Seventeen Irish riders will contest the UCI Road World Championships in Montral from 20 to 27 September, with Ben Healy leading the elite mens road race squad and 17-year-old Emer Heverin the only Irish woman in the championships.The Worlds return to Canada for the first time since Hamilton in 2003, and to Montral for the first time since 1974. In all, 971 riders from 101 nations will start across thirteen world titles over eight days.Ireland is five hours behind Montral, so every race finishes between 15:40 and 22:00 Irish time. The junior mens road race on Thursday 24 September is the latest, running to 22:00.The Irish TeamBen Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) heads the elite mens road race selection on the closing Sunday, joined by Jamie Meehan, Ryan Mullen and Darren Rafferty. Rafferty arrives from the Vuelta a Espaa, where he completed his first Grand Tour and finished inside the top 40 of the young rider classification.Mullen also rides the elite time trial on the opening day, an event he has contested for Ireland at this level for a decade.The under-23 group is the largest. Seth Dunwoody and Adam Rafferty double up on the time trial and road race, with David Gaffney and Liam OBrien in the road race and Killian OBrien and Willem OConnor named as substitutes. Gaffney was the leading Irish finisher at the Tour de lAvenir last month in 54th, with a best day of 28th on the mountain stage to Lago Serr.Among the juniors, Rian Mc Crystal and Frederick James Winkley ride both events, Hugh Og Mulhearne the road race, with James Armstrong and Fionn Killeen as substitutes.Emer Heverin carries Irish hopes in the junior womens events. The 17-year-old finished third in the Rs na mBan time trial at Kilkenny Castle earlier this month, 0.88 seconds off the win over 2.5km, and eleventh overall against a field drawn from fourteen nations. Ireland has not entered the elite or under-23 womens races.IRLIrish Selection 17 riders seven events substitutes in greyBen HEALYElite men road race26Jamie MEEHANElite men road race23Ryan MULLENElite men road race and time trial32Darren RAFFERTYElite men road race23Seth DUNWOODYUnder-23 men road race and time trial20Adam RAFFERTYUnder-23 men road race and time trial21David GAFFNEYUnder-23 men road race19Liam OBRIENUnder-23 men road race21Killian OBRIENUnder-23 men substitute20Willem OCONNORUnder-23 men substitute20Rian MC CRYSTALJunior men road race and time trial17Frederick James WINKLEYJunior men road race and time trial17Hugh Og MULHEARNEJunior men road race18James ARMSTRONGJunior men substitute18Fionn KILLEENJunior men substitute18Emer HEVERINJunior women road race and time trial17The ProgrammeTimes are Irish. The time trials run from Avenue du Parc beneath Mount Royal on the first three days, the junior and under-23 road races finish at Parc Jeanne-Mance, and the two elite road races start across the St Lawrence at Brossard before returning to the city circuit.UCIRace Programme2027 September 2026 thirteen world titlesSun 20Women Elite time trialAvenue du Parc 39km 53 starters14:0016:20Sun 20Men Elite time trialAvenue du Parc 39km 67 starters17:4520:15Mon 21Women U23 time trialAvenue du Parc 20km 53 starters14:0015:40Mon 21Men U23 time trialAvenue du Parc 31km 77 starters17:0019:25Tue 22Mixed relay team time trialAvenue du Parc 108 starters13:3016:15Tue 22Junior men time trialAvenue du Parc 20km 78 starters17:1519:25Tue 22Junior women time trialAvenue du Parc 10.7km 61 starters20:1521:45Thu 24Women U23 road raceParc Jeanne-Mance 115 starters14:0017:45Thu 24Junior men road raceParc Jeanne-Mance 168 starters18:3022:00Fri 25Men U23 road raceParc Jeanne-Mance 183 starters14:0018:20Fri 25Junior women road raceParc Jeanne-Mance 105 starters19:1521:35Sat 26Women Elite road raceQuartier DIX30, Brossard 149 starters14:0019:10Sun 27Men Elite road raceQuartier DIX30, Brossard 196 starters14:0020:40The CoursesAll four individual time trials start and finish on Avenue du Parc, on the eastern flank of Mount Royal. The elite men and women ride 39km, the under-23 men 31km, the under-23 women and junior men 20km, and the junior women 10.7km.The road races are decided on a 13.45km circuit climbing from 51 metres to 212 on Camillien-Houde, the ascent of Mount Royal used each September by the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montral. That is 161 metres of climbing per lap, with a technical descent and a marked hazard two kilometres from the line where a late move would go. The finish is at Parc Jeanne-Mance for every road race.The elite races on the final weekend begin at Quartier DIX30 in Brossard, on the south shore, running 20km into the city before the closing circuits. The men cover 145.7km and the women 85.8km.The FieldsThe mens elite road race is the largest event of the week with 196 starters from 62 nations, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, France, Great Britain and Italy each fielding the maximum eight. The mens under-23 road race follows with 183 from 71 nations, and the junior mens with 168 from 66. The womens elite road race has 149 starters from 57 nations.The mixed relay team time trial on Tuesday 22 September draws 108 riders from 20 nations, the smallest field but the event with the highest proportion of specialists.CoverageIrishCyclingNews.com will be in Montral for the full championships, with daily reports, results and photography from every event. Full startlists for each race day are published separately.PhotosPhotography by B Sutton IrishCyclingNews.comThe post World Championships 2026 appeared first on IrishCyclingNews.com | Irish Cycling News | IrishCycling.