PREVIEW | MEN's Zurich World Championships Time-Trial 2024 - Can Remco Evenepoel defend the world title?

On the 22nd of September the international peloton will begin the World Championships in Zurich. The first event will be the individual time-trial, and so the best time-trialists from all around the world will face off in Switzerland to battle for the rainbow jersey. We preview the race ahead.

The route will be long and it will be difficult in Zurich. This is a time-trial that will be very open, it is not at all completely flat - featuring 400 climbing meters - and the long distance also mean that, combined, we may see surprises in Zurich this year.

This is a route that can be divided into three separate sections. The riders begin their effort and throughout the first 20.5 kilometers will find a completely straightforward route that is also completely flat. This will favour the specialists in the discipline and 20 kilometers is enough time to make big differences. But certainly, the riders will save their legs a bit for the hilly section of the course that is rather vital.

We have got firstly 700 meters at 5%; 2.4 kilometers at 4.9% (the second intermediate point is at the summit of this climb, 26.5 kilometers into the effort) which feature a relatively steep ramp at it's start... Then there are 2 slightly technical and steep kilometers of descending before another slightly uphill ramp. The riders descend back into the lakeside in a small but very fast descent, before the final section of the race.

The final 12 kilometers of the time-trial are - literally - a straight line. No braking, no cornering, just a flat-out effort by the lake that features no gradients and will to be a constant effort all the way through. The riders have the finish line as they reach the center of Zurich.

Around 20 degrees and pretty much no wind present in Zurich. It will be all about the legs.

Remco Evenepoel - The reigning World and Olympic Champion. Far from the physique of a traditional time-trialist but as aerodynamic as any other pro rider, specially on the TT bike. Evenepoel has truly proven himself to be the most successful time-trialist of this generation and has conquered everything there was to win. He won't really have pressure to take the win here, and his form definitely was not the best at the Tour of Britain where he was ill. However at the Dauphiné he proved that even without his best form he can be dominant in the time-trials... In a course that features some climbing and very long straights, I think he will be the man to beat.

Stefan Küng - Behind him several favourites, the first to mention is Stefan Küng. The "nearly there" man finally took his first big win of the season in the final stage of the Vuelta a España and dare I say, he looked very strong throughout the whole race in every aspect. He won the final TT with dominance against strong riders and he will race in his home country here. Form and motivation are there... He finished third 4 years ago, second 2 years ago; if you are superstitious then you've got a reason to believe it is his time to take the win.

Joshua Tarling - The Briton is an incredible TT talent, winning the Europeans last year at age 19 and beating Remco Evenepoel at the Chrono des Nations. At the Olympics this summer he finished fourth but that involved a mechanical that cost him time. On the flat roads he is as strong as any other rider here; but climbing wise he may not be the same and there are questions over his form after he abandoned the Vuelta due to two crashes in the first week.

Filippo Ganna - Another man in doubt is his INEOS Grenadiers teammate Ganna, who opted to skip the Europeans to work on his less-than-ideal form. Ganna finished second in the Olympics and it can't be argued that he lost his speed. However after that he was put into some races and his form was very bad, and we don't know how he arrives to Zurich.

Primoz Roglic - Just off the Vuelta a España, we have got a Primoz Roglic that is in great form and without the pressure after having achieved a big win. He was second in the final time-trial of the Vuelta which was completely flat, also taking into consideration his fatigue. The former Olympic Champion is a fan of hilly time-trials and this is a good one for him, he can definitely take the victory.

Brandon McNulty - The American has won the flat time-trials at the UAE Tour and Vuelta a España this year. On the flat roads he is an absolute machine, but interestingly he used to specialize in the climbs. He's definitely got a good mix of skills to win here but we don't know in which form this will be after he crashed in the final time-trial of the Vuelta and didn't have a result to show for.

Edoardo Affini - Another man in form is Edoardo Affini who has just won the European Championships. The Italian has shown a very high level and on the flat roads he will be one of the strongest, but he will have to pull off a big performance to match his rivals uphill. 

But the field has so much quality, and with such a long time-trial there can be surprises. It will be quite the spectacle. On the 'specialist' side we've got riders such as Victor Campenaerts, Daan Hoole, Mathias Vacek, Mikkel Bjerg, Kasper Asgreen, Bruno Armirail, Nerlson Oliveira, Soren Waerenskjold and home rider Stefan Bissegger who will look to take all the possible advantage out of the flat sections.

2022's surprise World Champion Tobias Foss is present and is one of the riders that will look to benefit from the climbing sections; alongside Vuelta a España KOM winner Jay Vine who has proven to be terrific as well in the flat time-trials; Ben O'Connor, Derek Gee, Daniel Martínez, David de la Cruz, Max Schachmann, João Almeida and American Magnus Sheffield.

*** Remco Evenepoel, Stefan Küng
** Primoz Roglic, Brandon McNulty, Filippo Ganna, Joshua Tarling
* Edoardo Affini, Jay Vine, Victor Campenaerts, Daniel Martínez, Mathias Vacek, Max Schachmann, Nelson Oliveira, João Almeida, Magnus Sheffield

Pick: Remco Evenepoel