During the break between the time trial and road races of the 2026 World Championships currently underway in Canada, the 185th edition of the UCI Congress took place, the plenary meeting of the world's highest cycling governing body. With representatives from 117 member states across five continents in attendance, the assignments for the next world championship events were announced. Front and center are the 2032 Road World Championships, which for the first time will be held in India, more precisely in Pune, approximately 160 km from Mumbai. The Netherlands, which had submitted a candidacy for Drenthe, will be consoled with the 2034 edition.

Historic First

The presence in Montreal of the governor of the Maharashtra state in recent days had suggested that the candidacy of the city of Pune - and its metropolitan area - would be the potentially favored one for the 2032 Road World Championships, and indeed that proved to be the case. During the UCI Congress, president David Lappartient officially announced the assignment to the world's most populous country, which for the very first time will host the world championship event, following in some way the path of Rwanda with Africa's first time in Kigali 2025. The difference was undoubtedly made by the substantial investments by local administrations, which last January had already inaugurated the short stage race Pune Grand Tour 2026 (category 2.2) won by New Zealander Luke Mudgway of the Chinese Li Ning Star team.

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Located in the heart of the picturesque Deccan region, Pune is a historic city in western India, surrounded by the Western Ghats mountain range and known for numerous tourist sites from historic fortresses to ancient caves to rural landscapes. Lappartient commented: «I am truly very pleased that India will host a World Championship for the first time because it is a nation that accounts for almost one-fifth of the entire world population and that event could become an enormous catalyst, both for competitive cycling and for the daily use of bicycles».

Netherlands Defeated

The Netherlands emerged as the loser from the assignments, having submitted a candidacy for Groningen - Drenthe and will be consoled with the 2034 edition. It remains to be discovered where the 2033 edition will be held, while next year it will be in Haute-Savoie (France), then Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates in 2028, Copenhagen in Denmark in 2029, Brussels in Belgium in 2030 and Trento in Italy in 2031. As for the other disciplines, Italy will host the 2027 and 2028 Masters Cyclocross World Championships at the Mugello (Florence), the 2028 MTB Marathon World Championships in Castro in the province of Lecce and the 2028 and 2029 Masters MTB World Championships in Aprica (Sondrio).

Photo credits: Anand Dhumal from Pixabay