France unveils a grueling 2027 World Cycling Championships route: Who will stop Pogacar?

The World Championships (part of a “Super World Championships”) will be held between August 27 and September 5. This means they will take place much earlier than this year. Because there would be an overlap with the Vuelta a España, it was decided to hold the men’s road race as early as August 29. The women’s race will therefore conclude on the final Sunday. Older cycling fans will recognize the route from the legendary 1980 World Championships.

In the French Alps, Bernard Hinault rode to the world title under apocalyptic conditions. Only fifteen riders managed to reach the finish line. The 2027 World Championships will be the toughest title race since that year—at least according to the statistics. The men will cover 265 kilometers and must climb 5,700 meters over the course of no fewer than twenty laps.

The elite women will ride 158.6 kilometers, with 3,420 meters of elevation gain. The same applies to the men’s U23 category, while the women’s U23 and men’s junior categories will ride 118 kilometers, with 2,565 meters of elevation gain. The youngest women will cover 78.8 kilometers, with 1,710 meters of elevation gain. These statistics are typical of the toughest mountain stages. Naturally, this is right up the alley of Tadej Pogacar, who is absent from the race in Canada.

And although the race takes place in the Alps, the elevation won’t be very high, and the climb won’t be very long. But the Côte de Domancy, the only climb of the day, is a real killer. On the Route Bernard Hinault, we’ll come across a familiar spot: this climb was part of the legendary time trial in the 2023 Tour de France, where Jonas Vingegaard put in a legendary performance.

The climb is 2.5 kilometers long and has an average gradient of 9.4 percent, with the steepest sections reaching around 12 percent. It is part of a 13.3-kilometer loop. From the summit, it’s about nine kilometers to the finish: the rest of the route consists of a descent of about five kilometers, after which the final kilometers toward the finish in Sallanches will be virtually flat.

The time trial will take place on a different course. The start is in Annecy, and the race will be a time trial around Lake Annecy. For the elite and U23 riders, this means a 37.2-kilometer course with 265 meters of elevation gain. The Côte de Taillores (1.5 kilometers at a 6.5 percent gradient) is the decisive climb, but it’s not overly difficult. The juniors will start halfway through the course and cover 20.3 kilometers. The Mixed Relay will take place on the elite course, with the halfway point located at the juniors’ starting line.

Bernard Hinault, ambassador for the World Championships, looks back on the course with nostalgia. “47 years later, it’s wonderful to see this course come back to life to crown a new world champion,” he says in the press release. “It’s becoming more and more real with the announcement of the routes, the mountain passes, and the iconic locations that will be featured.”

Hinault hopes that the upcoming World Championships will be just as iconic as they were back then. “I experienced a moment back then that defined my career. I wanted this course to live up to the expectations of that time—to be a tough race where riders could make a difference. Today, I’m delighted to see a new generation of riders writing a new chapter in Haute-Savoie.”