2024 World Cycling Championships: The favourites for the men's individual time trial

World Championship men's individual time trial - The most important facts in brief

• Start: Sunday, 22 September 2024, 2:45 pm
• Route: Zurich (Oerlikon)-Zurich (Sechseläutenplatz), 46.1 kilometres, 413 vertical metres
• Title defender: Remco Evenepoel (Belgium)
• Record winner: Tony Martin (Germany) and Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland, 4 titles each)
• Schedule and routes of the World Cycling Championships in Zurich

The men's individual time trial has been part of the World Championships programme since 1994. The competition has been held 30 times so far. The winner has come from Germany seven times. Tony Martin is the record world champion with four titles (2011-2013, 2016) alongside Fabian Cancellara, Jan Ullrich won twice (1999, 2001) and surprise world champion Bert Grabsch once (2008). With a total of 17 medals - Michael Rich and Uwe Peschel also contributed to this tally - the riders from Germany lead the medal table, ahead of the Swiss and Australia.

Hosts with two aces: Küng and Bissegger - who will win?

Of these three nations, only one has a real chance of improving its record in 2024. It is the hosts, who with Stefan Küng and Stefan Bissegger have two hot irons in the fire. For both, the individual time trial in Zurich is the most important race of the year, if not of their careers. At the Olympic Games in Paris, things didn't really go well for either of them, with Küng in particular not at all satisfied with eighth place. But the 30-year-old redeemed himself at the end of the Vuelta with victory in Madrid, which automatically made him the favourite for the European Championships. However, the hoped-for European Championship title came to nothing.

And Bissegger was also unable to show what he is capable of at the continental championships. However, the entire season did not go perfectly for the younger of the two. But if he wins a medal at home, all that will be forgotten. But competing in front of your own audience doesn't just have the potential to inspire. Küng in particular is slowly but surely running out of time and could feel a certain amount of pressure in Zurich. But if he can turn this into positive energy, he may not win the title, but at least a medal in a nominally strong field.

World Championship gold only possible via Evenepoel

That title seems to be reserved for the Olympic champion and the reigning world champion, Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian admitted that after a marathon of celebrations after the Games and double gold in Paris, he was pretty out of sorts. His return to racing at the Tour of Britain at the beginning of September was mediocre. He skipped the European Championships, but that was planned for a long time and not because he was afraid of losing his perceived untouchability.

The 24-year-old has contested six individual time trials this season, winning four of them. Evenepoel is therefore not unbeatable per se. But at the World Cycling Championships, if there are no doubts due to his previous experience in tours, there are currently no reliable points that could speak against him.

What are the Italians and the US boys doing?

Only one other rider apart from Evenepoel has four time trial victories to his name this season: Brandon McNulty. The US champion against the clock can beat anyone on a good day. But McNulty also has bad days from time to time. The day of the time trial in Paris was certainly not a bad one, but not a good one either. In the end it was 5th place for the 26-year-old, who went on to win the Vuelta opener. What has become apparent with McNulty this season: He has generally won the shorter time trials. In the longer ones, it was not enough for the very front. The last World Championship race in Scotland, which was just under 48 kilometres long and similar to the one in Zurich, is a good example of this. He finished fourth there. And at 33 kilometres, Paris was also one of the longest time trials of the year.

The second US-American at the start is Magnus Sheffield. The 22-year-old is also regarded as a great time trial talent. He has already finished ahead in several time trials, but has only won one. And that was two years ago. However, world championship time trials have also produced some surprising medallists in the past. Sheffield is certainly one of these dark horses who could do just that.

The Dark Horse category would also Edoardo Affini if he hadn't become European champion just before Küng. This performance alone has put the Italian among the medal contenders. But if the 28-year-old achieves another top result, it would still be at least a small surprise. After all, he is likely to have benefited from his good form from the Tour of Spain at the European Championships. Whether that will still be there a week and a half later remains to be seen.

And whether Affini has already planned the World Cup for himself in the long term and worked towards it is also rather unlikely, because there is still a long way to go. Filippo GannaItaly's actual number one medal candidate. But since winning silver at the Olympics, he has been plagued by inexplicable symptoms of exhaustion, which caused him to despair first at the Deutschland Tour and then at the Renewi Tour. Without further ado, he cancelled the European Championships. So there is a question mark over his performance. But if he wasn't competitive at all, he would have cancelled the World Championships too.

Roglic and Tarling as Evenepoel's fiercest rivals

The following would also not have competed Primoz Roglicif he wasn't sure he could compete for the medals. Since his fourth overall Vuelta victory, the 34-year-old Slovenian has been in high spirits. And after a season with many setbacks, the crash in the Basque Country and the elimination from the Tour de France, Roglic is probably still aiming for a good autumn, even if his year has already been saved by the victory in Spain.

It is quite possible that Roglic is also deliberately seeking a duel with Evenepoel. After the Tour, Roglic lost his position as number three in the pecking order of the best cyclists behind Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard to the Belgian in the public perception. Perhaps he can use the time trial to straighten out the order from his point of view.

And then there is Joshua Tarling. The 20-year-old, who really shook up the time trial hierarchy last year with third place at the elite world championships, has established himself among the world's best. Nevertheless, the Welshman, who had to forgo the European Championships because the British federation had collectively cancelled, lacks consistency. The best sign of this was this year's Vuelta opener. Tarling finished sixth - albeit only eight seconds behind winner McNulty - and was left reeling because, in his eyes, he had failed for inexplicable reasons.

But that will only have motivated the meticulous youngster even more for the World Championship race. If he hasn't overdone it in preparation, he is the hottest contender for a medal in Zurich alongside Evenepoel and Roglic.

The TOUR favourites by stars

*** Remco Evenepoel (Belgium)

** Joshua Tarling (Great Britain), Primoz Roglic (Slovenia)

* Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), Edoardo Affini (Italy), Stefan Küng (Switzerland)