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

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

• Start: Sunday, 22 September 2024, 12 noon
• Route: Gossau-Zurich (Sechseläutenplatz), 29.9 kilometres, 327 vertical metres
• Title defender: Chloe Dygert (USA)
• Record winner: Jeannie Longo (France, 4 titles)
• Schedule and routes of the World Cycling Championships in Zurich

The women's individual time trial has been part of the World Championships programme since 1994. The winners have mainly - and since 2016 exclusively - come from the United States and the Netherlands. German women have also collected titles. Hanka Kupfernagel (2007), Judith Arndt (2011, 2012) and Lisa Brennauer (2014) have already been time trial world champions. The chances of this list being extended on Sunday are close to zero. And yet there are (gold) medal chances in the race for a starter from the German Cycling Federation.

This is because the U23 race is once again integrated into the elite competition. Having only been held twice before, the U23 time trial was only part of the elite race each time. But this will come to an end after the third edition. From the 2025 World Cycling Championships in Kigali (Rwanda), the young women will have their own race. Even then Antonia Niedermaier (21) has another chance to win the U23, but for now the focus is on the race in Zurich. The Bavarian will be the defending champion at the start. While Niedermaier can only compete with the older women to a limited extent, she is once again among the front runners in her age group.

This was demonstrated a week and a half ago at the European Championships. Niedermaier was only beaten there by Anniina Ahtosalo. The Finn had a half-minute lead over the German on the 31.3 kilometre course in Belgium. However, Ahtosalo, who had previously stood out more as a sprinter, found the flat course to her liking. Although Zurich is not a mountain time trial, there are more than 300 metres of elevation gain over the 30 kilometres between Gossau and Zurich. This should play into Niedermaier's favour considerably more.

The favourites in the women's individual time trial

A new nation could rise to world championship honours in the elite category. It's hard to imagine that the Australians are not yet represented on this list, but with Grace Brown there is a serious contender for it. The 32-year-old is the reigning Olympic champion and in that 32.4-kilometre race, she pulled out a full minute and a half on her closest rivals. They were Anna Henderson from Great Britain and defending champion Chloe Dygert (USA).

The time trial at the Olympic Games at the end of July was also the last serious comparison. The Tour de France Femmes time trial that followed was too short at barely six kilometres. And at the European Championships, the three medallists from the Games were not at the start. Nevertheless Lotte Kopecky highly. The new European champion pulverised the times of her rivals in a similar way to Brown, having beaten three-time world champion Ellen van Dijk by 45 seconds. For her part, the Dutchwoman went into so many time trials this year with the role of favourite, but was never really able to live up to it after a baby break and a lengthy injury in early summer. This is why she is one of the top five candidates at the World Championships, but gold is probably out of reach for the now 37-year-old.

Kopecky, on the other hand, can be trusted to do so. The Belgian has not only proven her strong form recently, but has also prepared specifically for the World Championships and even skipped the road race at the European Championships. The hills on the course should not cause her any problems either. But Brown and Dygert can handle them too. However, there is still a small question mark over the Australian's form. Without question, she should have peaked at the Olympics. She was last in action at the Tour de Romandie Feminin, where she swam along without making a positive or negative impression. And yet Chloe Dygert is usually the great unknown, as she hardly ever races. However, things were a little different after the Olympics. In addition to the Tour and the Tour of Romandie, she took part in the Classic Lorient Agglomération one-day race in Plouay, France, where she was only beaten by Mischa Bredewold in the sprint. Her form is also good here. Defending the title is possible.

Brown, Kopecky, Dygert - and who else?

It's not impossible that these three will fight it out for the medals. But there are still a few other contenders for precious metal. The slight ups and downs Demi Vollering to meet her. The second Dutchwoman is at least as strong as van Dijk, if not a little stronger. Missing out on the Tour victory, which was the declared goal of the 27-year-old, who is still officially without a new team after announcing her departure from SD Worx - Protime, is likely to have only fuelled her ambitions for the World Championships. She surprisingly won the short time trial at the Tour. It should have shown her that with the right preparation she can keep up with the specialists.

The silver medallist from Paris is one of them, Anna Henderson. Due to the fact that Great Britain skipped the European Championships all together, it is difficult to assess the 25-year-old's current performance level. However, she also seems to have planned her peak for the Olympics. It remains to be seen whether she will be able to build on this.

The situation is similar for Juliette Labous. Actually known as a climbing specialist, the Frenchwoman surprisingly finished fourth at the Olympics. Although the 25-year-old has continuously improved over the years in the battle against the clock, this performance was by no means to be expected. However, it is quite possible that the motivation of the major event in her home country provided a lot of extra watts. However, as she was also absent from the European Championships in Belgium, this theory has not yet been verified, meaning that Labous is also among the extended group of contenders for the medals until the contrary is confirmed.

The TOUR favourites by stars

*** Chloe Dygert (USA)

** Grace Brown (Australia), Lotte Kopecky (Belgium)

* Demi Vollering (Netherlands), Anna Henderson (Great Britain), Juliette Labous (France)