2021 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race

Men's road race
2021 UCI Road World Championships
	Rainbow jersey
Race details
Dates	26 September 2021
Stages	1 in Leuven, Belgium
Distance	268.3 km (166.7 mi)
Winning time	5h 56' 34"
Medalists
	Gold
	Silver
	Bronze
	← Imola 2020 Wollongong 2022 →

The men's road race of the 2021 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 26 September 2021 from Antwerp to Leuven, Belgium.^[1]^[2] Defending champion Julian Alaphilippe of France won the event in a solo victory.^[3]

Qualification

Qualification was based mainly on the UCI World Ranking by nations as of 17 August 2021.^[4]

UCI World Rankings

The following nations qualified.^[5]

Criterium	Rank	Number of riders		Nations
Criterium	Rank	To enter	To start	Nations
UCI World Ranking by Nations	1–10	13	8	Belgium Slovenia France Netherlands Great Britain Italy Spain Denmark Australia Colombia
	11–20	9	6	Germany Ecuador Switzerland Portugal Russian Cycling Federation Norway Ireland Poland United States Canada
	21–30	7	4	New Zealand South Africa Austria Kazakhstan Czech Republic Estonia Slovakia Ukraine Eritrea Latvia
	31–50	2	1	Luxembourg Belarus Sweden Algeria Panama Romania Lithuania Hungary Greece Mexico Thailand Guatemala Mongolia Japan Uruguay Chile Finland Venezuela Puerto Rico Albania
UCI World Ranking by Individuals (if not already qualified)	1–200	2	1	—

Continental champions

Name	Country	Reason
Richard Carapaz	Ecuador	Olympic Champion
Julian Alaphilippe	France	Outgoing World Champion
Ryan Gibbons	South Africa	African Champion

Participating nations

194 cyclists from 45 nations competed in the event. The number of cyclists per nation is shown in parentheses.^[6]

Albania (1)
Australia (8)
Austria (4)
Belarus (1)
Belgium (8)
Canada (6)
Colombia (8)
Czech Republic (4)
Denmark (8)
Ecuador (6)
Eritrea (4)
Estonia (4)
France (9)
Germany (6)
Great Britain (8)
Greece (1)
Hungary (1)
Ireland (3)
Italy (8)
Japan (1)
Kazakhstan (4)
Latvia (4)
Lithuania (1)
Luxembourg (2)
Mexico (1)
Mongolia (1)
Netherlands (8)
New Zealand (4)
Norway (6)
Panama (1)
Poland (6)
Portugal (5)
Romania (1)
Russian Cycling Federation (6)
Slovakia (4)
Slovenia (8)
South Africa (4)
Spain (8)
Sweden (2)
Switzerland (6)
Thailand (1)
Ukraine (4)
Uruguay (1)
United States (6)
Venezuela (1)

Final classification

Of the race's 194 entrants, 68 riders completed the full distance of 268.3 kilometres (166.7 mi).^[7]

