The highway races on the UCI Street World Championships 2024 in Zürich are simply days away, with the elite ladies’s and males’s the ultimate highway occasions at this 12 months’s Worlds. The races towards the clock are scheduled for the final weekend with the ladies’s race occurring on the Saturday, 28 September, adopted by the lads’s on the Sunday, 29 September.
Each are over severely hilly programs that end within the centre of Zürich, the largest metropolis in Switzerland, with the lads’s the longest race in a era. Each resemble Liège-Bastogne-Liège of their profile and distance, and each will certainly be selected the Zürich metropolis course.
Favourites embrace defending champions Lotte Kopecky of Belgium and Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands, though such is the route that Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) and Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) are those to observe within the males’s race. The ladies’s ought to be extra open, the place Demi Vollering (Netherlands) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) can be within the dialog.
The 2024 Worlds is the primary to mix the Street Worlds and the Para-cycling Worlds in the identical occasion, with the para-cycling highway races taking place all through the week; there are many riders to observe in these occasions too.
Girls to observe
Lotte Kopecky (Belgium)
Since successful final 12 months’s Worlds highway race in Glasgow, Lotte Kopecky has honoured the rainbow jersey in model, discovering new-found abilities as a climber to make the rostrum on the Giro d’Italia, but dropping none of her edge within the classics; triumphing at Paris-Roubaix and Strade Bianche. She’ll be a marked lady, and her Belgian group face a problem to guard her from assaults, however she’ll be determined to make amends for her Paris 2024 marketing campaign that yielded solely a bronze medal from the highway race, and none from the monitor occasions.
Demi Vollering (Netherlands)
Following her crash-induced defeat on the Tour de France Femmes by an agonising 4 seconds, Demi Vollering can be itching to bounce again. Although she’s cleaned up in all of the stage races that preceded the Tour this 12 months, the Dutchwoman hasn’t received a Traditional since April 2023, and has fallen wanting the supreme requirements she set throughout her annus mirabilis final season. An enormous win is due: will it come within the type of a primary World title?
Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy)
The spotlight of what has been one of the best season in Elisa Longo Borghini’s profession got here in July, when she received the Giro d’Italia Girls title on her thirteenth try. Now, for what can be her thirteenth Worlds highway race, would possibly she additionally win the rainbow jersey that has additionally at all times eluded her? A lot will rely upon how she’s recovered from the crash that compelled her out of the Tour de France Femmes in August.
The most recent race content material, interviews, options, opinions and knowledgeable shopping for guides, direct to your inbox!
Marianne Vos (Netherlands)
Everybody is aware of by now that you would be able to by no means underestimate the nice Marianne Vos – even on the age of 37. But she nonetheless retains discovering methods to go below the radar and snatch main victories. She received classics in spring, together with Amstel Gold, the inexperienced jersey on the Tour de France Femmes, and was solely denied Olympic gold in Paris by a late Kristen Faulkner assault. Driving within the highly effective Dutch line-up, she’ll have the benefit of working with, quite than towards, a lot of her common commerce group rivals.
Others to observe
Lots of the latest greatest races have been received by outsider favourites, so who’s to say the identical received’t occur in Zurich? Kristen Faulkner confirmed on the Olympics how the elite riders could be overcome by slipping clear for gold with a late, smartly-timed assault, though she is going to absolutely be extra carefully marked now she is the Olympic champion. The shape Grace Brown confirmed to win the corresponding time trial in Paris at a canter suggests she can also’t be allowed any leeway, in what can be her final time representing Australia earlier than retiring. She has already received one race this week, the elite time trial, and has nothing to lose.
Kasia Niewadoma is the opposite in-form underdog following her thrilling conquer Demi Vollering on the Tour de France, and whether or not or not she is exhausted from these efforts, or bolstered with new-found confidence from ultimately touchdown a significant win, will decide if she’s within the combine for the Worlds title.
Amongst these hoping for a quieter, much less selective race are Lorena Wiebes and Elisa Balsamo, who could be among the many favourites in a dash, however there are a lot who will attempt to deny them — chief amongst them Elise Chabbey, who will wish to give her house Swiss followers one thing to cheer about by animating the race.
Males to observe
Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia)
Remco Evenepoel (Belgium)
Having been topped Olympic champion in each the highway race and time trial in Paris final month, Remco Evenepoel now has his sights set on including the highway race world title he first received two years in the past in Wollongong. The Belgian selected the Tour of Britain as his last warm-up race the place he admitted to spending quite a lot of his time ‘largely consuming’ after his Olympic wins. Together with a midnight kebab along with his spouse. Everybody can be on the look out for the lengthy vary assault. Whether or not or not they’ll observe is the query. Already has a rainbow jersey at these Worlds.
Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands)
Mathieu van der Poel’s type may need dipped since his unbelievable, history-making spring marketing campaign, with a quiet Tour de France adopted by a failure to be within the combine for gold on the Olympic highway race. However don’t underestimate him — in spite of everything, a equally subdued run preceded his crushing victory on the Worlds in Glasgow final 12 months, when even a crash within the last phases didn’t cease him successful by over a minute and a half.
Matteo Jorgenson (USA)
The American has solely raced 44 days this 12 months, however what he lacks in quantity, he makes up for in consistency. He received Paris Good and completed second on the Dauphine, and all through each races was barely out of the highest ten every day. Eighth on GC on the Tour was a breakthrough Grand Tour efficiency, whereas ninth in Paris confirmed he has the nous to be in the correct place on the proper time and observe the correct strikes with out race radios or a number of teammates round him.
Although missing a person on the identical degree as Pogačar or Evenepoel, collectively the French group have each the depth and tactical acumen to problem for victory. Julian Alaphilippe capitalised on this to win each the 2020 and 2021 Worlds, whereas Valentin Madouas and Christope Laporte are in nice type having mixed to win silver and bronze respectively on the Paris Olympics.
Simply because the French rose to the event on house roads in Paris, the Swiss seemed poised for a powerful exhibiting in Zurich. Marc Hirschi ultimately resembled the person who burst onto the scene 4 years in the past whereas successful the Clasica San Sebastian final month, whereas Stefan Küng can at all times be depended upon to be up in direction of the entrance in main one-day races.
As for Britain, they’re as soon as once more to be spearheaded by Tom Pidcock. Whereas the Yorkshireman can blow cold and warm within the greatest races, on his greatest day he’s one of many few males able to difficult the highest favourites.
It’s been 5 years because the Worlds wasn’t received by a solo winner, and 7 years because the final giant group dash, however the course in Zurich isn’t onerous sufficient to rule one out altogether this 12 months. Mads Pedersen and Michael Matthews would probably come into play in such circumstances, in addition to provide an opportunity for Biniam Girmay to proceed his history-making season by changing into the primary ever African world highway race medalist.
U23 and junior riders to observe
JOSEPH BLACKMORE
This 12 months’s star of under-23 race scene has been Britain’s Joe Blackmore, who final month added the general win on the Tour de l’Avenir to the Liège-Bastogne-Liège traditional he received within the spring. His outcomes noticed him transfer from the Israel-Premier Tech improvement group to the WorldTour squad mid-season. His outcomes at senior degree this 12 months recommend he’s in all probability already outgrown this degree, however as a marked man, any consequence can be onerous fought.
PABLO TORRES
The Spaniard precipitated a sensation on the Tour de l’Avenir final month when he rode away from the sector to win the ultimate stage atop the Colle delle Finestre by almost 4 minutes. Second on GC right here matched his second place on the child Giro and this in his first season out of the junior ranks. A member of the UAE Emirates Gen Z improvement group, Torres is an aesthetic climber which can assistance on the Zurich parcours, though his one-day pedigree is a bit of missing.
ALBERT WITHEN PHILIPSEN
There’s been an excessive amount of hype round Albert Philipsen since final 12 months, when on the age of simply 16, he turned the youngest ever winner of the junior highway race world title. So as to add to his junior world title in mountain biking. The outcomes prompted a scramble for his signature, received by Lidl-Trek who’ve secured his providers by to 2028. Having simply turned 18 firstly of September, he stays eligible to defend his junior title on the highway.
KIM CADZOW
As soon as once more the ladies’s U23 race will happen throughout the senior race, which means the title of world champion can be assigned to whichever rider of that age class finishes highest. As one of the crucial thrilling skills of the 2024 season, Kim Cadzow is one to observe. Her potential as a one-day racer was demonstrated in her sixth-place end at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April, whereas eighth on the Tour de Suisse proves she will be able to climb too. Seventh within the Olympic TT strengthened her total credentials.
CAT FERGUSON
Ferguson’s 2024 Palmares has shades of Remco Evenepoel’s final 12 months as a junior. Each single race has a 1, 2, or 3 listed towards it. Be it a one-day occasion, phases in phases races, common classifications or factors and mountains classifications. She has just lately added junior monitor world titles to her identify too. She made her WorldTour debut for Movistar simply final week and is essentially the most thrilling younger rider to return out of the UK in years.
Para-cyclists to observe
Look out for British T2 trike racer Felix Barrow, who claimed highway race bronze and the final World Cup in Italy in Could. He can be preventing with Dennis Connors from the USA, who claimed silver in Paris. Britain took no trikes or handcycles to the Video games, so that is the place Barrow must make his mark.
Equally, our H4 handcyclists can be out in pressure, within the type of Callum Russell and Alex Brooke-Turner, each of whom have been constant top-10 finishers in one of many greatest highway classifications the place athletes use their arms to pedal. Paralympic H4 champion Jetze Plat from the Netherlands is absent, giving them a superb shot at keeping off harmful Austrian Thomas Frühwirth and teammates.
C2 Matthew Robertson ought to shine right here too; he stored up with stronger C3 rivals within the blended classification occasion in Paris, together with Jaco van Gass, Ben Watson and even winner of the Paralympic gold Fin Graham. C3 Watson, who misplaced his double Paralympic title in Paris, can be particularly hungry to carry out right here.
Britain’s C4 Archie Atkinson, newcomer and proud monitor pursuit silver medallist, crashed in his Paris highway race and can wish to showcase his highway prowess. British C5 William Bjergfelt, an endurance specialist not chosen for the Video games, was final 12 months’s highway race world champion so he’s one to observe as he battles with Ukrainian Yehor Dementyev and Dutchman Martin van de Pol.
