The best riders in cycling will descend on Richmond, Virginia from September 20-27 to contest the UCI Road World Championships. Sky will be represented with strong riders in all disciplines.

One of the most keenly-anticipated weeks of racing on the calendar, our riders are eligible to race in three events - the team time trial, individual time trial and elite men's road race - and the reward for winning either of the latter two contests is the coveted rainbow jersey.

Sunday 20 September - Men's Team Time Trial - 38.8km

The six-man Team Time Trial was reintroduced to the World Championships in 2012 and is still the only discipline contested by trade teams (riders represent their national teams in the other events).

This year's route sees the teams roll out of the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and through Richmond's Northside neighborhoods as they head downtown. Once they've passed through the city centre, the course continues east along flat, open roads that eventually narrow as they wind through the Richmond National Battlefield Park.

The race then loops around and re-enters the city through Shockoe Bottom, eventually making a hard right turn on to Governor Street and up a gruelling 300m ascent. At the summit, the teams take a sharp left on to a 680m false-flat finishing straight which means they will have to dig deep all the way to the line.

Team Sky line up:
Vasil Kiryienka, Danny Pate, Luke Rowe, Salvatore Puccio, Ian Stannard and Elia Viviani

Wednesday 23 September - Men's Individual Time Trial - 53km

The riders begin their 'race of truth' 20 miles north of Richmond at the Kings Dominion amusement park in Hanover County. They will then head south on a long, straight rural road through Meadow Event Park and past the Hanover County Courthouse.

Long uphill drags on Brook and Wilkinson roads bring the riders back into the city through the Virginia Union University before they continue downtown.

Nearly half the turns on the course come in this technical finale before the route concludes as the team time trial did with a short, sharp slog up Governor Street before the final rise to the finish.

Team Sky riders:
Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus) and Kanstantsin Siutsou (Belarus)

Sunday 27 September - Men's Road Race - 259.2km

The route comprises 16 laps of a 16.2km circuit which heads west from Downtown Richmond. The peloton will take in the historic Monument Avenue as they pass through the Uptown district and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Halfway through the circuit, the race continues into Shockoe Bottom and follows the canal before taking a sharp, off-camber turn at Rocketts Landing. That brings the riders on to the narrow, twisty, cobbled 200m climb up to Libby Hill Park.

A quick descent and series of technical turns then leads the riders onto a 100m climb up 23rd Street. At the summit of this second cobbled hill, the race plunges back into Shockoe Bottom and onto the now-familiar finale comprising the same Governor Street ascent and 680m drag to the finish.

As always, this challenging, technical inner-city circuit could favour a variety of riders depending on the weather and how it is raced, and the long distance will sort the wheat from the chaff before one plucky rider emerges to claim the iconic rainbow jersey.

Team Sky riders:
Andy Fenn (Great Britain), Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus), Christian Knees (Germany), Lars Petter Nordhaug (Norway), Luke Rowe (Great Britain), Kanstantsin Siutsou (Belarus), Ian Stannard (Great Britain), Ben Swift (Great Britain) and Elia Viviani (Italy).