ROAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2026 PREVIEW: MEDAL PROSPECTS IN MONTRÉAL TIME TRIALS AND ROAD RACES

Friday 18th September 2026: The battle for road cycling's rainbow stripes heads to Montréal in Canada this year, returning after a 48-year absence. From Sunday 20th to Sunday 27th September, road racers and time trialists from juniors to elites will aim for glory in Quebec's largest city - and Canyon will be at the heart of the action with a two-week pop-up location close to the start/finish line.

Although riders will be representing their national teams and wearing their country’s colours, they'll still be racing on their regular trade team bikes. Canyon riders from Movistar, Alpecin-Premier Tech, Fenix-Premier Tech and CANYON//SRAM Racing will all be present at the start line. With 2025 champions Marlen Reusser, ⁠Zoe Bäckstedt, Paula Ostiz, plus 2026 Vuelta a Espana winner Enric Mas, and perennial threat Mathieu van der Poel expected to be racing, Canyon is in with a strong chance of medals again this year.

Here's a run-down of the medal prospects we're expecting to see in each category:

The championships kick off with the Individual Time Trials (ITT), an energy sapping, lung-busting, all-out effort against the clock. The Elite Men and Women take on 39.2 km on Sunday 20th September. Under-23 men and women race 31.3 km and 20.3 km respectively on Monday 21 September. Juniors are in action on Tuesday 22 September as are the elite men and women again who come together for a 40.6 km Mixed Team Relay.

Canyon riders expected on the start line include

• Fenix-Premier Tech: Lotte Claes (BE) and Christina Schweinberger (AU)

• Movistar: reigning TT-champ Marlen Reusser (CH, pictured right) and junior champion Paula Ostiz (ES), now competing at U23 level; plus home rider Olivia Baril (CA);. 2024 U23-world champ Ivan Romeo (ES); Pablo Castillo (ES) and Nelson Oliveira (PT)

• Canyon//SRAM: two-time GB ITT winner ⁠Zoe Bäckstedt (GB, pictured left); plus ⁠Antonia Niedermaier (DE); ⁠Wilma Aintila (SW); Justyna Czapla (DE) and ⁠Tsige Kahsay-Kiros (ETH)

All Canyon riders will tackle the course with the Speedmax CFR TT, with several riders using an unreleased prototype. Based on Canyon's original Speedmax CFR triathlon bike, but fully adapted to professional time trialling, it’s an aerodynamic masterpiece with UCI-compliant supreme race performance.

The road race covers multiple laps of a 13.4 km course in downtown Montreal featuring 269 metres of elevation. Starting on Thursday 24 September, the Under-23 Women and Junior Men tackle 134 km of racing. Under-23 men face off on Friday 25 September with 174 km, followed by the 80 km Junior Women's race. On the final weekend the Elite Women race 180 km on the Saturday followed by the Elite Men's 273 km race on Sunday.

The women's elite race is expected to feature Canyon stars from Movistar including Lotte Claes (BE); Christina Schweinberger (AU); Sara Casasola (IT); Puck Pieterse (NL); Flora Perkins (GB); Marlen Reusser (CH), Olivia Baril (CA); Sara Martin (ES), Tota Magahaes (BR) and Liane Lippert (DE). From Canyon//SRAM we can expect ⁠Zoe Bäckstedt (GB), ⁠Antonia Niedermaier (DE), ⁠Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (PO), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (DK) and⁠⁠ Monaliza Araya Chneslasie (ERI).

At U23 level, from Movistar; Paula Ostiz (ES) and Cat Ferguson (GB, pictured), and from Canyon//SRAM; Emily Dixon (AUS), Wilma Aintila (SW), ⁠Justyna Czapla (DE), ⁠Tsige Kahsay Kiros (ETH), Joëlle Messemer (DE) and Awen Roberts (GB) are expected to take to the start line.

The Men's road races look set to feature David Haverdings (NL), Guus van den Eijnden (NL), Mathieu van der Poel (NL); Gal Glivar (HU) and Hugo Houle (CA) from Alpecin-Premier Tech, and Ivan Romeo (ES), Enric Mas (ES), Raul G Pierna (ES) and Nelson Oliveria (ES) from Movistar.

For the Road race, Canyon riders are likely to choose the Aeroad CFR: Proven in the wind tunnel against its competitors and validated in real-world racing, it’s recognised as one of the fastest bikes in the peloton. Its aerodynamic frame and cockpit design, and rider-optimized geometry allows athletes to save watts while laying down sustained power efficiently. Find out more here.

For all the latest action from Montreal, keep your eyes on the Canyon Road Instagram channel.