The first Track Cycling World Championships were held in Chicago, in the United State of America, in the year 1893. The UCI was founded in the year 1900 and took over the World Championships organisation that same year, and the inaugural UCI World Championships were held in Paris.
These Championships are the oldest in the world of cycling, and the first UCI Road World Championships were held in 1921.
The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 meant that the UCI World Championships, being held in Milan, Italy that year, were interrupted, and it took until 1958 before women were able to start competing, the same year that the Championships were once again held in Paris.
That year there were three professional events for men, and two for women; today there are 19 titles available for the competing athletes to try for.
France hosted the UCI World Championships for Track Cycling for the fifteenth time in the year 2015; following up from the last time they were held there, in 2006, in Bordeaux. Amateur cyclists and their professional counterparts competed in independent events until the year 1993, the year in which the first so-called Open World Championships were held. These took place in Hamar, in Norway.
UCI World Championships’ Most Titled
Since the year 1993, 38 nations have managed to win medals at the UCI World Championships. The French athlete Arnaud Tournant takes first place in terms of men’s’ medal wins, as he took 14 gold; three silver; and two bronze medals in the years between 1997 and 2008.
Britain’s Chris Hoy is up next, who holds 25 medals in total, of which 11 are gold, and France’s Florian Rousseau stands in at third place with 16 medals in total, ten of which are gold.
Anna Meares of Australia dominates the women’s UCI World Championships scene, having won a total of 23 medals, ten of which are gold, eight silver and five bronze, since the year 2003, and she is still counting, having not retired to date.
Between the years 1994 and 1999 France’s Félicia Ballanger took ten gold medals and one silver; and Britain’s Victoria Pendleton is in third place with 16 medals in total: nine gold; five silver; and two bronze, taking these between 2005 and the year of her retirement, 2012.
UCI World Championships Cycling Bets Online
There are a number of different mobile cycling bets for punters interested in the UCI World Championships to take advantage of, with these ranging from more simple bets to complicated wagers. Simpler bets include the wager placed on which cyclist will win a race, and are a great option for the casual spectator because they will only be familiar with the favourites for the race.
Cycling odds are listed in a number of different formats, however, and it is advised that potential punters look to the help provided by online sports betting NZ guides and comparison sites when it comes to deciphering these and putting them to work.