Sir Chris Hoy: Glasgow cycling worlds 'bigger than the Tour'

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Belgian Remco Evenepoel, new cycling world champion waves at the crowd from a balcony overlooking the Grande Place during celebrations after his return from the UCI Road World Championships Cycling 2022,Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Current men's road race champion Remco Evenepoel will be one of many cyclists hoping to compete in Glasgow

This year's UCI World Cycling Championships in Glasgow will be "bigger than the Tour de France", says Sir Chris Hoy.

The event takes place in August and combines 13 championships from seven different cycling disciplines.

It's been billed as the biggest cycling event ever with Stirling, Dundee, the Scottish Borders and Fort William all hosting various races.

"The impact this could have is quite staggering," Hoy said.

"[With] 100 days to go, it's going to pass in the blink of an eye. You look at the scale of how big it's going to be...bigger than the Tour de France, bigger than any cycling event ever in history and that says it all.

"Glasgow has been fantastic at getting behind big sporting events. We had the European championships here in 2018, the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

"On the cycling front we've had various major events at the velodrome so it's great to see that continue."

Hoy was in Glasgow marking 100 days to go before the championships begin.

It is the first time the different world championship events have come together to form a mega event, and they will range from the traditional road and track races, to BMX and trial bikes.

Governing body the UCI will stage combined championships every four years thereafter, before an Olympic year.

And six-time Olympic gold medallist Hoy hopes it can inspire more people to get on a bike.

"One thing I hope comes from it all is that more people choose to cycle," the 47-year-old said.

"Not just for sport, not just to see that it's a competitive thing but just to get out there and be more active.

"To improve their physical and mental health. To choose to cycle to work, to choose to cycle to school. There are so many spin-offs, so many benefits from cycling.

"You can see the work that's gone in to improving the infrastructure on the roads around here as well to try to make it easier and more appealing for people to get on their bikes."

List of the championships

  • Road (men's road race from Edinburgh to Glasgow George Square, women's road race from Loch Lomond to Glasgow George Square, and men's and women's time trials, Stirling)

  • Para-cycling Road (Dumfries and Galloway)

  • Track (Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Glasgow)

  • Para-cycling Track (Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Glasgow)

  • Mountain Bike Cross-country (Glentress Forest, Tweed Valley)

  • Mountain Bike Downhill (Nevis Range, Fort William)

  • Mountain Bike Marathon (Glentress Forest, Tweed Valley)

  • BMX Freestyle Park (Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow)

  • BMX Freestyle Flatland (Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow)

  • BMX Racing (Glasgow BMX Centre, Glasgow)

  • Trials (Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow)

  • Indoor Cycling (Emirates Arena, Glasgow)

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