The 2024 UCI Street World Championships will host the mixed elite-U23 girls’s highway race on the occasion’s penultimate day, September 29, from Uster to Zurich, Switzerland.
The 154.1km race route is anticipated to cater to the classics specialists given the hilly terrain, circuit-style closing loop and quick run-in to Zurich. The race will start in Uster the place the peloton will full a single lap of Greifensee earlier than heading to town circuit.
There the 2 key climbing sections of the Zürichbergstrasse and Witikon await on every of the 4 27km laps, with 2,384m of elevation achieve alongside the way in which to a comparatively flat closing 5km to take riders to the Sechseläutenplatz end line.
Many countries competing at these World Championships haven’t but confirmed their full rosters, however Cyclingnews highlights 10 elite girls and 5 U23 riders to look at within the hunt for the rainbow jerseys of their respective classes.
Lotte Kopecky (Belgium)
Lotte Kopecky will lead the Belgian staff in her world title defence on a course that might see her win a second consecutive rainbow jersey on a Classics-style route in Zurich. A two-time winner of the Tour of Flanders and Strade Bianche, and champion of Paris-Roubaix, Kopecky strains up because the outright favorite.
The route is a difficult one, particularly with the circuit’s ascents, Zürichbergstrasse and Witikon, however Kopecky has already confirmed that she will climb with the perfect throughout Flanders-style punchy ascents, steep climbs like Jabel Hafeet that gained her the general title on the UAE Tour, and high-mountain climbs Col du Tourmalet on the 2023 Tour de France Femmes and Blockhaus at this yr’s Giro d’Italia.
If her profitable efficiency in Glasgow Worlds is something to go by, the place she obliterated the sphere after which rode away from the choice on the ultimate circuit, look ahead to Kopecky to assault this race head-on in her pursuit of one other rainbow jersey
Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy)
Elisa Longo Borghini has had an excellent season that got here along with a victory on the Tour of Flanders and podiums at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Strade Bianche, and in all the Ardennes Classics. She additionally secured total podiums at La Vuelta Femenina, and Tour de Suisse after which gained the general title on the Giro d’Italia.
Though she completed high 10 in each the time trial and the highway race on the Olympic Video games, she had her eyes set on a medal and so left Paris upset with the outcomes, however she rapidly turned her consideration to restoration and coaching for the World Championships.
Longo Borghini will arrive in high type and we will count on her to race with that very same aggressive type that she does all through the season, however her greatest asset is her staff. The Italian nationwide staff, Squadra Azzurra, is well-known for his or her cohesion and profitable staff techniques, which can undoubtedly assist Longo Borghini in her bid for the world title.
Demi Vollering (Netherlands)
Demi Vollering‘s season did not begin off in addition to she’d hoped however that rotated in the course of the stage racing season the place she gained consecutive total titles at La Vuelta Femenina, Itzulia Girls, Vuelta a Burgos and Tour de Suisse.
She went on to complete fifth within the time trial and supported Marianne Vos to a silver medal on the Olympic Video games, however her predominant focus was on defending her title on the Tour de France Femmes in August. That did not occur, and whereas there have been highlights; victories within the stage 3 time trial and stage 8 atop Alpe d’Huez, she misplaced the yellow jersey to rival and total champion Kasia Niewiadoma by simply 4 seconds.
Vollering has taken time to soak up that loss, regroup and goals to return again to the World Championships with a strong Dutch staff in pursuit of a world title. She’s going to lead the staff, which additionally consists of former multi-discipline world champion Vos and reigning mountain bike world champion Puck Pieterse.
Vollering’s all-around strengths lend properly to such a course. She is each a profitable stage racer and a one-day Classics rider with a strong dash, so look ahead to Vollering to make the choice and play her function within the closing run-in to Zurich.
Kasia Niewiadoma (Poland)
There seems to be no stopping Kasia Niewiadoma these days. The Polish all-rounder has at all times been a contender for one-day Classics and mountain stage races, at all times ending on the rostrum however hardly ever taking the win. It has been the reason for a lot frustration and disappointment in recent times, however with arduous work, staff and household assist and endurance, she has turned all of that round.
Niewiadoma’s profitable spell started on the UCI Gravel World Championships final fall the place she secured the victory, an achievement that she mentioned gave her the boldness to imagine in her potential to beat the perfect. She capped off a robust Classics season with a victory at La Flèche Wallonne, her first highway race win in 5 years since profitable the 2019 Amstel Gold Race. She then took the last word win in the course of the stage racing the place she secured the general title on the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
She hasn’t raced because the Tour and can arrive on the World Championships recent off of particular preparations and coaching for the Zurich highway race. She won’t have a staff as highly effective because the Dutch staff, however on a selective course this this one, she will probably be among the many contenders within the closing.
Grace Brown (Australia)
Grace Brown will lead a strong Australian staff in her closing World Championships earlier than she retires on the finish of the season.
She is about to hold up her wheels having had one in every of her most profitable seasons in her seven-year profession with wins at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and gold medals within the particular person time trials on the Australian Championships and the Paris Olympic Video games.
Brown has mentioned that the ultimate objective of her racing profession is to win the world title within the particular person time trial however she additionally has a shot on the medals within the highway race, too. The route will favour these riders who can deal with the gap and the difficult terrain, of which Brown is one.
She additionally has a robust staff that features contender Neve Bradbury, together with Brodie Chapman, Sara Gigante, Amanda Spratt and Ruby-Roseman Gannon. Brown indicated, whereas on the Tour de France Femmes, that the highway race route would possibly favour one in every of her teammates, too, and that she may see herself in a assist function, particularly on condition that she is retiring on the finish of the yr.
Of her teammates, any one in every of them has the potential to medal within the highway race, so staff techniques may play an enormous function within the consequence of the race for the Australian staff.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France)
The French staff lineup with a number of favourites in Juliette Labous, Évita Muzic and Cédrine Kerbaol, however additionally they have a darkish horse contender in Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.
Ferrand-Prévot not too long ago retired from cross-country mountain biking after profitable the gold medal on the Olympic Video games. Her plan now could be to return to highway racing and that begins on the World Championships.
Though she hasn’t raced a full highway season since 2018, exterior of competing on the French Street Championships in 2019 and 2021, Ferrand-Prévot will probably be a key rider to look at as a result of her all-around power and expertise on the World Championships.
The French rider made historical past within the 2014-2015 season on the age of 23 when she turned the primary bike owner to carry world titles within the three disciplines concurrently. She gained the elite girls’s highway race world title in 2014 Ponferrada, the XCO cross-country world title in 2015 in Vallnord, and the cyclo-cross world title in 2015 in Tabor.
Since then, she has amassed a complete of 15 elite world titles throughout highway, mountain bike, cyclocross and gravel. As such, she can’t be discounted as a contender for the elite girls’s highway race in Zurich and he or she has the potential to win her first highway world title since Ponferrada.
Blanka Vas (Hungary)
Blanka Vas is likely to be one of the vital underrated riders within the peloton, however she is starting to point out her strengths extra persistently on the world stage.
The Hungarian Champion is a multi-discipline rider, additionally competing in cyclocross and cross-country mountain bike with achievements within the under-23 class that embody silver and bronze medals on the cyclocross worlds in Dübendorf and Ostend, a silver medal within the mountain bike worlds in Leogang, and he or she gained the world title within the under-23 highway race worlds on the Glasgow.
Now 23, Vas will compete for the elite world title as a part of the mixed elite-U23 highway race in Zurich. She arrives on the occasion after a profitable highway season the place she was fourth within the highway race on the Olympic Video games and gained a stage on the Tour de France Femmes.
Kristen Faulkner (United States of America)
Kristen Faulkner has had the perfect season of her profession profitable the highway race title on the US Professional Street Championships earlier than happening to win double gold medals on the Olympic Video games within the elite girls’s highway race and within the staff pursuit.
She strains up with a robust staff that can embody two-time time trial world champion Chloé Dygert and Ruth Edwards. The course of attrition will swimsuit a rider like Faulkner and he or she is one to look at for late-race breakaways.
She is probably not considered one of many predominant contenders in the course of the Classics season however she has had highly effective performances in powerful races like Strade Bianche, that, mixed together with her current success on the Olympic Video games, make her a favorite for the elite girls’s highway race in Zurich.
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark)
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig hasn’t needed to most excellent season and he or she has struggled with accidents, however there have been glimmers of success with a stage win on the Tour Down Underneath and a podium end in a stage on the Giro d’Italia the place she completed eighth total.
However she had an identical season final yr after which ended up placing forth an enormous efficiency at Glasgow Worlds, creating the choice in the course of the highway race after which ending with the bronze medal.
She is among the contenders in the course of the Classics season, and the hilly parcour fits her strengths, so look ahead to her to, as soon as once more, shock on the World Championships.
Marianne Vos (Netherlands)
After practically twenty years of world-class competitors, Marianne Vos continues to be performing on the highest stage with wins this season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Amstel Gold Race, a stage at La Vuelta Femenina, an total win at Catalunya, and he or she gained the silver medal on the Paris Olympic Video games and the factors jersey on the Tour de France Femmes.
Vos now has a profession complete of 255 elite highway race victories and he or she has additionally amassed 13 world titles; eight in cyclocross, two in monitor racing, and three in highway racing. She has additionally earned three Olympic medals; a gold medal within the factors race in 2008 Beijing, a gold medal within the highway race in 2012 London and a silver medal within the highway race in Paris this yr.
Though Vollering was introduced because the staff chief, Vos will type a part of a strong Dutch staff that additionally consists of Mischa Bredewold, Riejanne Markus, Puck Pieterse, Pauliena Rooiakkers, and Shirin van Anrooij.
The Classics-style course would swimsuit any of the riders on this staff, however the world will probably be watching a ready to see if Vos will win her first rainbow jersey within the highway race since Firenze.
Underneath-23 favourites
Puck Pieterse and Shirin van Anrooij (Netherlands)
The Dutch staff will probably be all-in for Vollering and Vos to win the elite title in the course of the mixed elite-U23 girls’s highway race, however additionally they have two contenders for the under-23 class with Puck Pieterse and Shirin van Anrooij.
Pieterse is the reigning cross-country mountain bike World Champion, who want to add cyclocross, highway race and gravel world titles to her palmares, too. She has already proven her strengths on the highway, and this summer season, she gained the stage into Liége on the Tour de France Femmes.
Van Anrooij, additionally a multi-discipline racer, has extra expertise on the highway with a win at Trofeo Alfredo Binda and podiums in different main races at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Tour of Flanders and Amstel Gold Race.
Antonia Niedermaier (Germany)
Antonia Niedermaier had a breakout season final yr with a stage win on the Giro d’Italia and continued her success into this season with robust total classification efficiency at La Vuelta Femenina (eleventh), Tour de Suisse (sixth), Giro d’Italia (sixth). the hilly course may play in her favour, and whereas she won’t be a contender for the elite rainbow jersey, she is robust sufficient to play a job within the closing among the many elite subject and safe the under-23 title.
Neve Bradbury (Australia)
Neve Bradbury secured her first two WorldTour wins this season in levels on the Tour de Suisse after which atop Blockhaus on the Giro d’Italia. She has additionally been a podium finisher within the main stage races this yr; Tour Down Underneath (third), UAE Tour (2nd), Tour de Suisse (2nd), and Giro d’Italia (third). She has clearly earned her place on Australia’s elite girls’s staff and he or she can be a contender for the under-23 world title.
Anniina Ahtosalo (Finland)
Anniina Ahtosalo is a six-time Finnish nationwide champion; three within the highway race and three within the time trial, however she continues to be solely 21 years outdated. Her strengths are in one-day racing a sprinting, however an eighth place at Basic Brugge-De Panne and up to date second place within the opening stage on the Tour de France Femmes, and quite a few different top-10 performances this yr, put her on the radar for the under-23 title on the World Championships.
