The organizers of the 2014 world championships which will be held in the Spanish city of Ponferrada, have skipped their initial idea that would see the time trial end on the Alto de San Cristobal. Fearing that major names like Fabian Cancellara and Bradley Wiggins would not take part, they have decided that the race will have a traditional finish in the hosting city.

When it was announced that the 2014 Worlds would be held in the Spanish city of Ponferrada, the time trial attracted more attention than the road race. For the first time, the organizers planned an uphill finish for the race against the clock, thus making it open to a different field of contenders than the usual Worlds race.

The plan was for the 39km course to be a mix of a flat and a mountain time trial. The first 25km were set to be completely flat but the proposed course had a nasty sting in its tail. The race was supposed to finish on the Alto de San Cristobal which is 9,5km long, has an average gradient of 5,9% and includes three kilometres with average gradients of 9,3%, 11,5% and 10,5%.

Yesterday, the UCI approved the courses for the Worlds events, with the organizers announcing that the initial course for the time trial has been changed. Instead of the spectacular uphill finish, the race will have the same finish line as the road race in the city of Ponferrada.

According to Biciciclismo, the organizers explain the decision by the increased costs of having two different finishing areas for the time trials and road races. Furthermore, they fear that big stars like Fabian Cancellara and Bradley Wiggins would stay away from the event which could have a negative impact on the public's interest in the race.

The course for the road race is rumoured to be very hilly but none of the routes have been unveiled. The organizers promise to put maps and profiles on their website in the near future and add that the road race will be much different from what has generally been expected.

The world championships will take place September 20-28.