The decision was announced at the body's Management Committee meeting that took place on the sidelines of the Road Cycling World Championships, which is currently underway in Ponferrada, Spain.

Brian Cookson, the President of the UCI, said Bergen had "by far the best application" of the four candidates to top its challengers - the Austrian city of Innsbruck, Colombia's capital Bogotá and Melbourne in Australia.

"As with all international federations, we need host cities with money and resources to do a good job with the Championship," he told Procycling.no.

"We are looking for a place where cycling is strong, has the potential for growth and can boost cycling's good reputation.

"But most of all we are looking for candidates that can host an excellent event for riders, fans and the teams who work around the riders.

"We are very pleased that Bergen has delivered a strong application, and we know they are going to deliver what they have promised."

Next year's UCI Road World Championships will take place in the United States city of Richmond, before travelling to Qatar's capital Doha in 2016.

The UCI Management Committee also awarded the 2016 World Cycling Tour Final to Perth in Australia, the 2017 Cyclo-cross World Championships to Sanem in Luxembourg and the 2017 MTB Marathon World Championships to the German city of Singen.

"I am delighted that we are taking cycling to even more people around the world," Cookson added.

Meanwhile, the Professional Cycling Council (PCC) also met and agreed next year's UCI WorldTour calendar and confirmed its commitment to build on a number of technical innovations, including bike cameras, geo-location technology and audio visual content to further enrich the viewer experience, that have been trialled this year.

The calendar remains the same as previous seasons, with the only change being the elimination of the Tour of Beijing, with next month's event being the last edition.

This year's Tour of Beijing is the last to feature on the UCI WorldTour calendar ©Getty Images


In addition, the PCC said it will continue its communications with all stakeholders on the reform of men's professional cycling, including its commercial strategy, which will be fully implemented by 2017.

The final details of the reform plan will be revealed at the UCI WorldTour Seminar in December this year.

"As we are getting close to the last two events in the 2014 UCI WorldTour, Il Lombardia and the Tour of Beijing, we can all reflect on what has been a fantastic season which demonstrated some tangible proof of the global growth of the UCI WorldTour," Cookson said.

"We are convinced that the UCI WorldTour has now entered a new and exciting era.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the organisers of the Tour of Beijing as we head towards the fourth and final edition of that race and the role it has played in helping to build the profile of road racing in Asia.

"The reform of the UCI WorldTour remains on track.

"I am delighted with the cooperation shown by stakeholders over the last few months to move forward and ensure a simplified and more robust financial structure of the UCI WorldTour and look forward to further developing professional cycling's showcase in 2015 and beyond."

The next UCI Management Committee meeting will take place during the 2015 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Tábor in Czech Republic.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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