Preview 2024 Road Cycling World Championships - Men | Van der Poel, Pogacar, Evenepoel: Who will take the crown?

The 2024 World Road Cycling Championships in Zürich, Switzerland, will conclude on Sunday, September 29, with the main event – the title competition among the elite men. We are looking for a successor to reigning world champion Mathieu van der Poel, although the Dutchman will not relinquish his rainbow jersey easily. This promises to be an extremely exciting race day!

Last year in Glasgow, Scotland, Van der Poel fended off Wout van Aert, Tadej Pogacar and Mads Pedersen after a frantic race. Unfortunately for Belgium, and by extension all cycling fans, van Aert will not be participating this time around due to his fall in the Vuelta a España, but the Belgians still have a top-notch former world champion available in Remco Evenepoel.

Evenepoel won the World Championships in Australia in 2022, while the Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe won the two previous editions. Names like Mads Pedersen, Alejandro Valverde, Peter Sagan (three times) and Michal Kwiatkowski also adorn the championship’s honor roll, further highlighting the importance of this competition.

The last time the World Championships were held in Switzerland was in 2009. Back then, Australian Cadel Evans came out on top in the hills of Mendrisio.

Practical information 2024 men's Road Cycling World Championships

• Sunday, Sept. 29, Winterthur - Zürich (Switzerland)
• Participants
• Classification: WC
  

In this article

• Most recent winners
• Course, weather and times
• Favorites
• TV information

Most recent winners men's Road Cycling World Championships

2023 Mathieu van der Poel
2022 Remco Evenepoel
2021 Julian Alaphilippe
2020 Julian Alaphilippe
2019 Mads Pedersen
2018 Alejandro Valverde
2017 Peter Sagan
2016 Peter Sagan
2015 Peter Sagan
2014 Michal Kwiatkowski

2024 men's Road Cycling World Championships: Course, weather and times

The riders start the championship at 10:30 AM in Winterthur, which is about 25 kilometers away from the base in Zürich. From the starting point, the riders head northwest, where the first elevation gains loom. The climb of Buch am Irchel (4.8 kilometers at 4.2%) could prove to be crucial in forming an early breakaway after about twenty kilometers.

A little further down the road, the Kyburg climb is up, which is actually right between Winterthur and Zürich. It's a tricky little climb of just over a kilometer at more than ten percent, but will any country dare to drop a bomb after just forty kilometers? Probably not.

After nearly seventy kilometers, we arrive at the local circuit in Zürich, which is 27 kilometers long and must be conquered seven times. Just before we get there, the riders face the Suessblatz hill (1.7 kilometers at 8.7%).

Read more below the video!

Now, for the circuit in Zürich itself. This is where we expect to see a big battle. World Championships organizer Oliver Senn explained to us precisely what we can expect, where and when. "At the start of the loop, there is a quite steep but short climb," he refers to the Zürichbergstrasse, which is about 1100 meters long. "Then we have a bit of a false flat going down, followed by a longer hill (the Witikonerstrasse, 2.3 kilometers at 5.7%, peaking at nine percent, ed.)."

"That in itself won't immediately cause problems, but if you have to do it seven times, spread over so many kilometers… After that, the course continues to go up and down, without a real descent where you can properly recover." The Pfannenstiel plateau is what he is talking about, following which the riders set course towards Küssnacht during each round.

"At some point, we head to the next climb of two kilometers towards Zollikon, which I believe will be the crucial point in the race. There, we are definitely going to see attacks, unless someone has already broken away solo. After that, it's just about one and a half kilometers flat to the finish at Sechseläutenplatz, near Lake Zürich."

Read more below the photo!

"So there are many possible moments to make the difference and make the race tough, meaning it will be a very enjoyable race from start to finish," Senn predicts. "The course is harder than you think at first glance, due to the succession of fairly long climbs and the constant ups and downs. I think the best rider on this circuit will win the rainbow jersey."

"I don't see it as a race for the pure climbers, but it is very tough," says the man behind the World Championships in Zürich. "That was also the plan from the beginning: to create a course on which as many riders as possible could have a chance, not just a small group," he concludes about the course that counts 4470 elevation meters.

Weather
It seems that the conditions in Zürich will be fine on Sunday. Temperatures between 10 (start) and 16 (finish) degrees Celsius are expected, but more importantly: it seems it will stay dry during the race. The wind is also expected to play little to no significant role.

Times
Start: 10:30 AM locally (4:30 AM EST)
Finish: 5:30 PM locally (11:30 AM EST)

Favorites 2024 men's Road Cycling World Championships

What a starting lineup! In Zürich, the three top favorites will each have the opportunity to put the cherry on top of an already incredible year, each in their own way. Starting with the man who stands out: Tadej Pogacar. After winning the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, the Slovenian has set his sights on this World Championships in Switzerland, where he finds a course tailored to him. The dress rehearsal – in Montréal – went according to plan.

