Things to know about the 2021 UCI Road World Championships in Flanders

The road cycling season is reaching its usual end-of-season climax with the last few major one-day races of the year, including the 2021 UCI Road World Championships in the Flemish-speaking Belgian region of Flanders from 18–26 September in four cities: Knokke-Heist, Bruges, Antwerp, and Leuven.

It is the 10th time Belgium is hosting the Championships and seventh time in Flanders, although it has been 19 years since the region last played host in the city of Zolder. The 2021 edition also marks a jubilee, with the first-ever Championships having been held a century ago in Copenhagen, Denmark.

With the Championships falling shortly after the year's last Grand Tour, the Vuelta a España, and before two Monuments in Paris-Roubaix and Il Lombardia, the world's best are in peak form to tackle the courses around Bruges and Leuven.

Competition begins on Sunday 19 September with the men's elite individual time trial, and concludes a week later with the men's elite road race. Hosts Belgium are expected to perform strongly in both elite men's events, while traditional powerhouses Netherlands will once again look to lock out the elite women's events.

Here's what to expect in the races for the world champions' rainbow jerseys.

Individual time trials: Flat course awaits riders

For the second year running, the cyclists face a flat individual time trial course, running from Knokke-Heist on Belgium's North Sea coast near the Dutch border south to Bruges.

The men's course runs to 43.3km, 13km longer than the women's, with an additional detour for a loop around Dudzele. With an elevation gain of only 78 metres for the men and 54m for the women, this year's course is even flatter than the one in Imola last year.

Each participating nation may send two riders per nation in addition to the defending world, Olympic, and continental champions.

Men: Open field in absence of Roglic and Dumoulin

The Olympic champ Primoz Roglic of Slovenia – who also won the two time trials to open and close the Vuelta in which he claimed overall victory – will reportedly skip the World Championships.

Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport report that Slovenia will instead select Jan Tratnik and Olympic road race bronze medallist Tadej Pogacar.

Also missing will be the Olympic silver medallist Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands, who would have been one of the favourites had he not suffered a training accident last week. The Dutchman was out riding when a vehicle crashed into him, causing a broken wrist which he has had surgery on.

Defending champion Filippo Ganna of Italy should like the look of the parcours, but will no doubt be weary of Switzerland's Stefan Küng. Küng pipped Ganna to European gold in Trento earlier this month.

Belgium's hopes rest on Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert. Van Aert, the silver medallist in the Olympic road race as well as both the road race and time trial at last year's World Championships, will once again aim to do the road race-time trial double.

While he won't threaten the top of the timesheets, Ahmad Badreddin Wais – who represented the IOC Refugee Olympic Team at Tokyo 2020 – is also expected to take part.

Women: Dutch domination to continue?

On the women's side, it is hard to look past the Dutch women – between Olympic champion Annemiek van Vleuten, defending world champion Anna van der Breggen, and European road race champion Ellen van Dijk, they have won at least one medal in this event every year since 2015, with van Vleuten winning the world title in 2017 and 2018 and van der Breggen last year.

They will have four riders in the event, as van Vleuten and van der Breggen can enter separate from the two regular Dutch quota spots.

Switzerland's Marlen Reusser – who is the newly-crowned European champion, Germany's Lisa Brennauer, and the American pair of Chloe Dygert and 46-year-old Amber Neben have all registered solid results in recent time trials and could also factor among the medals.

Road races: Belgian 'bergs' will decide races

If the time trials are flat, the road races are anything but.

While the riders will not face the same amount of climbing as they did in Imola last year – this year's elevation gain of 2,562m for the men is around half of last year's race, while the women face a total climb of 1,047m – the course suits the puncheurs and the usual suspects from the spring classics, commonly held on Belgian and Flanders roads and climbs like these.

The races will begin in Antwerp and run to Leuven, east of Brussels, in East Flanders. Two tough loops – one in Leuven around the finish line, featuring four hills, and another to the southwest of the city (known as the 'Flandrien Circuit') with five ascents – will take out all but the punchiest climbers able to hang on through the short, sharp climbs of Belgium's 'bergs'.

The Flandrien Circuit includes climbs up the S-Bocht Overijse-Taymansstraat, a short 730m-long climb at an average of 5.53%, but with a maximum gradient of 18.3%; the Moskesstraat, with a maximum gradient of 18%; and the Smeysberg, with a maximum gradient of 16%.

Nations may have up to eight riders in the men's elite race and seven in the women's elite race, compared to just five and four at the Olympic Games, which should allow for some team tactics to build more so than in the Olympics.

Additionally, the reigning world, Olympic, and continental champions also get an entry – aside from their nation's usual allocation – into the race.

Men: Sagan eyes fourth world title; Alaphilippe and Belgians also in mix

It is unclear whether men's Olympic champion Richard Carapaz will join Ecuador's contingent of six for the race, after he withdrew midway through the Vuelta a España with fatigue.

Instead, the course seems well-suited for someone like Peter Sagan of Slovakia, who is looking for what would be a record-setting fourth world title in the road race, or for defending champion Julian Alaphilippe of France to hang on to the rainbow jersey.

