2015 World Championships – Road Race Stats
Historical stats
– Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbergen, Eddy Merckx and Oscar Freire are the riders with the most victories, three
– Rik Van Steenbergen holds the record for the largest time span between the first and the last win: 8 years
– Belgium leads in the nations standings, with 26 victories
– Karel Kaers is the youngest ever winner (20 years in 1934), while Joop Zoetemelk is the oldest one (38 years in 1985)
– Copenhagen has hosted the event five times, a record for the World Championships
– Italy is the country which held the most editions, 12
– Up until this point, 15 countries have had at least one world champion: Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, U.S.A.
– Only six countries from outside of Europe have hosted the event: Australia, Canada, Colombia, Japan, U.S.A. and Venezuela
– Cadel Evans is the sole rider from the southern emisphere to take the victory (2009)
– Five cyclists have successfully defended their title: Georges Ronsse, Rik Van Steenbergen, Rik van Looy, Gianni Bugno and Paolo Bettini
– Alejandro Valverde has the most medals, six: two silver and four bronze ones
– In 1931, there wasn’t a road race, but a 172 km-long individual time trial won by Italy’s Learco Guerra
– Biggest ever winning margin was recorded at the 1928 edition, in Budapest, when Georges Ronsse came home 19:43 ahead of Herbert Nebe
– Longest edition (297,5 kilometers) took place in Copenhagen, in 1937, and was won by Eloi Meulenberg; Denmark’s capital played host also to the shortest one, in 1931 (172 kilometers)
– On 12 occasions, the world title was won by a rider of the host nation
– No U23 world champion has ever managed to take the title in the elite race
2015 stats
– The World Championships are hosted by the US for the second time in history, 29 years after Moreno Argentin’s triumph
– The course is 261,4 kilometers-long and has an elevation gain of more than 1600 meters
– Each of the 16 laps includes three climbs: Libby Hill (215 meters, 8% average, 9% maximum), 23rd Street (185 meters, 12% average, 13% maximum) and Governor Street (295 meters, 7% average, 8% maximum)
– 190 riders representing 44 countries will be at the start line in Richmond
– Tom Boonen, Philippe Gilbert, Rui Costa and Michal Kwiatkowski are the former winners of the rainbow jersey who will line-up for the race
– Etixx-Quick Step is the trade team with the most riders in the event: 13
– Tiesj Benoot (21 years) is the youngest cyclist in the race, while Gonzalo Garrido (42 years) is the oldest one
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