The 2024 UCI Road 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 predicted to cater to the classics specialists given the hilly terrain, circuit-style remaining 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 the 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 acquire alongside the best way to a comparatively flat remaining 5km to take riders to the Sechseläutenplatz end line.
Many nations 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 group in her world title defence on a course that would 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 traces 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 be able to climb with one of the best 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 impressive 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 general podiums at La Vuelta Femenina, and Tour de Suisse after which gained the general title on the Giro d’Italia.
Although she completed high 10 in each the time trial and the highway race on the Olympic Games, she had her eyes set on a medal and so left Paris dissatisfied with the outcomes, however she shortly turned her consideration to restoration and coaching for the World Championships.
Longo Borghini will arrive in high type and we will anticipate her to race with that very same aggressive fashion that she does all through the season, however her greatest asset is her group. The Italian nationwide group, Squadra Azzurra, is well-known for his or her cohesion and profitable group techniques, which is able to 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 throughout the stage racing season the place she gained consecutive general titles at La Vuelta Femenina, Itzulia Women, 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 Games, however her most important 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 general champion Kasia Niewiadoma by simply 4 seconds.
Vollering has taken time to soak up that loss, regroup and goals to come back again to the World Championships with a robust Dutch group in pursuit of a world title. She will lead the group, which additionally consists of former multi-discipline world champion Vos and reigning mountain bike world champion Puck Pieterse.
Vollering’s all-around strengths lend effectively to one of these course. She is each a profitable stage racer and a one-day Classics rider with a robust dash, so look ahead to Vollering to make the choice and play her position within the remaining run-in to Zurich.
Kasia Niewiadoma (Poland)
There seems to be no stopping Kasia Niewiadoma recently. The Polish all-rounder has all the time been a contender for one-day Classics and mountain stage races, all the time ending on the rostrum however not often taking the win. It has been the reason for a lot frustration and disappointment lately, however with arduous work, group and household assist and persistence, 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 stated gave her the boldness to consider in her capability to beat one of the best. 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 throughout 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 contemporary off of particular preparations and coaching for the Zurich highway race. She won’t have a group as highly effective because the Dutch group, however on a selective course this this one, she will likely be among the many contenders within the remaining.
Grace Brown (Australia)
Grace Brown will lead a robust Australian group in her remaining 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 Games.
Brown has stated that the ultimate purpose 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 space and the difficult terrain, of which Brown is one.
She additionally has a robust group 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 may favour one in every of her teammates, too, and that she might see herself in a assist position, particularly provided 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 group techniques might play a giant position within the final result of the race for the Australian group.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France)
The French group 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 lately retired from cross-country mountain biking after profitable the gold medal on the Olympic Games. Her plan now’s to return to highway racing and that begins on the World Championships.
Although she hasn’t raced a full highway season since 2018, outdoors of competing on the French Road Championships in 2019 and 2021, Ferrand-Prévot will likely be a key rider to look at because of her all-around energy 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 bicycle 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 she or he has the potential to win her first highway world title since Ponferrada.
Blanka Vas (Hungary)
Blanka Vas may be one of the vital underrated riders within the peloton, however she is starting to indicate 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 she or he 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 Games and gained a stage on the Tour de France Femmes.
Kristen Faulkner (United States of America)
Kristen Faulkner has had one of the best season of her profession profitable the highway race title on the US Pro Road Championships earlier than occurring to win double gold medals on the Olympic Games within the elite girls’s highway race and within the group pursuit.
She traces up with a robust group 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 she or he is one to look at for late-race breakaways.
She might not be considered one of many most important contenders throughout 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 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 she or he has struggled with accidents, however there have been glimmers of success with a stage win on the Tour Down Under and a podium end in a stage on the Giro d’Italia the place she completed eighth general.
But she had an identical season final yr after which ended up placing forth a large efficiency at Glasgow Worlds, creating the choice throughout the highway race after which ending with the bronze medal.
She is without doubt one of the contenders throughout 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 remains to be performing on the highest degree with wins this season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Amstel Gold Race, a stage at La Vuelta Femenina, an general win at Catalunya, and she or he gained the silver medal on the Paris Olympic Games and the factors jersey on the Tour de France Femmes.
Vos now has a profession whole of 255 elite highway race victories and she or he has additionally amassed 13 world titles; eight in cyclocross, two in observe 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.
Although Vollering was introduced because the group chief, Vos will type a part of a robust Dutch group 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 group, however the world will likely be watching a ready to see if Vos will win her first rainbow jersey within the highway race since Firenze.
Under-23 favourites
Puck Pieterse and Shirin van Anrooij (Netherlands)
The Dutch group will likely be all-in for Vollering and Vos to win the elite title throughout 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 wish 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 time, 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 sturdy general classification efficiency at La Vuelta Femenina (eleventh), Tour de Suisse (sixth), Giro d’Italia (sixth). the hilly course might play in her favour, and whereas she won’t be a contender for the elite rainbow jersey, she is powerful sufficient to play a job within the remaining 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 Under (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 group and she or he 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 remains to be solely 21 years outdated. Her strengths are in one-day racing a sprinting, however an eighth place at Classic 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.