Eddy Merckx has announced that the 2016 road World championships, to be held in Qatar, will probably be moved into October.

Merckx leads the organisation responsible for the Tour of Qatar (supported by Tour de France organiser ASO), and is therefore privy to the negotiations ahead of the first road world championships in the Middle East.

In an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport, the Belgian cycling legend said that the World championships “could be moved to a later date. One possibility, and the most likely at the moment, is 9th to 16th October.“

The 16th October, the probable date of the men's elite road race, would become the latest ever end date for the road World championships. So far, the 2000 Worlds in Plouay have held that record.

In September, the average high temperature in Qatar is around 40 degrees Celsius, while the average high for October is at 35 degrees Celsius – still very hot, but somewhat more reasonable. October also has a slightly higher chance of rainfall, although precipitation figures still are almost zero.

A different autumn calendar?

Compared to recent years, this would mean a three-week postponement for the Worlds; and it would necessitate a re-arrangement of the autumn race calendar. The Tour of Beijing, only moved to a mid-October spot for the 2012 edition, would probably be pushed back another week and start on the Tuesday after the men's road race.

With many of the top riders already in Qatar for the World championships, this could actually play out in favour of the Chinese WorldTour race: The first three editions of the newly-started race haven't seen the biggest stars of the sport, but if riders are already approximately halfway between Europe and China, they might be more inclined to include the Tour of Beijing in their race program.

The Italian autumn classics, with the Giro di Lombardia being most prominent, would also face a re-shuffle. While nothing is certain yet, the easiest solution would be to hold each race a week earlier than in 2013, turning the Giro di Lombardia and others into a last test of form ahead of the Worlds.

As Qatar is very flat – and at the same time steeped in oil money –, there have been rumours of a specially-built course like the one constructed for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. But Merckx dismissed this out of hand: “We won't build artificial climbs. But the wind will be an important factor, and it won't be a boring race.“

Bearing that in mind, the sprinter-friendly Paris-Tours, with possibilities for wind from shifting directions, would be a better preparation than the mountainous Giro di Lombardia. It could make sense to bring forward the French classic in order to give riders a last rehearsal.

No longer a part of the WorldTour, the French classic has in 2013 been held a week after the Italian race and concurrently with the Tour of Beijing.

The specific courses

Finally, Merckx also suggested possible courses for the various disciplines: “Races will start and finish on the Doha Corniche. The [men's elite] time trial will be around 42 km, the [men's] team time trial 54 km. The [men's elite] road race could start with some laps of the 42 km course and finish on a shorter circuit.“

The 2014 road World championships will take place in Ponferrada, Spain, from 21th to 28th September.