UCI Cycling World Championships 2023 - Road Race Men (Edinburgh - Glasgow) - Course, Route, Profile

Sunday, 6 August The men’s World Cup road race starts in Edinburgh and ends after 272 kilometres in Glasgow. The final circuit is very technical and peppered with short climbs. The course in Scotland looks good for classic specialists. Guys like van der Poel and van Aert. Especially on the last circuit in Glasgow, the riders go from one short climb to the next. It never gets really steep, it’s the finish that will play a big role. Shortly after the start in Edinburgh, the riders cross the Queensferry Crossing and ride the first 50 kilometres on the north side of the Firth of Forth on hilly roads to the west. Over the Clackmannanshire Bridge they cross the mouth of the Forth again and not much later, after 70 kilometres, the first climb awaits. It’s not much: over 4.4 kilometres, the road climbs by 3.4%. The longest climb of the day comes about 15 kilometres later on the Crow Road. The road then climbs for 5.6 kilometres at an average of 4 %. But the highlight is of course the circuit in Glasgow, which the riders reach after 120 kilometres. It is 14.3 kilometres long and is completely circled ten times. With no less than 42 bends, it is a constant twisting and turning, and the road also goes up and down almost continuously. The climbs are never more than a few hundred metres and it doesn’t get extremely steep, but especially in combination with the bends, a war of attrition is inevitable. Especially if it should rain. The climb on Montrose Street plays a prominent role. It climbs 7.4% for 200 metres and riders reach the top 1.5 kilometres before the finish. After that, the route leads gently downhill to the finish line at George Square. Should a group be fighting for victory, positioning is particularly important as five bends and a chicane spice up this section. In the last 400 metres, the road is straight as a ruler again. World Championships in Great Britain Never before have the road races and time trials of the World Cup been held in Scotland. Yet the World Cup has been to the UK four times. In 2019, Mads Pedersen became world champion in Yorkshire, while Giuseppe Saronni took the rainbow jersey with a late charge at Goodwood Circuit in 1982. In 1970, Jean-Pierre Monseré single-handedly took gold at Leicester. Seven months later, he crashed in a vintage race at Retie and suffered fatal injuries. The Belgian was only 22 years old. In 1922, the World Cycling Championships was a 161-kilometre individual time trial - or 100 English miles - starting and finishing in Liverpool. Local rider Dave Marsh became world champion in a time of 5 hours 27 minutes and 27 seconds. ( & Routes ’n’ Maps ’n’ Flags) Creating cycling stage animations requires a lot of work and computing power. You are welcome to support me with a donation: