Zürich, Switzerland is the host city for the 2024 UCI Road World Championships, which this year feature nine days of racing action in both cycling and para-cycling. The elite road races close out the event on the final weekend and with a challenging, undulating parcours, and more elevation on the menu than we’ve seen at a road race for a number of years – relative to the race distance – competition to find the successor to Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky will be intense.
With some squads boasting as many as eight riders, and 71 nations with at least one rider on the start list, the world road race peloton is much bigger not only than the Olympic road race peloton which we saw earlier this year in Paris, which is very small by comparison, but also to most WWT pelotons, and with a long, tough parcours to challenge the riders, and the added complication of no race radio, the race promises non-stop action throughout the day.
The 2024 World Championship Women’s Elite Road Race takes place on Saturday 28 September, and begins at 12:15 CET.
The Route
Beginning in the town of Uster and heading back to Zürich and around the local area via a series of circuits, the 2024 elite women’s road race is 154.1 kilometres long – exactly the same distance raced at the 2023 equivalent in Glasgow city centre. With only just over 100m additional elevation gain, on paper the numbers might suggest a very similar style of race. However, where Glasgow had a significant climb early on in the route which accounted for much of the altitude gain, the first 25km of this year’s race are flat, leading to a circuit that the riders will tackle four times, comprising more sustained climbing than was featured on the punchy, technical Glasgow urban circuit.
The peloton begins by completing 1.5 laps of the Greifensee lake, before ascending to join the finishing circuit around halfway through its distance. The circuit itself features a climb in two parts – the first a steep 2km section with ramps of up to 13.8%, separated from the longer climbing section by a descent of around 1.5km. The central challenge of the race is 4.1km ascent that will really test the legs and allow the stronger climbers to attack, and a final kicker of around 500m leads the riders to a plateau where they will hope to consolidate any advantages, before they descend into Zürich for around 6km (interrupted by a short uphill section at the beginning). After that, the route travels alongside the lake and riders can enjoy a flat section of around 5.5km where they will hope to recover at the end of each of the four laps that follow.
With numerous undulations and very little time for recovery, the race will be highly attritional, and the stronger teams will use the repeated ascents to wear down nations with fewer riders, before launching their leaders later on in the race. A 2.3km flat section leads those at the front of the race at its conclusion to the finish line, where the victor will win the honour of sporting the lauded rainbow jersey for the next year.
Riders to Watch
With 71 nations sending their strongest riders to tackle the challenging Zürich parcours, there are a host of names to consider when picking out favourites for victory at the road race.
Undoubtedly the biggest surprise in terms of team selections came from the French, who named Pauline Ferrand-Prévot among their seven-woman squad. The multi-discipline superstar, who became Olympic champion in mountain-biking in Paris earlier this year, had slated a return to the road for 2025, where she will be reunited with her former team in their new guise of Visma-Lease A Bike. Then Rabobank, they were the team with whom she rode in the rainbow bands in 2015, following her victory at Worlds a decade ago in Ponferrada. Ferrand-Prévot is something of an unknown quantity form-wise, having not raced at all on the road this year, but the French have plenty of cards to play, with Evita Muzic, Juliette Labous and Cédrine Kerbaol all displaying strong form this season.
Between them, the low countries bring arguably the top favourites for the win. Demi Vollering has missed out on some of her key goals this year, and will be keen to put her Tour de France Femmes disappointment aside in Zürich. Team cohesion will be key, with a number of viable options for the Dutch squad, including the rider who challenged Vollering all the way up Alpe d’Huez at Le Tour, Pauliene Rooijakkers. Puck Pieterse is an excellent wild card for the team – riding her first road worlds, Pieterse will likely take the race on from the front and play the role of animator, drawing out other stronger nations and allowing the likes of Vollering to hide in the bunch.
Reigning World Champion Lotte Kopecky may favour a more classics-style parcours, but she has honed her climbing over the past couple of seasons and will be laser-focused on retaining the title that she won in Glasgow. She will have strong support from her team, including polka dot jersey winner from the Tour de France Femmes, and one of the break-out stars of 2024, Justine Ghekiere.
Arguably the nation with the best strength in depth is Italy. With Lidl-Trek trade teammates Elisa Longo Borghini and Gaia Realini, both strong GC riders in their own right, they will see themselves as major contenders.
Poland are the nation with perhaps the other main favourite for the title. Tour de France Femmes winner Kasia Niewiadoma has had the best season of her career so far, and the reigning gravel world champion would love to add another set of rainbow bands to her collection, and will be fully supported by her team, with no leadership doubts to worry about, like some of the stronger nations.
Australia bring a solid squad that blends youth and experience. Though still just 22 years old, Neve Bradbury has had a strong season and may lead the team on a parcours that suits her attributes. Grace Brown is able to serve the team in many different roles, but don’t rule her out for the win – she triumphed at Liege-Bastogne-Liege this year, a race almost exactly equal in distance, and with even more altitude gain.
Germany will lead with Liane Lippert and Antonia Niedermaier, while team USA will be hoping that the pride of Alaska Kristen Faulkner can do a rare Olympic-Worlds double after her stunning success in Paris just two months ago.
In terms of outsiders, it’s difficult to view Denmark as such given the nation’s strength in the sport, but it’s been a tough year for their leader Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, who will not be up amongst the top favourites this time around. Spain’s veteran climber Mavi García has support from Mireia Benito and Sara Martín, both of whom have been riding well this season, New Zealand will hope to go deep with Niamh Fisher Black, and Great Britain’s Anna Henderson will hope she can hang on with the favourites for as long as possible.
Riders to watch (GC)
5-stars Demi Vollering, Kasia Niewiadoma
4-stars Lotte Kopecky, Elisa Longo Borghini, Grace Brown, Kristen Faulkner
3-stars, Gaia Realini, Pauliene Rooijakkers, Neve Bradbury, Puck Pieterse
2-stars Niamh Fisher Black, Evita Muzic, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot
1-star Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, Cédrine Kerbaol, Mavi García
Summary
When – 28 September
Where – Zürich, Switzerland
What – One day race
TV Coverage: Eurosport, Discovery+
