In the 2024 season, the World Championships return to the traditional format and dates, after the first Super Championship in 2023, in which the UCI brought together practically all cycling specialties in a single macro-event that was held in Glasgow.
From September 22 to 29, the 2024 edition of the Road World Championship will take place, in its different modalities and categories, and whose headquarters will be the Swiss city of Zurich, where the organization has prepared a selective route that will put a cutting cyclist more classic like Mathieu van der Poel very complicated to revalidate the title achieved last summer.
With the nerve center located on the shores of Lake Zurich, the elite men’s event will consist of a 273.9 kilometer route with a total of no less than 4,470 m of elevation gain. A route that will start from the nearby city of Winterthur, northwest of Zurich for a first online section of just under 70 kilometers until reaching the final circuit. After a first crossing of the finish line at kilometer 86, the cyclists will have to do 7 laps of a selective 27 kilometer loop.
Curious design of the circuit, conditioned by Zurich being located on the shores of the homonymous lake, so that each lap begins with a hard climb of just over 1 kilometer: Zürichbergstrasse, at an average of 8% and maximum ramps that rise to 15 %. After a small descent it connects with the climb to Witikon, 2.3 kilometers further, 5.7% on average.
However, the crux of the route will come later since it is linked to a stretch of just over 10 kilometers of broken terrain in which, the passage of kilometers, can make a chase very complicated, and can even give rise to new attacks. taking advantage of the fatigue accumulated in the climbs. A descent of just under three kilometers will return the cyclists to the city, who will still have to face a steep slope of just under a kilometer before reaching the shores of the lake again and arriving at the finish area.
A route that perfectly suits the qualities of Tadej Pogacar who has set himself the main objective in 2024 to exchange the bronze medal he won in Glasgow for the World Cup jersey.
For its part, the individual time trial, which will be held a week before, on September 22, will have a route of 46.1 kilometers, practically flat, although with a couple of climbs in its middle part that will surely be decisive at the time. to determine the winner in this modality.
Zurich 2024 World Championship Program
Sunday September 22
Men’s Elite Individual Time Trial
Women’s Elite Individual Time Trial
Monday September 23
Men’s Junior Individual Time Trial
Men’s U23 individual time trial
Tuesday September 24
Women’s Junior Individual Time Trial
Wednesday, September 25
Mixed relay team time trial
Thursday September 26
Junior women’s route
Junior men’s route
Friday, September 27
Men’s U23 route
Saturday September 28
Women’s Elite Route
Sunday September 29
Men’s Elite route
Source: www.brujulabike.com