The UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships are the world championships for cyclo-cross organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Starting in 2020, six events are organized each year – men's elite, women's elite, men's under 23, women's under 23, men's under 18 (Men's Juniors), and women's under 18 (Women's Juniors). Traditionally, the elite events are held on a Sunday with the other events held on the Saturday the day before.

The UCI awards a gold medal and a rainbow jersey to the winner. Silver and bronze medals are awarded to the second and third place contestants. World champions wear their rainbow jersey until the following year's championship, but they may wear it only in the type of event in which they won it.

History

First held in 1950^[1] it replaced the Critérium International de Cyclo-cross (French for International Cyclo-cross Criterium) which, as the first international cyclo-cross race, was considered the unofficial world championship. It has since been held annually and is traditionally disputed at the end of January or the beginning of February. At first there was only the event for elite men. Events for junior and under 23 men were added in 1979 and 1996 respectively; women's events were added for the elites and under 23s in 2000 and 2016 respectively. Beyond these, there also was an event for amateurs from 1967 till 1993.^[2]

Cyclo-cross being mostly centred in Europe has made it take quite a while for the world championships to be held in another continent. This changed with the 2013 edition which took place in Louisville, Kentucky, United States.

Current champions (as of 2023/2024)[1]

Event	Rider	Country
Men's elite	Mathieu van der Poel	Netherlands
Women's elite	Fem van Empel	Netherlands
Men's under 23	Tibor del Grosso	Netherlands
Women's under 23	Zoe Bäckstedt	United Kingdom
Men's junior	Stefano Viezz	Italy
Women's junior	Célia Gery	France

Championships

Year Country City 1950  France Paris 1951  Luxembourg Luxembourg 1952  Switzerland Geneva 1953  Spain Oñate 1954  Italy Crenna [it] 1955 Saar Saarbrücken 1956  Luxembourg Luxembourg 1957  Belgium Edelare 1958  France Limoges 1959  Switzerland Geneva 1960  Spain Tolosa 1961  West Germany Hanover 1962  Luxembourg Esch-sur-Alzette 1963  France Calais 1964  Belgium Overboelare 1965  Italy Cavaria 1966  Spain Beasain 1967  Switzerland Zürich 1968  Luxembourg Luxembourg 1969  West Germany Magstadt 1970  Belgium Zolder 1971  Netherlands Apeldoorn 1972  Czechoslovakia Prague 1973  United Kingdom London 1974  Spain Bera 1975  Switzerland Melchnau

Year Country City 1976  France Chazay-d'Azergues 1977  West Germany Hanover 1978  Spain Amorebieta-Etxano 1979  Italy Saccolongo 1980  Switzerland Wetzikon 1981  Spain Tolosa 1982  France Lanarvily 1983  United Kingdom Birmingham 1984  Netherlands Oss 1985  West Germany Munich 1986  Belgium Lembeek 1987  Czechoslovakia Mladá Boleslav 1988  Switzerland Hägendorf 1989  France Pontchâteau 1990  Spain Getxo 1991  Netherlands Gieten 1992  United Kingdom Leeds 1993  Italy Corva 1994  Belgium Koksijde 1995  Switzerland Eschenbach 1996  France Montreuil 1997  Germany Munich 1998  Denmark Middelfart 1999  Slovakia Poprad 2000  Netherlands Sint-Michielsgestel 2001  Czech Republic Tábor

Year Country City 2002  Belgium Zolder 2003  Italy Monopoli 2004  France Pontchâteau 2005  Germany Sankt Wendel 2006  Netherlands Zeddam 2007  Belgium Hooglede-Gits 2008  Italy Treviso 2009  Netherlands Hoogerheide 2010  Czech Republic Tábor 2011  Germany Sankt Wendel 2012  Belgium Koksijde 2013  United States Louisville 2014  Netherlands Hoogerheide 2015  Czech Republic Tábor 2016  Belgium Zolder 2017  Luxembourg Belvaux 2018  Netherlands Valkenburg 2019  Denmark Bogense 2020  Switzerland Dübendorf 2021  Belgium Ostend 2022  United States Fayetteville 2023  Netherlands Hoogerheide 2024  Czech Republic Tábor 2025  France Liévin 2026  Netherlands Hulst 2027  Belgium Ostend

^[2]

Results

• Women's elite race
• Men's elite race
• Women's under-23 race
• Men's under-23 race
• Junior women's race
• Junior men's race