# 2016 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race

The Men's road race of the 2016 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 16 October 2016 in Doha, Qatar. It was the 83rd edition of the championship, and Slovakia's Peter Sagan was the defending champion.
Sagan became the first rider since Paolo Bettini in 2006 and 2007 to retain the rainbow jersey, after winning the sprint finish from a select group of riders that had made a break from the rest of the field in the opening half of the race, in the desert crosswinds. The silver medal went to 2011 world champion Mark Cavendish from Great Britain, a bike length in arrears of Sagan, with the bronze medal going to Belgium's Tom Boonen, the 2005 world champion. It was the first time that all three medallists were previous world title winners.

## Course

The race was due to start and finish in the capital city of Doha, the home base for the Tour of Qatar. The route for the Worlds road races was presented in February 2015, which was made up of a loop of 80 kilometres (50 miles) through the desert and a finishing circuit in Doha city centre, including 1.2 kilometres (0.75 miles) of cobblestones. The finishing circuit of 15.2 kilometres (9.4 miles) on The Pearl Island was used for a stage of February's Tour of Qatar: riders noted that the course was highly technical, going through 24 roundabouts, with stage winner Alexander Kristoff comparing it to a criterium. However it was also noted that the lack of long straight sections meant that the effect of the crosswinds frequently occurring in Qatar would be significantly lessened, reducing the race's unpredictability.
Subsequently, in August 2016 it was reported that the UCI had made changes to the course, increasing the amount of riding through the desert to 151 kilometres (94 miles) and reducing the number of laps of the finishing circuit from eleven down to seven. The start of the men's race was also moved to the Aspire Zone, with the riders heading out northwards towards Al Khor and returning to Doha.

## Qualification

Qualification was based on performances on the UCI run tours and UCI World Ranking during 2016. Results from January to the middle of August counted towards the qualification criteria on both the UCI World Ranking and the UCI Continental Circuits across the world, with the rankings being determined upon the release of the numerous rankings on 22 August 2016.
The following nations qualified.
| Number of riders | Nations |
| 14 to enter, 9 to start | Australia, Belgium, Colombia, France, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland |
| 9 to enter, 6 to start | Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eritrea, Germany, Iran, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, United States |
| 5 to enter, 3 to start | Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Chile, Estonia, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Morocco, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Venezuela |
| 3 to enter, 2 to start | Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Latvia |
| 2 to enter, 1 to start | Azerbaijan, Chinese Taipei, Ethiopia, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Mexico, Mongolia, Romania, Rwanda, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay |

## Schedule

All times are in Arabia Standard Time (UTC+03:00).
| Date | Time | Event |
| 16 October 2016 | 10:30–16:35 | Men's road race |

## Participating nations

199 cyclists from 48 nations were entered in the men's road race, with 197 riders taking the start. The numbers of cyclists per nation are shown in parentheses.
* Algeria (3)
* Argentina (3)
* Australia (9)
* Austria (2)
* Azerbaijan (1)
* Belarus (3)
* Belgium (9)
* Canada (6)
* Colombia (7)
* Czech Republic (6)
* Denmark (6)
* Eritrea (6)
* Estonia (3)
* Ethiopia (1)
* Finland (1)
* France (9)
* Germany (6)
* Great Britain (9)
* Greece (1)
* Hong Kong (1)
* Ireland (3)
* Italy (9)
* Japan (2)
* Kazakhstan (3)
* Latvia (2)
* Lithuania (3)
* Luxembourg (2)
* Mexico (1)
* Mongolia (1)
* Morocco (3)
* Netherlands (9)
* New Zealand (2)
* Norway (9)
* Poland (6)
* Portugal (3)
* Romania (1)
* Russia (6)
* Rwanda (1)
* Slovakia (3)
* Slovenia (3)
* South Africa (3)
* Spain (9)
* Sweden (1)
* Switzerland (8)
* Tunisia (1)
* Ukraine (6)
* United States (6)
* Uruguay (1)

