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After 10-months of racing, that started in Australia with the Santos Tour Down-Under, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Road World Championships marks the beginning of the end of the cycling season. Being crowned the World Champion is one of the highest achievements a cyclist can obtain in their career and is probably only bettered by winning the Tour de France. Being held at the end of the season gives those that have come close to winning, one final opportunity for glory as victory at the World Championship assures your place in cycling history.
The prize is not only a gold medal but the prestigious “Rainbow Jersey,” the name given to the white jersey, with coloured bands that is presented to the winner. The victor will have the honour of wearing it at races thereafter and for the following season. This achievement is lasting because after which, they wear a coloured trim on their sleeves and collar to denote being a previous World Champion.
This year, the 2024 UCI Road World Championship is hosted is Zurich, Switzerland and will last from Saturday, 21 September until Sunday, 29 September.
A brief history
Italian, Alfredo Binda won the inaugural professional World Cycling Championship, which was held in 1927 at the Nürburgring in Germany.
Peter Sagan has won the World Championship the most times, three in total, from 2015–17.
Alejandro Valverde with 7 medals, holds the record for the most medals. He finally won the World Championship in 2018 after coming second on two occasions (2003, 2005) and third, four times (2006, 2012–14).
Elsy Jacobs from Luxembourg won the first ever Women’s World Cycling Championship in 1958, which was hosted in Reims in France.
Jeannie Longo from France has 8 medals, which include 5 golds, and is the most successful women’s rider.
Festival of cycling
The UCI World Championship has become a festival of cycling and 2024 is no different with events spread throughout the week, with the Men’s and Women’s Elite Time Trial taking place on Sunday, 22nd September, which saw both Australian Grace Brown and and Belgian Remco Evenepoel winning – a repeat of their Olympic success only weeks earlier.
There will be a host of Junior and Para-Cycling events that throughout the week that culminates with the Women’s Elite Road Race on Saturday, 28th September and the men’s the following day, bringing the 2024 World Championships to a close.
Dates and timings of selected events
There are a range of events throughout the week which includes Para-Cycling and Junior Races. To see the full schedule click here, however, below is a selection of events to watch out for.
| Event | Time | Start location | |
| Wednesday 25 September | |||
| Mixed Relay | Mixed Relay Team Time Trial | 14:00 – 17:30 | Zurich, Sechseläutenplatz |
| Saturday 28 September | |||
| Women Elite | Women Elite Road Race | 12:45 – 16:45 | Uster |
| Sunday 29 September | |||
| Men Elite | Men Elite Road Race | 10:30 – 17:00 | Winterthur |
The courses
The start of the races will take place outside of the city limits at different locations depending on the event. These include at the “Offene Rennbahn” in Zurich-Oerlikon, on the Münsterhof in Zurich, in Winterthur, Uster, Gossau and around Sechseläutenplatz.
The Elite Men’s Road Race starts in Winterthur and ends in Zurich, which covers a distance of 273.9km, which includes an elevation of gain 4470 meters. There will be 7 laps of the City Circuit in Zurich.
The Elite Women’s Road Race starts in Uster and is 154.1km long with an elevation gain of 2384 meters, which includes 4 laps of City Circuit in Zurich.
The City Circuit that is referenced is 27km long and particularly challenging. Spaced over those 27km there is an elevation gain of 501 meters with several challenging climbs. The climb of Kyburg is 1.2km long with an average gradient of 12% which peaks out at 16%, which is steep. There are two other challenging climbs such as the 1.1km Zürichbergstrasse, which has an average gradient of 8% and a maximum 15%. The “easiest climb” is Witikon, which is 2.3km long with an average gradient of 5.7% and a maximum gradient of 9%. Despite being the less steep climb, it is the longest.
The laps around Zurich will enable spectators to see the riders as they tackle these climbs and complete the circuits. The difficulty of this circuit will mean it this will be a race of attrition.
A different route was used for the Time Trials. The Elite Men started on the open race track in Zurich-Oerlikon and raced a distance of 46.1km with an elevation gain of 413 meters, whilst the Elite Women started in Gossau, and raced for 29.9km with an elevation gain of 327m. It was shortly after the Women’s start where the Men’s and Women’s routes converged.
The City Circuit is the course for the Mixed Relay Team Time Trial. After one lap, a three-woman team takes over from the three-man team.
Contenders
The Elite Men’s World Championship Road Race course is particularly difficult, it is longer than the previous year’s course in Glasgow by 2 kilometres and has close to 1000 meters extra of elevation gain making this course better suited to the Grand Tour riders than the Classics riders. With 4470 meters of elevation gain, this is similar to an Il Lombardia and a Liège-Bastogne-Liège course, and we know who won the latest editions of those – Tadej Pogačar. On that basis, I think it will be particularly difficult for Mathieu van der Poel to defend his title. Belgian, Remco Evenepoel will certainly be in the mix, the recent double Olympic gold medalist, will be looking to add another medal to his collection and he will certainly fancy his chances given his climbing abilities and having won the World Championship in 2022, he knows what it takes.
For the Elite Women’s race, there will be the familiar names in the mix such as Elisa Balsamo, Demi Vollering but it is Grace Brown, who will be aiming for the win following her victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes and could be the one to watch out for. Could Lotte Kopecky get over the climbs and be in a position to defend her title when it comes to the closing kilometers?
The World Championship Elite Race is supposed to be difficult but this course, with its length and elevation gains means it will be a test of endurance and a major factor will be who will have fuelled themselves the most effectively throughout the race and have that final bit of energy to make the decisive move.
Summing up
Switzerland will provide a magnificent backdrop for the World Championships. The beautiful scenery that includes postcard villages, coupled with the challenging routes, means these events are going to be special to watch. Due to the difficulty of the courses, it’s near impossible to pick a favourite and it’s going to be exciting right to the end.
