The 2026 UCI Road Cycling World Championships are coming to Montreal, Canada, with mens and womens time trial and road races spread over a week from 20 September to 27 September.Over that time, there are 13 competitions for national teams in different age categories, as well as a Team Time Trial Mixed Relay. They culminate in the 180.4km elite women's road race on Saturday 26 and 273.4km mens road race on Sunday 27 September, which will decide who will wear the coveted rainbow stripes throughout the next year in the WorldTours elite races.If you want to catch all the action wherever you live, we have a how to watch guide for the Montreal World Championships. Here, well set out the schedule of events and times, all in Montreals Eastern Daylight Time time zone, which is 4 hours behind GMT, along with a route breakdown and riders to watch.Road Cycling World Championships: Schedule of eventsAll times local (GMT -4 hours) Event Date Start time Distance Elevation gain Women's Elite ITT Sunday, 20 September 09:00 39.2km 220m Men's Elite ITT Sunday, 20 September 12:45 39.2km 220m Women's U23 ITT Monday, 21 September 09:00 20.3km 145m Men's U23 ITT Monday, 21 September 12:00 31.3km 197m Mixed relay Tuesday, 22 September 08:30 40.6km 290m Junior men's ITT Tuesday, 22 September 12:15 20.3km 145m Junior women's ITT Tuesday, 22 September 15:15 10.7km 91m Women's U23 road race Thursday, 24 September 09:00 134km 2690m Junior men's road race Thursday, 24 September 13:30 134km 2690m Men's U23 road race Friday, 25 September 09:00 174.2km 3497m Junior women's road race Friday, 25 September 14:15 80.4km 1614m Women's Elite road race Saturday, 26 September 09:00 180.4km 2570m Men's Elite road race Sunday, 27 September 09:00 273.7km 3803m Edit Table Road Cycling World Championships routesRoad race All the road races, including the elite women's, shown here, finish on a circuit through the Mont Real district. UCI The elite men's road race route. UCI All the routes for the road races focus on two circuits. Longer races such as the mens elite and womens elite start with a long loop out from the Brossard district of Montreal.Thats followed by crossing the Samuel de Champlain bridge to a circuit through central Montreal, completed 12 times for the elite men and eight times for the elite women. Shorter races such as the mens U23 road race take place solely on multiple laps of the shorter Mont Real circuit.Time trial The time trial routes follow a twisting circuit through central Montreal, with shorter races omitting the further parts of the complete circuit. All finish at the same line in the Parc Jeanne-Mance also used for the road races.Riders to watch Remco Evenepoel looks likely to take a fourth elite men's time trial title. Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images) Theres no shortage of talent, despite the absence of the 2024 and 2025 road race winner, Tadej Pogaar.Look out for Remco Evenepoel in the mens individual time trial. He's worn the rainbow jersey in the discipline since 2023 and doesn't look inclined to relinquish it, based on current form. Hes a prospect for the mens road race too, even if he was bested by Isaac del Toro in the recent GP de Montreal, whos another hot prospect.The Mexican, unlike the Belgian, doesnt have a strong team behind him in the road race. Wout van Aert is another option for the Belgians. He looks to be in peak form following his two stages and points classification wins in the Vuelta a Espaa. Demi Vollering is a strong time trialist as well as the dominant women's road rider. Jeff Pachoud / Getty Images In the womens road race, its hard to look past Demi Vollering to win her first rainbow jersey, having so far this year won both the Tour de France Femmes and Giro dItalia Women, as well as a cluster of one day races including the Womens Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Again, she has strong team backing in the road race from her Netherlands team. Dont rule out a win in the womens elite time trial too.For UK-based race watchers, the focus will be on Zoe Bckstedt both in the elite womens time trial, where shes a strong competitor, and the road race. Tom Pidcock will lead the charge for Team GBs elite men and is supported by a strong GB team. He has mixed road and XC MTB racing in 2026 and is the current XC Olympic MTB world champion.