Rank	Rider	Country	Time
1	Julian Alaphilippe	France	5h 56' 34"
2	Dylan van Baarle	Netherlands	+ 32"
3	Michael Valgren	Denmark	+ 32"
4	Jasper Stuyven	Belgium	+ 32"
5	Neilson Powless	United States	+ 32"
6	Tom Pidcock	Great Britain	+ 49"
7	Zdeněk Štybar	Czech Republic	+ 1' 06"
8	Mathieu van der Poel	Netherlands	+ 1' 18"
9	Florian Sénéchal	France	+ 1' 18"
10	Sonny Colbrelli	Italy	+ 1' 18"
11	Wout van Aert	Belgium	+ 1' 18"
12	Markus Hoelgaard	Norway	+ 1' 18"
13	Valentin Madouas	France	+ 1' 18"
14	Matej Mohorič	Slovenia	+ 4' 00"
15	Giacomo Nizzolo	Italy	+ 4' 05"
16	Nils Politt	Germany	+ 5' 25"
17	Guillaume Boivin	Canada	+ 5' 25"
18	Jan Polanc	Slovenia	+ 5' 25"
19	Benoît Cosnefroy	France	+ 5' 30"
20	Victor Campenaerts	Belgium	+ 5' 30"
21	Alexander Kristoff	Norway	+ 6' 27"
22	Mike Teunissen	Netherlands	+ 6' 27"
23	Iván García Cortina	Spain	+ 6' 27"
24	Diego Ulissi	Italy	+ 6' 27"
25	Michael Matthews	Australia	+ 6' 27"
26	Peter Sagan	Slovakia	+ 6' 27"
27	Dylan Teuns	Belgium	+ 6' 27"
28	Sebastian Schönberger	Austria	+ 6' 27"
29	Bauke Mollema	Netherlands	+ 6' 27"
30	Luka Mezgec	Slovenia	+ 6' 27"
31	Tiesj Benoot	Belgium	+ 6' 27"
32	Petr Vakoč	Czech Republic	+ 6' 27"
33	Sven Erik Bystrøm	Norway	+ 6' 27"
34	Vegard Stake Laengen	Norway	+ 6' 27"
35	Ethan Hayter	Great Britain	+ 6' 27"
36	Michał Kwiatkowski	Poland	+ 6' 27"
37	Tadej Pogačar	Slovenia	+ 6' 27"
38	Patrick Gamper	Austria	+ 6' 27"
39	Rui Oliveira	Portugal	+ 6' 27"
40	Artem Nych	Russian Cycling Federation	+ 6' 31"
41	Stefan Küng	Switzerland	+ 6' 31"
42	Gorka Izagirre	Spain	+ 6' 31"
43	Imanol Erviti	Spain	+ 6' 31"
44	Gonzalo Serrano	Spain	+ 6' 31"
45	Silvan Dillier	Switzerland	+ 6' 31"
46	Cesare Benedetti	Poland	+ 6' 31"
47	João Almeida	Portugal	+ 6' 31"
48	Primož Roglič	Slovenia	+ 6' 31"
49	Yukiya Arashiro	Japan	+ 6' 31"
50	Merhawi Kudus	Eritrea	+ 6' 31"
51	Rasmus Tiller	Norway	+ 6' 31"
52	Emīls Liepiņš	Latvia	+ 6' 31"
53	Carlos Rodríguez	Spain	+ 6' 39"
54	Michael Gogl	Austria	+ 6' 40"
55	Nelson Oliveira	Portugal	+ 6' 40"
56	Arnaud Démare	France	+ 6' 48"
57	Lawson Craddock	United States	+ 6' 49"
58	Gianni Moscon	Italy	+ 6' 52"
59	Roger Adrià	Spain	+ 7' 04"
60	Toms Skujiņš	Latvia	+ 7' 07"
61	Yves Lampaert	Belgium	+ 7' 22"
62	Remco Evenepoel	Belgium	+ 7' 22"
63	Fabian Lienhard	Switzerland	+ 15' 43"
64	Esteban Chaves	Colombia	+ 15' 43"
65	Nelson Soto	Colombia	+ 17' 18"
66	Pascal Eenkhoorn	Netherlands	+ 17' 18"
67	Nikias Arndt	Germany	+ 17' 18"
68	Georg Zimmermann	Germany	+ 17' 18"