## Results
### Final classification

Of the race's 199 entrants, 53 riders completed the full distance of 257.3 km (159.9 mi).
| Rank | Rider | Country | Time |
| 1 | Peter Sagan | Slovakia | 5h 40' 43" |
| 2 | Mark Cavendish | Great Britain | s.t. |
| 3 | Tom Boonen | Belgium | s.t. |
| 4 | Michael Matthews | Australia | s.t. |
| 5 | Giacomo Nizzolo | Italy | s.t. |
| 6 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Norway | s.t. |
| 7 | Alexander Kristoff | Norway | s.t. |
| 8 | William Bonnet | France | s.t. |
| 9 | Niki Terpstra | Netherlands | s.t. |
| 10 | Greg Van Avermaet | Belgium | s.t. |
| 11 | Jacopo Guarnieri | Italy | s.t. |
| 12 | Adam Blythe | Great Britain | s.t. |
| 13 | Natnael Berhane | Eritrea | + 4" |
| 14 | Jürgen Roelandts | Belgium | + 9" |
| 15 | Ryan Roth | Canada | + 9" |
| 16 | Truls Engen Korsæth | Norway | + 9" |
| 17 | Tom Leezer | Netherlands | + 9" |
| 18 | Nicolas Dougall | South Africa | + 9" |
| 19 | Michael Kolář | Slovakia | + 13" |
| 20 | Elia Viviani | Italy | + 14" |
| 21 | Mathew Hayman | Australia | + 21" |
| 22 | Anass Aït El Abdia | Morocco | + 2' 48" |
| 23 | Oliver Naesen | Belgium | + 4' 00" |
| 24 | Jasper Stuyven | Belgium | + 4' 00" |
| 25 | Daniele Bennati | Italy | + 4' 00" |
| 26 | Alexander Porsev | Russia | + 5' 26" |
| 27 | Aidis Kruopis | Lithuania | + 5' 26" |
| 28 | Maximiliano Richeze | Argentina | + 5' 26" |
| 29 | Magnus Cort | Denmark | + 5' 26" |
| 30 | Sven Erik Bystrøm | Norway | + 5' 26" |
| 31 | Yauheni Hutarovich | Belarus | + 5' 26" |
| 32 | Nacer Bouhanni | France | + 5' 26" |
| 33 | Imanol Erviti | Spain | + 5' 26" |
| 34 | Marco Haller | Austria | + 5' 26" |
| 35 | Yukiya Arashiro | Japan | + 5' 26" |
| 36 | Michael Schär | Switzerland | + 5' 26" |
| 37 | Dylan Groenewegen | Netherlands | + 5' 26" |
| 38 | Stefan Küng | Switzerland | + 5' 26" |
| 39 | Juraj Sagan | Slovakia | + 5' 26" |
| 40 | Maciej Bodnar | Poland | + 5' 26" |
| 41 | Iljo Keisse | Belgium | + 5' 26" |
| 42 | André Greipel | Germany | + 5' 26" |
| 43 | Taylor Phinney | United States | + 5' 26" |
| 44 | Koen de Kort | Netherlands | + 5' 26" |
| 45 | Zdeněk Štybar | Czech Republic | + 5' 26" |
| 46 | Manuel Quinziato | Italy | + 5' 26" |
| 47 | Jens Debusschere | Belgium | + 5' 26" |
| 48 | Dylan van Baarle | Netherlands | + 5' 26" |
| 49 | Ben Swift | Great Britain | + 5' 26" |
| 50 | Mitchell Docker | Australia | + 5' 26" |
| 51 | Zak Dempster | Australia | + 5' 33" |
| 52 | Scott Thwaites | Great Britain | + 5' 33" |
| 53 | Robin Carpenter | United States | + 6' 03" |

