unfold in the beautiful environs of Glasgow Green. Indeed, the UCI World Champions for these most modern of cycling disciplines will be crowned in a venue that has a long and rich history. In 1450, Bishop Turnbull gifted these common lands to the people of Glasgow. Initially it was used for washing, bleaching linen, grazing, drying fishing nets and for swimming. For centuries it functioned as the city’s only green public open space.
In August the BMX Freestyle and trials riders will exhibit a showcase of handling and jumping ability that’ll leave spectators in awe. But one obstacle that’s purely to be viewed, not leaped on by the likes of multiple UCI World Champion Jack Carthy, is the impressive McLennan Arch. The arch, which used to feature in the facade of Robert and James Adams' Assembly Rooms on Ingram Street in the 18th century, now towers at the western entrance to Glasgow Green. A beautiful canvas for these cycling artists.
Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome – track and para-cycling track
Sir Chris Hoy is a legend of cycling, winning an incredible six Olympic gold medals and 11 world titles on the track. His sprint prowess, fuelled by his 27-inch thighs, will go down in folklore. So, what better name for Scotland’s sole indoor velodrome than the Scottish icon? The 250-metre track was built for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and has also hosted the 2018 UEC Track European Championships and, in 2013, the UCI Junior Track World Championships.
The track is constructed from Siberian timber, which is one of the fastest ‘woods’ in the world. Although the wood is sourced from permafrost forests, the air will be kept deliberately warm for faster racing, meaning world records could well be broken. Around 4,000 fans will transform the arena into a cauldron of noise.
Glasgow BMX Centre – BMX Racing
There are just two UCI-standard BMX venues in Great Britain, and this is one of them. As such, it’s already welcomed the world’s finest BMX racers at both the 2018 UEC BMX Racing European Championships and the 2022 UCI BMX Racing World Cup. Last year, Dutch legend Laura Smulders won the first two rounds of that exhilarating event in Glasgow, laying the foundations for her fifth UCI World Cup series win. Can Smulders repeat that form come August? To do so, she’ll have to tame the 400m long, 5m wide, seriously bumpy track that’ll guarantee a spectacular show packed with dramatic ups and downs.
Emirates Arena – Indoor cycling
Artistic cycling and cycle-ball will entertain the huge crowds within the architecturally stunning Emirates Arena, built in 2014 to host the Commonwealth Games. The Arena was part of the major regeneration of the East End of Glasgow, and has since hosted events as diverse as badminton’s 2017 BWF World Championships, the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships and the 2022 Davis Cup for tennis. It’s a great place to watch world-class sport. And a great place to sculpt your body, too, as it’s also home to one of the biggest gyms in Glasgow.
George Square – road race finishes
Glasgow’s historic George Square is set against the backdrop of the palatial Municipal Chambers, also known as the City Chambers, a stunning building that boasts more marble than the Vatican. But it’ll be rainbows that the world’s greatest female and male riders will be chasing in August as this culturally important Square hosts the finish line for the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championship road races.
The Square is named after King George III and was initially laid out in 1781 but not developed for a further 20 years. Since then, George Square has built up a valued collection of statues and monuments, including those of poet Robert Burns, twice Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel, playwright Walter Scott and James Watt, whose development on the concept of horsepower led to the unit of power ‘watt’ being named after him.
You can rest assured that the world’s elite will be generating huge wattages in search of claiming one of the most prized possessions in cycling.