“C’est vertigineux.” Michel Callot, the president of the French Cycling Federation and the organizing committee for the 2027 World Championships, is still pinching himself to believe it. With 500 days to go until the event, time is ticking and everything is coming together quickly. “16 months may seem far away, but I’m telling you, it’s tomorrow,” emphasized Amina Lanaya, the UCI’s general director, on Thursday in Annecy, promising in Haute-Savoie, “the biggest cycling event in history.”
This J-500 milestone was the perfect opportunity to grasp the magnitude of the event that will award 288 rainbow jerseys over 13 days from August 24 to September 5, 2027, bringing together 15,000 athletes and 2 million spectators. These numbers are staggering for an event now embodied by a mascot resembling a marmot, whose name will be chosen through an online consultation. Michel Callot revealed that the program will kick off with a para-cycling relay and a mixed team time trial around Lake Annecy, with half dedicated to men and the other to women, passing through Doussard.
Regarding the online events, in Sallanches where Bernard Hinault dreams of Paul Seixas succeeding him 47 years later, men (with 20 laps around the circuit with the climb of Domancy) will wear their numbers on Sunday, August 29, and women will close these great Worlds the following Sunday (September 5) on a course that will host the first steps of a cyclosportive (La Haute-Savoie Mont-Blanc Classic) as early as next September.
We are now one year away from this large-scale production at the heart of a budget yet to be finalized, with a new major partner set to be announced this Friday. With 90% of the events being free, Haute-Savoie is set to succeed in its goal: offering an elite event with a popular, inclusive, and environmentally respectful touch that the world is already envious of.
