2016 UCI Road World Championships | ||||||||||
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Race details | ||||||||||
Dates | 16 October 2016 | |||||||||
Stages | 1 | |||||||||
Distance | 257.3 km (159.9 mi) | |||||||||
Winning time | 5h 40' 43" | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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2016 UCI Road World Championships![]() Participating nations |
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Elite events | ||||
Elite road race | men | women | ||
Elite time trial | men | women | ||
Elite team time trial | men | women | ||
Under-23 events | ||||
Under-23 road race | men | |||
Under-23 time trial | men | |||
Junior events | ||||
Junior road race | men | women | ||
Junior time trial | men | women | ||
Qualification |
The Men's road race of the 2016 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 16 October 2016 in Doha, Qatar. It was the 83rd edition of the championship, and Slovakia's Peter Sagan was the defending champion.
Sagan became the first rider since Paolo Bettini in 2006 and 2007 to retain the rainbow jersey, after winning the sprint finish from a select group of riders that had made a break from the rest of the field in the opening half of the race, in the desert crosswinds. The silver medal went to 2011 world champion Mark Cavendish from Great Britain, a bike length in arrears of Sagan, with the bronze medal going to Belgium's Tom Boonen, the 2005 world champion. It was the first time that all three medallists were previous world title winners.
The race was due to start and finish in the capital city of Doha, the home base for the Tour of Qatar. The route for the Worlds road races was presented in February 2015, which was made up of a loop of 80 kilometres (50 miles) through the desert and a finishing circuit in Doha city centre, including 1.2 kilometres (0.75 miles) of cobblestones. The finishing circuit of 15.2 kilometres (9.4 miles) on The Pearl-Qatar was used for a stage of February's Tour of Qatar: riders noted that the course was highly technical, going through 24 roundabouts, with stage winner Alexander Kristoff comparing it to a criterium. However it was also noted that the lack of long straight sections meant that the effect of the crosswinds frequently occurring in Qatar would be significantly lessened, reducing the race's unpredictability.