FIRST EXPERIMENTS

At the end of the 1960s, a European Championship was launched in Italy. With only limited international interest the efforts were put to a hold. Other attempts of European or World Championship were made until 1982, always in Italy, but the response of foreign journalists was too limited to continue.

THE WPCC

Almost twenty years later thoughts about a World Championship for journalists were taken up again. The idea was born in the context of the AIJC (Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme) by the will of President Jean Yves Donor and of Walter Rottiers that became the first president of the WPCC Committee. The first edition of this championship in 2001 was reserved to members of the AIJC. In Les Herbiers, France, 23 riders took part: twenty French and an Italian, a Dutch and a British rider.
 
From the following year, in Luxembourg, the WPCC opened to all journalists. 
 
In 2003 the competition was held in Switzerland and then in Italy and San Marino.
 
In 2006,  in Austria,  the time trial was included.
 
The participation touch the hundred for the 2007 edition, also held in Austria.
 
In 2008 the WPCC visited France, in 2009 Slovenia, and in 2010 in Lierde in Belgium there were 140 starters.
 
Another novelty was launched in 2011 in Italy with the addition of the Sprint. 
 
In 2012 the first visit in Greece took place on the island of Crete.
 
The 2013 edition in St. Johann in Tirol in Austria was tragically interrupted by the death of the Dutch journalist Karel Verdonschot during the road race where he unfortunately crashed into a stationary car.  The race was suspended and the time trials that should have been held the following day were cancelled.
 
In honour of Karel Verdonschot the start number 58 is not any longer used in the races.
 
Verdonschot’s death shock slows participation in Austria in 2014, but it grew again in 2015 when the WPCC doubled: the sprint was hosted in Italy while the road race and time trial were held in Oudenaarde in Belgium and saw a new record of attendance with over 160 participants from 15 nations.
 
The WPCC visited Greece again in 2016 and in 2017 for the first time Germany, before it returned to Belgium in 2018 and in 2019 to Italy. 2019 was also a special year for the organization, as Roberto Ronchi took over the role as president for the WPCC Committee.
 
In 2020 the WPCC should have been held in Denmark, but the pandemic caused the event to be postponed for a year. Corona still set it’s mark on the 2021 edition, as many possible participants could not leave their countries or enter Denmark, but around 60 participants in Vejle, Denmark, made the inaugural event in Scandinavia a bright spot in the midst of a strange time for the world.
 
In 2022 the WPCC was back in Germany – this time as part of Rad Am Ring on the Nurburgring in a fantastic cycling atmosphere.

Due to technical reasons the WPCCs in 2023 and 2024 was cancelled, but for 2025 the Championship is back again for full – this time in Viborg, Denmark, where the riders can also challenge themselves by participating in L’Etape Denmark by Tour de France

So far 655 different journalists from 23 countries have participated in the WPCC.

See all winners and statistics here:  WPCC Winners