The winner is considered the World Cycling Champion (or World Road Cycling Champion) and earns the right to wear the Rainbow Jersey for a full year in road race or stage events.

The road race is contested by riders organized by national cycling teams as opposed to commercially sponsored or trade teams, which is the standard in professional cycling.

The UCI Road World Championships for women made its debut in Reims, France in 1958.

Due to the Summer Olympics, the Road World Championships were not held in 1984, 1988 and 1992.

From 2022 to 2024, competitors in this race under the age of 23 at the end of the previous year were also competing for honours in their own classification.