Profile & Route MEN'S Zurich World Championships Road Race 2024

On the 29th of September we have the final and most important event of the Zurich World Championships. The men's Road Race will be an extremely long race which favours the climbers and classics specialists, with Mathieu van der Poel as the defending champion. We take a look at the profile.

274 kilometers in distance and 4200 meters of climbing. This is a hard race, whichever way you look at it. It is the route that suits the climbers the best since 2018's Innsbruck Worlds and will see a new wave of strong climbers have an opportunity once again to conquer the rainbow jersey, in Zurich. The race begins in Winterthur and right from the start there is climbing - including the steepest ascent of the race (1.3Km at 10%) which will be tackled with 230 kilometers to go, before entering the final circuit. 

The riders then reach Zurich and begin to race on a seven-lap circuit around the Swiss city. The climbs are short and explosive; but the amount of times they will be climbed and the total distance of the race will burn off the explosivity of most riders, and the harder the race is the more it will favour the climbers. So we will have interesting dynamics, as different contenders benefit from different types of racing. By all means, this is a race that will likely take around 7 hours and is suited to the endurance specialists as well - and of course, those in peak form which is not easy to achieve this late into the year.

The circuit will be marked by two climbs. After crossing the finish line by the river, there is a rather technical section through the center and quickly a 700-meter long ramp that averages 8.4% (summit with 24 kilometers to go). It maxes out at 13%, but will likely not be attacked hard; instead the riders will look to go through in a good position, because then comes a section of 1.5 flat kilometers where following the wheels is highly beneficial.

The main climb is the one into Witikon. It is 1.9 kilometers at 6.2%, not an overly steep climb and one where speeds will be high. It starts off a little steeper than the average and then slowly comes down until the summit with 20 kilometers to go. There is a long switchback but overall not a technical climb... If someone enters this climb in the head of the race, they will not lose too much time.

But after these climbs, in the final lap, there will still be 20 kilometers of racing. 20 rolling kilometers with a few small hilltops, fast descents... Terrain where organizing a chase is not easy and where racing should be very tactical. There is no opportunity to create a gap by power, instead opportunity and tactics will be the key factor.

From 9.7 kilometers to go we have a very fast descent in a forest area followed by urban riding. 10 seconds of advantage is enough for your rivals not to see you ahead which can play a big role mentally. If someone has a lead into this section it will likely hand out a victory, so there has to be a mini finish line for most riders up to that point.

From 6.5 to 5 kilometers to go the road is slightly uphill but nothing meaningful, before quickly descending into the lakeside with just 2.5 kilometers to go. From there it's fully flat and straightforward back into the city.