The Road World Cycling Championships will take place in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada October 6-12, 2003. This promises to be a very special WC. It will be only the second time the World Championships have been held in Canada and the seventh time outside of Europe. But most special of all is the course that has been laid out for the 2003 WC. It is totally urban, comprising a 12.4 km circuit that features two climbs (one 5.5%, the other 5.6%) up the 200m Niagara Escarpment. The Elite Men's road race will take riders around this circuit 21 times in a race totalling 260.4 km. The Elite Women will cover the same course 10 times for a 124 km race. The time trial course is being held in the same area but is longer -- 20.8 km. The Elite Men will do it twice and the Elite Women once.