100
years of the UCI Road World Championships! The Centenary edition of the UCI’s leading annual event, in Flanders, Belgium, was a not-to-be-missed celebration of the rainbow jersey, former UCI World Champions, and great sporting moments.
75
nations represented at the 2021 UCI Road World Championships in Flanders.
8
time UCI World Champion. Such is the palmares of Tony Martin, who won gold with his German teammates in the team time trial mixed relay in his last UCI Road World Championships before retirement. It was his fourth victory in the team time trial after previous triumphs in 2012, 2013 and 2016 (when the event was contested by UCI trade teams) and in the individual time trial in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016.
A 7th
rainbow jersey for Ellen van Dijk with her individual time trial victory in Flanders. The 34-year-old Dutchwoman added her latest striped jersey to those won in the team time trial in 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2017, and the Scratch Race on the track in 2008.
54.355km/h
was Filippo Ganna’s average speed over the 43.3km individual time trial course in Flanders. It was fast enough to successfully defend his rainbow jersey one year after becoming the first Italian to win the individual time trial at the UCI Road World Championships, in Imola (Italy).
2
consecutive UCI World titles for Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe as well, in the Men Elite road race, making him the seventh rider and the first Frenchman to win two years in a row.
162
women from 48 nations lined up for the Women Elite road race in Flanders, but none could match Italian Elisa Balsamo, who powered to a sprint victory ahead of Marianne Vos (NED) and Katarzyna Niewiadoma (POL).
1st
medal at UCI Road World Championships for Eritrea thanks to former UCI World Cycling Centre trainee Biniam Girmay, who crossed the finish line of the Men Under 23 road race in Leuven two seconds behind winner Filippo Baroncini (Italy) to claim silver. “I’m very proud on what I just achieved, this silver medal means a lot to Eritrea, and also for Africa,” Girmay said afterwards.
108 million
people were reached across the UCI’s digital platforms during the 2021 UCI Road World Championships. The event captured the imagination of fans worldwide with 52,000 new followers, 26 million video views and 1.2 million visits to the UCI website.
1min 15sec
was Anna Kiesenhofer’s winning margin in the Women’s road race at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Austrian surprised herself as much as her opponents with her dominant performance over the 137km route featuring 2,692m of elevation.
1st
for Richard Carapaz in the Men’s road race in Tokyo. This first cycling Olympic gold for Ecuador came just one week after Carapaz became the first Ecuadorian to make the podium of the Tour de France (3rd).
1min 01.39sec
was Slovenian Primož Roglič’s commanding winning margin over the Netherlands’ Tom Dumoulin in the Olympic men’s time trial after completing two laps of the 22.1km course.
38
years old and still on top of the game. Annemiek van Vleuten (NED) won two medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (silver in the road race and gold in the individual time trial), as well as the overall UCI Women’s WorldTour ranking, for the second time after 2018.
The 1st
ever Paris Roubaix Femmes marked a significant milestone in the development of women’s cycling. Great Britain’s Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo) put in a gritty ride – 82km of which she was alone – to take victory in the André-Pétrieux Velodrome: “We are part of history now, there’s no going back,” said the delighted winner.
22 years, 9 months and 27 days
was the age of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) when he became two-time winner of the Tour de France on 18 July. The young Slovenian also finished the season at the top of the individual UCI World Ranking.