2014 UCI Road World Championships

The city council of Ponferrada estimated that at the end of April, €12.42 million had been spent on organizing the championships, an amount that could reach €14 million by the end of September. About €4.8 million comes from sponsors, merchandising and contributing hotels and several more millions will come from other contracts. The organization of championships has an overall budget of €11 million; organisers have to pay €5 million to the UCI for organizing the championships and €6 million are used for the organization and logistics.[8] The Provincial Council of León invested €323,181 to upgrade Ponferrada and make the city ready for the championships.[9]

According to media reports in March 2015, the championships failed to make a profit, with estimates for losses ranging from €2.7 to €9 million.[10]

The course for the Women's Race is 36.15 km (22.46 mi) and 57.10 km (35.48 mi) for the Men's Race. The team time trial starts in the centre of Ponferrada and will go via La Martina, Posada del Bierzo, Carracedelo and Cacabelos back to Ponferrada. The total incline of the women's course is 198 m (650 ft). A few kilometres before the finish there is a climb with an elevation of over 100 m (330 ft) and a maximum inclination of 7%. The men face a few small climbs during the course with a total of 386 m (1,266 ft) of climbing and a maximum incline of 10%.[25][26]

The initial plan was to have a time trial finishing uphill. This idea was discarded because it was required to have two finish sections which was not possible from a logistical and financial point of view.[3]

The length of the individual time trials varies between 13.90 km (8.64 mi) for junior women and 47.10 km (29.27 mi) for elite men. All courses will start and finish in Ponferrada and will run through La Martina, Posada del Bierzo and Carracedelo. A short stretch before riding into Ponferrada was made for the championships. Except for the elite men's course, all courses are quite flat until a steep climb a few kilometres before the finish with an incline of over 100 m (330 ft) and a maximum inclination of 7% a few kilometres before the finish line.

The total elevation over the elite men's course is 458 m (1,503 ft) with a few hills in the last 15 km (9.3 mi) with a maximum inclination of 10%. The course starts with a flat section of 30 km (19 mi) through the valley of Bierzo, before the parcours goes slightly up. In a little under 10 km (6.2 mi) the riders rise from 550 m (1,800 ft) to an altitude of 700 m (2,300 ft). The ascent overlaps partly with the road race for men, which means the steepest part has a negative gradient of 16%. After 40 km (25 mi) there is another climb. In a few kilometres the riders will reach the highest point in the route, located at 709 m (2,326 ft) after 43 km (27 mi). The rest of the course is going downhill.

The road races of all events will be on the same circuit. The circuit is 18.20 km (11.31 mi) and includes two hills. The total climbing is 306 m (1,004 ft) per lap and the maximum incline is 10.7%.[27]

The first 4 km (2.5 mi) are flat, after which starts the climb to Alto de Montearenas with an average gradient of 8%. After a few hundred metres the ascent flattens and the remaining 5.1 km (3.2 mi) are at an average gradient of 3.5%. Next is a descent, with the steepest after 11 km (6.8 mi) with a 16% negative gradient.

Alto de Compostilla is a short climb of 1.1 km (0.68 mi), at an average gradient is 6.5% with some of the steepest parts are 11%. The remaining distance of 4.5 km (2.8 mi) is almost completely going down.[28]