Rider	Country	Time
Anthony Turgis	France	DNF
Danny van Poppel	Netherlands	DNF
Tim Declercq	Belgium	DNF
Dmitry Strakhov	Russian Cycling Federation	DNF
Jake Stewart	Great Britain	DNF
Natnael Berhane	Eritrea	DNF
Caleb Ewan	Australia	DNF
Alex Aranburu	Spain	DNF
Sergey Chernetskiy	Russian Cycling Federation	DNF
Rigoberto Urán	Colombia	DNF
Łukasz Owsian	Poland	DNF
Hugo Houle	Canada	DNF
Antoine Duchesne	Canada	DNF
Yevgeniy Gidich	Kazakhstan	DNF
Barnabás Peák	Hungary	DNF
Metkel Eyob	Eritrea	DNF
Nickolas Zukowsky	Canada	DNF
Jayde Julius	South Africa	DNF
Igor Boev	Russian Cycling Federation	DNF
Byron Guamá	Ecuador	DNF
Fernando Gaviria	Colombia	DNF
Andreas Kron	Denmark	DNF
Mikkel Frølich Honoré	Denmark	DNF
Mads Pedersen	Denmark	DNF
Nathan Haas	Australia	DNF
Alex Kirsch	Luxembourg	DNF
Marco Haller	Austria	DNF
Joel Levi Burbano	Ecuador	DNF
Brandon McNulty	United States	DNF
Rafael Reis	Portugal	DNF
Harry Sweeny	Australia	DNF
Eduard-Michael Grosu	Romania	DNF
Kim Magnusson	Sweden	DNF
Eric Antonio Fagundez	Uruguay	DNF
Juraj Sagan	Slovakia	DNF
Andriy Kulyk	Ukraine	DNF
Pascal Ackermann	Germany	DNF
Mykhaylo Kononenko	Ukraine	DNF
Juan Sebastián Molano	Colombia	DNF
Daniil Fominykh	Kazakhstan	DNF
Yuriy Natarov	Kazakhstan	DNF
Kevin Geniets	Luxembourg	DNF
Clément Russo	France	DNF
Reinardt Janse van Rensburg	South Africa	DNF
David Per	Slovenia	DNF
Lluís Mas	Spain	DNF
Ryan Mullen	Ireland	DNF
Pier-André Côté	Canada	DNF
Krists Neilands	Latvia	DNF
André Carvalho	Portugal	DNF
Quinn Simmons	United States	DNF
Oscar Riesebeek	Netherlands	DNF
Ben Perry	Canada	DNF
Andrea Bagioli	Italy	DNF
Domen Novak	Slovenia	DNF
Connor Swift	Great Britain	DNF
Patrik Tybor	Slovakia	DNF
Jan Tratnik	Slovenia	DNF
Mārtiņš Pluto	Latvia	DNF
Michał Gołaś	Poland	DNF
Matteo Trentin	Italy	DNF
Alessandro De Marchi	Italy	DNF
Marc Hirschi	Switzerland	DNF
Ryan Gibbons	South Africa	DNF
Maciej Bodnar	Poland	DNF
Luke Durbridge	Australia	DNF
Mads Würtz Schmidt	Denmark	DNF
Connor Brown	New Zealand	DNF
Ben Swift	Great Britain	DNF
Mark Cavendish	Great Britain	DNF
Magnus Cort	Denmark	DNF
Eddie Dunbar	Ireland	DNF
Mikkel Bjerg	Denmark	DNF
Erik Baška	Slovakia	DNF
Pavel Kochetkov	Russian Cycling Federation	DNF
Oleksandr Prevar	Ukraine	DNF
Petr Rikunov	Russian Cycling Federation	DNF
Odd Christian Eiking	Norway	DNF
Jambaljamts Sainbayar	Mongolia	DNF
Sergio Higuita	Colombia	DNF
Jack Bauer	New Zealand	DNF
Leonidas Sebastián Novoa	Ecuador	DNF
Michael Schär	Switzerland	DNF
Miles Scotson	Australia	DNF
Lucas Eriksson	Sweden	DNF
Ylber Sefa	Albania	DNF
Oskar Nisu	Estonia	DNF
Max Schachmann	Germany	DNF
Stefan Bissegger	Switzerland	DNF
Tom Scully	New Zealand	DNF
Evaldas Šiškevičius	Lithuania	DNF
Orluis Aular	Venezuela	DNF
Matteo Jorgenson	United States	DNF
Wilson Haro	Ecuador	DNF
Fred Wright	Great Britain	DNF
Cristian Pita	Ecuador	DNF
Josef Černý	Czech Republic	DNF
Norman Vahtra	Estonia	DNF
Karl Patrick Lauk	Estonia	DNF
Dmitriy Gruzdev	Kazakhstan	DNF
Sebastian Langeveld	Netherlands	DNF
Gustav Basson	South Africa	DNF
Álvaro Hodeg	Colombia	DNF
Sarawut Sirironnachai	Thailand	DNF
Rory Townsend	Ireland	DNF
Polychronis Tzortzakis	Greece	DNF
Stanisław Aniołkowski	Poland	DNF
Luke Rowe	Great Britain	DNF
Eder Frayre	Mexico	DNF
Robin Carpenter	United States	DNF
Martin Laas	Estonia	DNF
José Tito Hernández	Colombia	DNF
John Degenkolb	Germany	DNF
Anatoliy Budyak	Ukraine	DNF
Franklin Archibold	Panama	DNF
Aleksandr Riabushenko	Belarus	DNF
Nick Schultz	New Zealand	DNF
Michael Kukrle	Czech Republic	DNF
Rémi Cavagna	France	DNF
Dawit Yemane	Eritrea	DNF
Kasper Asgreen	Denmark	DNF
Shane Archbold	New Zealand	DNF
Robert Stannard	Australia	DNF
Davide Ballerini	Italy	DNF
Christophe Laporte	France	DNF
Benjamín Quinteros	Ecuador	DNS

References

^ "Men Elite Road Race". Flanders 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
^ "88th World Championships - Road Race". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
^ "Julian Alaphilippe defends world title with stunning victory in Flanders World Championships". Cycling News. 26 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
^ "Qualification System for the 2021 UCI Road World Championships" (PDF). Union Cycliste International. Union Cycliste International. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
^ "2021 Flanders Quota Allocation" (PDF). Union Cycliste Internationale. Union Cycliste Internationale. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
^ "Road Race Men's Elite 2021 Start List" (PDF). Union Cycliste Internationale. Union Cycliste Internationale. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
^ "UCI Road World Championships - Men's Elite Road Race". Tissot Timing. Tissot. Retrieved 28 September 2021.

[1] "Men Elite Road Race". Flanders 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.

[2] "88th World Championships - Road Race". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 26 September 2021.

[3] "Julian Alaphilippe defends world title with stunning victory in Flanders World Championships". Cycling News. 26 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.

