The 1961 UCI Road World Championships was the 34rd edition of the UCI Road World Championships.

It took place on 2 and 3 September 1961 in Bern, Switzerland. It was the second time the championships were organized in Bern, after the 1936 UCI Road World Championships.

The women's race took place on 10 August on the Isle of Man. Belgian Yvonne Reynders won her second of four world titles on the road.

The amateurs rode 181.5 kilometers on Saturday, September 2, 1961. It was a triumph for the French amateurs, who won gold, silver and bronze. The three Frenchmen escaped together on a climb after about 145 kilometers. In the final lap, Jean Jourden defeated his two compatriots.

The professional cyclists rode on Sunday, September 3, 1961, over a distance of 285.252 kilometers. Belgian Rik Van Looy extended his world title; he narrowly defeated the Italian Nino Defilippis in a sprint. Frenchman Raymond Poulidor came third.

In the same period, the 1961 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was organized in the Oerlikon Velodrome in Zürich, Switzerland.

Race:	Gold:	Time	Silver:	Time	Bronze :	Time
Men
Men's road race details	Rik Van Looy  Belgium	7 h 46 min 35s	Nino Defilippis  Italy	m.t.	Raymond Poulidor  France	m.t.
Amateurs' road race	Jean Jourden  France	-	Henri Belena  France	-	Jacques Gestraut  France	-
Women
Women's road race	Yvonne Reynders  Belgium	-	Beryl Burton  Great Britain	-	Elsy Jacobs  Luxembourg	-

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Belgium (BEL)	2	0	0	2
2	France (FRA)	1	1	2	4
3	Great Britain (GBR)	0	1	0	1
	Italy (ITA)	0	1	0	1
5	Luxembourg (LUX)	0	0	1	1
Totals (5 entries)		3	3	3	9

• Men's results
• Women's results
• (in Italian) Results at sportpro.it