Then we have the defending champion, Mathieu van der Poel. At the beginning of the year, it seemed clear that the Dutchman would have to relinquish his rainbow jersey, but as the race itself approaches, more and more people suggest that succeeding himself might well be possible for Van der Poel. He won't be able to take control of the race like he did in Glasgow, but we'd like to see someone try to drop him in the hills around Zürich.

Remco Evenepoel will also be at the start ready to fight for what he wants. The Belgians are doing without Wout van Aert, but with Maxim Van Gils, Tiesj Benoot, Jasper Stuyven and Tim Wellens, there is still plenty of championship folk present. They are the strongest team at the start, and have a leader who won both Olympic cycling races and just this Sunday the World Time Trial Championship. Not bad!

If there is one country that will show up at the start with lots of motivation, it would be the Swiss, riding in their backyard. With Marc Hirschi, they have the winner of the Bretagne Classic, Clasica San Sebastian and a trio of Italian autumn races in their ranks, while Stefan Küng and Mauro Schmid should also be able to go far on this course. Both gentlemen are even skipping the Mixed Relay, another writing on the wall of the ambitions the Swiss are bringing to the start.

Looking at the Canadian preparation races for the World Championships, we can immediately pinpoint some other names. Michael Matthews won the GP Quebec and trained with Pogacar in Monaco in the run-up to the World Championships, so he will be a man that anyone going for the win will have fun trying to drop. Eritrean Biniam Girmay came in second there, but he stated afterwards that the World Championships are a bit too tough for him.

Julian Alaphilippe, the leader of the French team with Romain Bardet and David Gaudu, also showed himself in Canada. In Quebec, he was the only one able to follow Pogacar, along with three Lotto-Dstny riders, and he confirmed this with a third place in Montréal. Pello Bilbao was a fine second there, while Matteo Jorgenson completely exploded in his attempt to follow Pogacar in Mont Royal Park.

Taking into account the other major one-day races of this year, there are more names that always come to the fore. Mads Pedersen, for example, one of the few men who managed to beat Van der Poel this year. But guys like Toms Skujins (Latvia), Valentin Madouas (France), Roger Adria, Alex Aranburu (Spain) and Ben Healy (Ireland) are also capable of making something happen.

What about Tom Pidcock? The Brit suffered a concussion in the tour of his home country, so we are not entirely sure about his form. Bringing Stephen Williams and the Yates brothers, he also has a strong selection at his side. What we can say of those twins, is also a question mark we can put next to more countries' selections: what will be the real value of the selected climbers in and around Zürich?

And let's not forget about the men who have already proven themselves in one-day races, like Primoz Roglic (Slovenia), Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark), the neutral Aleksandr Vlasov and Santiago Buitrago (Colombia), but also the pure grand tour men like Mikel Landa, Enric Mas, Juan Ayuso, Carlos Rodriguez (Spain), Antonio Tiberi (Italy), Ben O'Connor (Australia) and Joao Almeida (Portugal): all of them will be at the start in Switzerland.

Who are the favorites for the 2024 men's Road Cycling World Championships, according to IDLProCycling.com?

Top favorites: Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) and Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands)
Outsiders: Remco Evenepoel (Belgium), Marc Hirschi (Switzerland), Matteo Jorgenson (United States), Julian Alaphilippe (France) and Pello Bilbao (Spain)
Long shots: Maxim Van Gils, Tiesj Benoot (Belgium), Mads Pedersen (Denmark), Tom Pidcock (Great Britain), Toms Skujins (Latvia), Stefan Küng (Switzerland), Primoz Roglic (Slovenia), Michael Matthews (Australia), Santiago Buitrago (Colombia) and Valentin Madouas (France)

TV 2024 men's Road Cycling World Championships

The Road Cycling World Championships definitely make for one of those days when you can sit in front of the TV from start to finish to enjoy some splendid cycling entertainment. The various broadcasters cater to this as well. Sporza (VRT 1), Eurosport (main channel as well as HBO Max) and NOS (NPO 1) have scheduled time from the start at 10:30 AM local time (4:30 AM EST) for the World Championships, which are expected to end around 5:30 PM locally (11:30 AM EST).

Read also

Van der Poel surprises winner Ayuso with excellent time trial and takes back the lead

Evenepoel makes no mistake about World Championship relationship with 'frenemy' Van der Poel

Hinault compares Pogacar and Evenepoel to other world champion: "Like he doesn't really like racing"