[4] "Qualification System for the 2021 UCI Road World Championships" (PDF). Union Cycliste International. Union Cycliste International. Retrieved 27 September 2021.

[5] "2021 Flanders Quota Allocation" (PDF). Union Cycliste Internationale. Union Cycliste Internationale. Retrieved 27 September 2021.

[6] "Road Race Men's Elite 2021 Start List" (PDF). Union Cycliste Internationale. Union Cycliste Internationale. Retrieved 27 September 2021.

[7] "UCI Road World Championships - Men's Elite Road Race". Tissot Timing. Tissot. Retrieved 28 September 2021.

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Events at the 2021 UCI Road World Championships

Participating nations
Elite events
Elite road race	men	women
Elite time trial	men	women
	Mixed team relay
Under-23 events
Under-23 road race	men
Under-23 time trial	men
Junior events
Junior road race	men	women
Junior time trial	men	women
v t e

v t e UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race
1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s	2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e UCI Road World Champions – Men's road race
1927–1938	1927: Alfredo Binda (ITA) 1928: Georges Ronsse (BEL) 1929: Georges Ronsse (BEL) 1930: Alfredo Binda (ITA) 1931: Learco Guerra (ITA) 1932: Alfredo Binda (ITA) 1933: Georges Speicher (FRA) 1934: Karel Kaers (BEL) 1935: Jean Aerts (BEL) 1936: Antonin Magne (FRA) 1937: Éloi Meulenberg (BEL) 1938: Marcel Kint (BEL)
1946–1959	1946: Hans Knecht (SUI) 1947: Theo Middelkamp (NED) 1948: Briek Schotte (BEL) 1949: Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) 1950: Briek Schotte (BEL) 1951: Ferdinand Kübler (SUI) 1952: Heinz Müller (FRG) 1953: Fausto Coppi (ITA) 1954: Louison Bobet (FRA) 1955: Stan Ockers (BEL) 1956: Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) 1957: Rik Van Steenbergen (BEL) 1958: Ercole Baldini (ITA) 1959: André Darrigade (FRA)
1960–1979	1960: Rik Van Looy (BEL) 1961: Rik Van Looy (BEL) 1962: Jean Stablinski (FRA) 1963: Benoni Beheyt (BEL) 1964: Jan Janssen (NED) 1965: Tom Simpson (GBR) 1966: Rudi Altig (FRG) 1967: Eddy Merckx (BEL) 1968: Vittorio Adorni (ITA) 1969: Harm Ottenbros (NED) 1970: Jean-Pierre Monseré (BEL) 1971: Eddy Merckx (BEL) 1972: Marino Basso (ITA) 1973: Felice Gimondi (ITA) 1974: Eddy Merckx (BEL) 1975: Hennie Kuiper (NED) 1976: Freddy Maertens (BEL) 1977: Francesco Moser (ITA) 1978: Gerrie Knetemann (NED) 1979: Jan Raas (NED)
1980–1999	1980: Bernard Hinault (FRA) 1981: Freddy Maertens (BEL) 1982: Giuseppe Saronni (ITA) 1983: Greg LeMond (USA) 1984: Claude Criquielion (BEL) 1985: Joop Zoetemelk (NED) 1986: Moreno Argentin (ITA) 1987: Stephen Roche (IRL) 1988: Maurizio Fondriest (ITA) 1989: Greg LeMond (USA) 1990: Rudy Dhaenens (BEL) 1991: Gianni Bugno (ITA) 1992: Gianni Bugno (ITA) 1993: Lance Armstrong (USA) 1994: Luc Leblanc (FRA) 1995: Abraham Olano (ESP) 1996: Johan Museeuw (BEL) 1997: Laurent Brochard (FRA) 1998: Oscar Camenzind (SUI) 1999: Óscar Freire (ESP)
2000–2019	2000: Romāns Vainšteins (LAT) 2001: Óscar Freire (ESP) 2002: Mario Cipollini (ITA) 2003: Igor Astarloa (ESP) 2004: Óscar Freire (ESP) 2005: Tom Boonen (BEL) 2006: Paolo Bettini (ITA) 2007: Paolo Bettini (ITA) 2008: Alessandro Ballan (ITA) 2009: Cadel Evans (AUS) 2010: Thor Hushovd (NOR) 2011: Mark Cavendish (GBR) 2012: Philippe Gilbert (BEL) 2013: Rui Costa (POR) 2014: Michał Kwiatkowski (POL) 2015: Peter Sagan (SVK) 2016: Peter Sagan (SVK) 2017: Peter Sagan (SVK) 2018: Alejandro Valverde (ESP) 2019: Mads Pedersen (DEN)
2020–2039	2020: Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) 2021: Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) 2022: Remco Evenepoel (BEL) 2023: Mathieu van der Poel (NED) 2024: Tadej Pogačar (SLO)