Van Aert and Evenepoel will again lead the home Belgian hopes and have strong claims. The former enters the Championships on the back of winning four stages and the overall classification at the Tour of Britain. "The Tour of Britain has been a good race for us in all respects," van Aert said after winning. "A beautiful course that has many similarities with the course of the World Championships in Flanders. The preparation for my next big goals is going smoothly."

A long-time rival of van Aert's, Netherlands' Mathieu van der Poel, would normally be another favourite on a parcours like this, but he is still recovering after a scary crash in the Tokyo 2020 mountain bike race. Although the Dutchman has since won a minor one-day race on his comeback, whether he makes the start-line in Antwerp – and to what extent he will be able to mount a challenge – depends on his recovery.

Elsewhere, Great Britain's charge will be headed not by a seasoned veteran, but the Olympic mountain bike champion Tom Pidcock. Pidcock won the Brabantse Pijl one-day race in April which began in Leuven and took in roads and climbs similar to what the riders will face. Ethan Hayter, second overall behind van Aert at the Tour of Britain, could be a useful back-up leader, while the team can count on Mark Cavendish's experience to guide them although it's unlikely the 'Manx Missile' will see the finish line.

Women: Will Dutch team work together to win 5th straight title?

Women's Olympic champion Anna Kiesenhofer might be breathing a slight sigh of relief – unlike at the Olympics, where she was the only Austrian entrant and won from the breakaway, she is eligible to enter the World Championships race on top of Austria's regular quota of five riders, which means she will receive some team support.

However, it seems likely once again that the Dutch – with defending champion van der Breggen, European champion van Dijk, and Olympic silver medallist van Vleuten – are the team to beat. They can also count on Marianne Vos, Chantal van den Broek-Blaak, Lucinda Brand, Amy Pieters, and Demi Vollering, all strong riders in their own right.

The country has won the last four world titles and six since 2012, with Vos (2), Blaak (1), van der Breggen (2), and van Vleuten (1) all among the champions.

However, the question remains – will the Dutch riders work together for one leader? Or will they all have their own sights on the rainbow jersey and let someone else steal in amidst the confusion without team radio, like Kisenhofer did at Tokyo 2020?

Mixed relay team time trial returns

For the second time in the World Championships' 100-year history, a mixed relay team time trial will take place.

The event made its debut at the Yorkshire World Championships in 2019, replacing the old team time trial contested by trade teams rather than national teams and adding a new dynamic, with three men and three women representing each nation in the race.

After the exclusion of the event from last year's Covid-shortened World Championships in Imola, the mixed relay is back, with 14 teams – 13 national teams and a team representing the UCI World Cycling Centre (CMC) – set to race over 44.5km from Knokke-Heist to Bruges for the men and a Bruges to Bruges loop for the women.

Three men from each team will set off from Knokke-Heist, racing south for 22.5km towards Bruges. When the men cross the line in Bruges, the three women will be released to start a 20km circuit via the town of Damme, to the north-east of Bruges.

Each team's finishing time will be taken from the second rider across the finish line.

The mixed team relay is a bit of a wildcard, with riders being selected from either the elite or under-23 category.

Great Britain – bronze medallists in 2019 – have announced that their team will be led by time trial veteran Alex Dowsett alongside four riders returning from the 2019 team, while hosts Belgium look very strong with Victor Campenaerts, Yves Lampaert, Jolien d'Hoore, and Lotte Kopecky among their six-rider team.

2021 UCI Road World Championships schedule

All times are local time in Belgium (CEST, 2 hours ahead of UTC). All times are approximate and subject to change.

Saturday 18 September
Opening ceremony (no competition)

Sunday 19 September
14:30–16:55 - Men's elite individual time trial (Knokke-Heist to Bruges, 43.3km)

Monday 20 September
10:40–12:50 - Men's under-23 individual time trial (Knokke-Heist to Bruges, 30.3km)
14:40–16:40 - Women's elite individual time trial (Knokke-Heist to Bruges, 30.3km)

Tuesday 21 September
10:30–12:20 - Women's junior individual time trial (Knokke-Heist to Bruges, 19.3km)
14:55–17:05 - Men's junior individual time trial (Knokke-Heist to Bruges, 22.3km)

Wednesday 22 September
13:45–16:45 - Mixed relay team time trial (Knokke-Heist to Bruges to Bruges, 44.5km)

Thursday 23 September
No competition

Friday 24 September
08:15–11:15 - Men's junior road race (Leuven circuit, 121.4km)
13:25–17:40 - Men's under-23 road race (Antwerp to Leuven, 160.9km)

Saturday 25 September
08:15–10:15 - Women's junior road race (Leuven circuit, 75km)
12:20–16:45 - Women's elite road race (Antwerp to Leuven, 157.7km)

Sunday 26 September
10:25–17:00 - Men's elite road race (Antwerp to Leuven, 268.3km)

How to watch UCI Road World Championships 2021 in Flanders

The 2021 UCI Road World Championships will be live-streamed worldwide on the UCI YouTube and Facebook pages, subject to local geo-blocking.

Local rights-holding broadcasters, including Eurosport in Europe (in addition to national broadcasters), will also show live coverage as well as highlights.

A full list of UCI broadcast partners can be found on page 6 here.