### Failed to finish

144 riders failed to finish, while Colombia's Rigoberto Urán and Norway's Vegard Breen failed to start.
| Rider | Country |
| Jens Keukeleire | Belgium |
| Mauro Richeze | Argentina |
| Mekseb Debesay | Eritrea |
| Ryan Mullen | Ireland |
| Marc Sarreau | France |
| Arnaud Démare | France |
| Hugo Houle | Canada |
| Gediminas Bagdonas | Lithuania |
| Dmitriy Gruzdev | Kazakhstan |
| David de la Cruz | Spain |
| Jack Bauer | New Zealand |
| Francisco Ventoso | Spain |
| Luis Ángel Maté | Spain |
| Reto Hollenstein | Switzerland |
| Alexey Lutsenko | Kazakhstan |
| Youcef Reguigui | Algeria |
| Fumiyuki Beppu | Japan |
| Nikolas Maes | Belgium |
| Joey Rosskopf | United States |
| Fabian Lienhard | Switzerland |
| Carlos Barbero | Spain |
| Omar Fraile | Spain |
| Bernhard Eisel | Austria |
| Dion Smith | New Zealand |
| Matt Brammeier | Ireland |
| Łukasz Wiśniowski | Poland |
| Antoine Duchesne | Canada |
| Vegard Stake Laengen | Norway |
| Daniel Hoelgaard | Norway |
| Michael Mørkøv | Denmark |
| Lars Bak | Denmark |
| Guillaume Boivin | Canada |
| Jos van Emden | Netherlands |
| Matti Breschel | Denmark |
| Christopher Juul-Jensen | Denmark |
| John Degenkolb | Germany |
| Vyacheslav Kuznetsov | Russia |
| Marcel Kittel | Germany |
| Sonny Colbrelli | Italy |
| Jasha Sütterlin | Germany |
| Jempy Drucker | Luxembourg |
| Christophe Laporte | France |
| Nelson Oliveira | Portugal |
| Tony Martin | Germany |
| Grégory Rast | Switzerland |
| Bob Jungels | Luxembourg |
| Nils Politt | Germany |
| Sam Bennett | Ireland |
| Rider | Country |
| Heinrich Haussler | Australia |
| Sergiy Lagkuti | Ukraine |
| Søren Kragh Andersen | Denmark |
| Soufiane Haddi | Morocco |
| Azzedine Lagab | Algeria |
| Alexey Vermeulen | United States |
| Chad Haga | United States |
| Clint Hendricks | South Africa |
| Ryan Gibbons | South Africa |
| Daniel Turek | Czech Republic |
| Andriy Vasylyuk | Ukraine |
| Mihkel Räim | Estonia |
| Vitaliy Buts | Ukraine |
| Edwin Ávila | Colombia |
| Omar Mendoza | Colombia |
| Ian Stannard | Great Britain |
| Maksym Averin | Azerbaijan |
| Łukasz Owsian | Poland |
| Maciej Paterski | Poland |
| Matti Manninen | Finland |
| Geraint Thomas | Great Britain |
| Danny van Poppel | Netherlands |
| Mark Renshaw | Australia |
| Adrian Banaszek | Poland |
| Steve Cummings | Great Britain |
| Sebastian Langeveld | Netherlands |
| Luka Pibernik | Slovenia |
| Jiří Polnický | Czech Republic |
| Tom Dumoulin | Netherlands |
| Fabio Sabatini | Italy |
| Carlos Alzate | Colombia |
| Adam de Vos | Canada |
| Brayan Ramírez | Colombia |
| Ruslan Tleubayev | Kazakhstan |
| Daniel Oss | Italy |
| Andžs Flaksis | Latvia |
| Yoann Offredo | France |
| Ioannis Tamouridis | Greece |
| Cyril Lemoine | France |
| Anton Vorobyev | Russia |
| Karol Domagalski | Poland |
| Maxim Belkov | Russia |
| Fabricio Ferrari | Uruguay |
| Silvan Dillier | Switzerland |
| Sergey Lagutin | Russia |
| Andrei Nechita | Romania |
| Martin Elmiger | Switzerland |
| Pirmin Lang | Switzerland |
| Rider | Country |
| Juan José Lobato | Spain |
| Kristoffer Skjerping | Norway |
| Diego Rubio | Spain |
| Andriy Kulyk | Ukraine |
| Jonathan Castroviejo | Spain |
| Ramūnas Navardauskas | Lithuania |
| Luke Rowe | Great Britain |
| Fernando Gaviria | Colombia |
| Walter Vargas | Colombia |
| Daniel McLay | Great Britain |
| Adrien Petit | France |
| Geoffrey Soupe | France |
| Luke Durbridge | Australia |
| Caleb Ewan | Australia |
| Steele Von Hoff | Australia |
| Matteo Trentin | Italy |
| Sondre Holst Enger | Norway |
| Roman Maikin | Russia |
| Eric Marcotte | United States |
| Vojtěch Hačecký | Czech Republic |
| Alois Kaňkovský | Czech Republic |
| František Sisr | Czech Republic |
| Andrii Bratashchuk | Ukraine |
| Mykhaylo Kononenko | Ukraine |
| José Goncalves | Portugal |
| Sérgio Paulinho | Portugal |
| Grega Bole | Slovenia |
| Luka Mezgec | Slovenia |
| Metkel Eyob | Eritrea |
| Daniel Teklehaimanot | Eritrea |
| Tesfom Okubamariam | Eritrea |
| Meron Teshome | Eritrea |
| Alo Jakin | Estonia |
| Gert Jõeäär | Estonia |
| Salah Eddine Mraouni | Morocco |
| Abderrahmane Mehdi Hamza | Algeria |
| Ryan Anderson | Canada |
| Siarhei Papok | Belarus |
| Kanstantsin Sivtsov | Belarus |
| Francisco Chamorro | Argentina |
| Māris Bogdanovičs | Latvia |
| Ho Burr | Hong Kong |
| Bonaventure Uwizeyimana | Rwanda |
| René Corella | Mexico |
| Hassen Ben Nasser | Tunisia |
| Tedros Redae | Ethiopia |
| Jonas Ahlstrand | Sweden |
| Myagmarsuren Baasankhuu | Mongolia |