"The course is at the limit for Mathieu van der Poel... Jonas Vingegaard has a chance" - World Championship organiser on favourites for Rainbow Jersey

Although all eyes are seemingly on the upcoming Tour de France and the Paris Olympic Games, there remains a Rainbow Jersey to battle for in Switzerland later this summer and according to the race's organiser, it could be a very open race.

Last year, Mathieu van der Poel triumphed in an absolute thriller of a men's elite road race in Glasgow and the Dutch superstar will again be one of the main favourites for success in 2024. Speaking to In de Leiderstrui however, the race organiser for the Zurich World Championships believes it could be a tough task for van der Poel to go back to back.

"There are many possible moments to force the difference and make the race tough, so it will be a very fun race from start to finish. I think the course is at the limit for Mathieu," says race organizer Olivier Senn. "The course is tougher than you might think at first glance, due to the succession of fairly long climbs and the constant up and down. So I think it will be difficult for him to defend his title, but whatever I think: the best rider will win the rainbow jersey at this circuit."

274 kilometres long with 4,500 meters of elevation, the course includes seven laps of a local circuit of 26.8 kilometres, each one with 400 meters of elevation gain. If it is predicted to right at the limit of van der Poel's climbing capabilities, who else does Senn foresee challenging for the Rainbow Jersey in Zurich later this summer?

"Jonas Vingegaard has a chance, because the strongest rider always has a chance and he is normally not far away from that," Senn analyses optimistically. "Whether it is Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogacar, Wout van Aert or Remco Evenepoel, they all have a chance in some way. It is a very open course."