Top nations to field nine in men’s race and seven in women’s; extra places granted to Olympic, World Continental and champions
The International Cycling Union (UCI) has announced the allocation of places by nation for next month's World championship road races, which are based on its various rankings at August 15th. The top ten nations in the UCI’s flagship WorldTour are all awarded nine places each - to be selected from a long-list of 14 - while the women’s race awards seven places to the top five nations.
This means that Spain, Italy, Great Britain, Belgium, Australia, the Netherlands and France will all have nine Elite Men lining up on the Limburg, Netherlands, start line. The exceptions to this rule are Slovakia and Switzerland, who rank eighth and ninth in the WorldTour respectively, since they have less than nine riders in the individual ranking itself; they have instead been allocated six each.
These six unused places are allocated to the countries that are 11th to 16th in the WorldTour rankings.
Those outside the WorldTour top ten qualify riders by virtue of their position in the various UCI Continental Tours; the top countries in the Europe, America, Oceania, Africa and Asia Tours - which are not in the WorldTour top ten - are allocated up to six places each. Countries outside the top of the national rankings also have places allocated if they have one or more riders in the WorldTour or Continental rankings.
This means that Germany, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Colombia - which rank 12th, 15th, 16th and 13th in the WorldTour - get six places each, by right, but also benefit from an extra one each thanks to Slovakia and Switzerland not being eligible for all of theirs; while Russia, Poland, the Ukraine, Morocco, Argentina and Japan just get their allocation of six.
The other countries to benefit from Slovakia and Switzerland's unused allocation are 11th place Portugal, and 14th place Canada, who get their three-man allocations lifted to four.
Similarly, in the Elite Women’s road race, the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, Italy and Great Britain will have seven starters each. The next ten nations - Australia, Sweden, Russia, Canada, Belgium, France, New Zealand, South Africa, Brazil and Belarus - have six each, while the next five get five. All other nations will be able to field three riders each; these are not listed by the UCI.
In addition to the places allocated by ranking, specific athletes may be added by their respective nations due to their winning of Olympic, World or Continental championships; a rule which applies to the Elite and Junior Women, and Under-23 and Junior Men, but not to the Elite Men.
This rule means that the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Cuba, Chinese Tapei, South Africa, and Australia get an extra rider each, in the specific shape of Marianne Vos, Giorgia Bronzini, Evelyn Arys, Yumari Gonzalez, Mei Yu Hsiao, Ashleigh Moolman and Gracie Elvin.
Allocation of places in the time trial is a far less convoluted matter, with all national federations allowed two places each. The same rule applies to specific Olympic, World and Continental championships, with the Elite Men included this time; at the top level, this means that Great Britain’s Bradley Wiggins and Germany’s Tony Martin are given a specific extra place, along with the United States’ Kristin Armstrong and Germany’s Judith Arndt.
Since Armstrong announced her retirement immediately following her victory in the Olympic time trial, in London at the beginning of the month, it is highly unlikely that the 39-year-old will ride. Since the third US place in the race is specifically allocated to her however, it will not be possible to transfer it to a teammate.
Qualified nations with Allocated places
Elite Men’s Road Race (September 23rd)
Nations Qualified by the UCI WorldTour
1. Spain, 9
2. Italy, 9
3. Great Britain, 9
4. Belgium, 9
5. Australia, 9
6. Netherlands, 9
7. United States, 9
8. Slovakia, 6
9. Switzerland, 6
10. France, 9
Nations Qualified by the UCI Africa Tour
1. Morocco, 6
2. South Africa, 3
Nations Qualified by the UCI America Tour
1. Colombia, 7
2. Argentina, 6
3. Venezuela, 3
4. Canada, 4
5. Brazil, 3
Nations Qualified by the UCI Asia Tour
1. Japan, 6
2. Kazakhstan, 3
3. Malaysia, 3
Nations Qualified by the UCI Europe Tour
1. Germany, 7
2. Slovenia, 7
3. Russia, 6
4. Poland, 6
5. Ukraine, 6
6. Czech Republic, 7
7. Denmark, 3
8. Austria, 3
9. Latvia, 3
10. Estonia, 3
11. Bulgaria, 3
12. Croatia, 3
13. Sweden, 3
14. Serbia, 3
15. Lithuania, 3
16. Greece, 3
Nations Qualified by the UCI Oceania Tour
1. New Zealand, 3
Nations Qualified through having a rider in the top-100 of the UCI WorldTour
Portugal, 4
Luxembourg, 3
Ireland, 3
Norway, 3
Belarus, 3
Nations Qualified through having a rider in the UCI WorldTour
Costa Rica, 1
Nations Qualified through the ranking of the UCI Continental Tours
Algeria, 1
Uruguay, 1
Bolivia, 1
Chile, 1
Hong Kong, 1
Iran, 1
Turkey, 1
Hungary, 1
Moldova, 1
Azerbaijan, 1
Elite Women’s Road Race (September 23rd)
Nations Qualified through the UCI Women Elite ranking
1. Netherlands, 7
2. Germany, 7
3. United States, 7
4. Italy, 7
5. Great Britain, 7
6. Australia, 6
7. Sweden, 6
8. Russia, 6
9. Canada, 6
10. Belgium, 6
11. France, 6
12. New Zealand, 6
13. South Africa, 6
14. Brazil, 6
15. Belarus, 6
16. Cuba, 5
17. Venezuela, 5
18. Ukraine, 5
19. Lithuania, 5
20. China, 5
Note: The numbers listed above do not include the extra places allocated to specific athletes as mentioned above.