Italy won the Mixed Team Relay at the 2026 UCI Road World Championships in Montreal on Tuesday, beating France by 8.63 seconds to claim the rainbow jerseys for the first time in the event's history.
Filippo Ganna, Mattia Cattaneo and Matteo Sobrero set the tone in the men's leg, averaging 49.9 kilometres per hour — the fastest split of the day — over the opening 20.3-kilometre lap of the Montreal circuit. When Elisa Longo Borghini, Vittoria Guazzini and Monica Trinca Colonel took over for the women's half, Italy held an 11-second advantage over Australia and 12 seconds over France. The Italian women never wavered, crossing the line in 51 minutes 32.28 seconds at an average speed of 47.266 km/h.
France mounted a strong challenge through the final kilometres but ran out of road, settling for silver with the team of Bruno Armirail, Rémi Cavagna, Jordan Labrosse, Juliette Berthet, Marion Borras and Cédrine Kerbaol. Switzerland recovered from a puncture that devastated Stefan Küng's race to claim bronze at +19.90 seconds, thanks to a powerful closing effort from newly crowned individual time trial champion Marlen Reusser. Defending champions Australia finished fourth, 40.48 seconds behind, while Germany were fifth.
