The 2023 Cycling World Championship mega event starts today with 13 events spread over 11 days across Scotland

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Here is how to grab last minute tickets for the downhill MTB and XC events and all the global options for TV and live stream viewing

Evie Richards winning the XC World Champs in Italy
Evie Richards winning the XC World Champs in Val di Sole (Image credit: Paul Brett)

The UCI World Championships starts today with Glasgow as the host city, events are also staged across Scotland, from the Borders to the Scottish Highlands. Here at Bike Perfect we couldn't be more excited as a who’s who of the world's best mountain bike riders and cycling stars arrive in Scotland for the event which runs from the 3rd until Sunday 13th August. 

The Glasgow World Championships are the first ever mega-worlds to be held with every genre of cycling apart from the Gravel and Cyclocross worlds which will be held later in the year. The UCI also plans to host a cross-discipline world championships every four years.

For us at Bike Perfect, the mountain bike events are our main focus of interest, but the full details of the entire schedule are available at 2023 UCI Cycling World Championship, with something for all cycling fans to enjoy including Road, BMX, Track and Para-Cycling. 

Isla Short riding XC for Team GB

Home grown Scottish talent like Isla Short will feature at Glentress (Image credit: Paul Brett)

For fans of mountain biking the event hits the ground running tomorrow with the best downhill mountain bike riders starting their qualifying runs and a chance to grab a coveted rainbow jersey at the legendary Fort William downhill track. The Men's and Women's junior finals and Elite Men's and Women's qualifications are on Friday, followed by the Elite finals on Saturday.

The XC Marathon and XC mountain bike events will then be held just south of Edinburgh at Glentress Forest in the Tweed Valley, with a dream line-up of racing and riders including homegrown talent like Cameron Mason and Isla Short from Sunday 6th August for the XC Marathon, then from the 8th to the 12th of August for the various XC and XC Short Track races.

Greg Minnaar celebrating world champs win at Val di Sole

Will Greg Minnaar take another rainbow jersey at Fort William? (Image credit: Paul Brett)

There are still limited ticketing options left for the downhill and XC events with remaining tickets available at Cyclingworldchamps.com. For those not lucky enough to see the action close-up, watching the TV coverage is the next best option.

Where to watch the 2023 Cycling World Championships on TV

In the US, you can watch the World Championships live and on-demand with a subscription to Flobikes, which will cover the road, MTB, Road and BMX events, but not the Track cycling.

In the UK, the BBC will show highlights of the UCI World Championships on BBC Two and BBC Three, and also have streaming live and on-demand via on iPlayer and the BBC Sport website, and also via the Red Button for some events. You can also watch live or on-demand on GCN+, Eurosport and Discovery+. Events are also covered by free-to-air broadcasters across Europe.

Paul Brett
Paul Brett
Staff writer

Paul Brett joined BikePerfect as a staff writer in 2022. He has been an avid cyclist for as long as he can remember, initially catching the mountain biking bug in the 1990s, and he raced mountain bikes for over a decade before injury cut short a glittering career. An award-winning photographer, when not riding a bike, he can be found at the side of a cyclocross track or a downhill mountain bike world championship shooting the action. Paul was the founder, editor and writer of Proper Cycling magazine, and he's traveled the world interviewing some of the biggest names in mountain biking and writing about some of the biggest cycling brands.

Current rides: Canyon Inflite, Specialized Diverge, Marin Alpine Trail 2