World Championship favourites check: Will Kopecky succeed in defending her title?

Women's World Championship road race - the most important facts in brief

• Start: Saturday, 28 September 2024, 12:47 pm
• Target: ~ 16:38 - 17:03
• TV broadcast & live stream: Eurosport 1 (from 12:30), ZDF (from 15:15 on TV + live stream), Discovery Plus (from 12:30)
• Route: Uster - Zurich (Sechseläutenplatz), 154.1 kilometres, 2384 vertical metres
• Title defender: Lotte Kopecky (Belgium)
• Record winner: Jeannie Longo (France), 5 victories
• Schedule and routes of the World Cycling Championships in Zurich

In hardly any other competition at the 2024 World Cycling Championships is the field of contenders for victory as homogeneous as in the women's elite race. Defending champion Lotte Kopecky from Belgium is once again one of the hottest contenders for the gold medal this year. The rider from Team SD Worx - Protime faces a very strong Dutch team, almost all of whom are capable of winning.

The TOUR favourites by stars*

***** Lotte Kopecky (Belgium), Demi Vollering (Netherlands)

**** Marianne Vos (Netherlands), Puck Pieterse (Netherlands), Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy)

*** Liane Lippert (Germany), Kristen Faulkner (USA), Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland)

** Antonia Niedermaier (Germany), Grace Brown (Australia), Elise Chabbey (Switzerland), Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (France)

* Noemi Rüegg (Switzerland), Mischa Bredewold (Netherlands), Cedrine Kerbaol (France), Chloe Dygert (USA), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark), Thalita de Jong (Netherlands)

* The more stars a driver receives, the stronger she is rated

The favourites in the TOUR-Check

***** Lotte Kopecky (Belgium)

The course on which Kopecky won gold in Glasgow in 2023 had 2229 metres of elevation gain, only slightly less than the course in Zurich (2384). The 28-year-old has impressively demonstrated her strength in the mountains this year at the UAE Tour and the Giro d'Italia Women. Victories at the Tour de Romandie Feminin and the European Championships in the individual time trial underline Kopecky's good form. Her big advantage: the Belgian team will be 100 per cent committed to her.

***** Demi Vollering (Netherlands)

Things could look a little different for Demi Vollering. The winner of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes is faced with the dilemma that the Dutch have many potential candidates for victory in their ranks. After silver in the road race in Glasgow and the battle for seconds in the Tour of France, which Vollering narrowly lost, the 27-year-old will be doing everything she can to make another big statement with the rainbow jersey. If she wants to beat her team-mate Kopecky in a direct duel, Vollering would have to pull away first, as the Belgian is probably faster in the sprint.

**** Marianne Vos (Netherlands)

Marianne Vos is more likely to beat Kopecky in a sprint. The grande dame of cycling last managed this in the Olympic road race, where she got bogged down in a tactical skirmish with Kopecky and allowed Kristen Faulkner, who took gold, to pull away. The 37-year-old Vos has already been road world champion three times (2006, 2012 and 2013) and would love to add another rainbow jersey to her collection. In direct comparison with Vollering and Kopecky, Vos has to make some concessions in terms of uphill strength, which could be the deciding factor on the course in Zurich.

**** Puck Pieterse (Netherlands)

Puck Pieterse is another Dutchwoman who could win the title. The 22-year-old was crowned mountain bike world champion in cross country in Andorra at the beginning of September and now wants to win on the road too. At the Tour de France Femmes, Pieterse, who has only been competing intensively for Fenix-Deceuninck on the road since this season, proved with her victory in Liège on the Ardennes stage that she can beat the assembled world elite on such a difficult course.

**** Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy)

Alongside the Dutch trio, the Italian is the hottest candidate when it comes to dethroning Kopecky. The 32-year-old from Lidl-Trek has had an outstanding season, winning the Tour of Flanders and the Giro d'Italia Women. The course in Zurich suits her very well. However, she should not aim for a sprint with Kopecky, Vollering, Vos or Pieterse. The tactics of the Italians are therefore likely to be very offensive in order to make the race as hard as possible for Longo Borghini as early as possible.

*** Liane Lippert (Germany)

The 26-year-old still has a score to settle with the World Championships. In 2022, she was probably the strongest rider in the road race in Wollongong, Australia, but ultimately just missed out on a medal in fourth place. After a stress fracture in her femoral neck bone, it took Lippert a long time to get back up to speed in 2024. Most recently, she attracted attention with a strong third place at the Classic Lorient and a great performance alongside Antonia Niedermaier in the mixed world championship time trial. Lippert is a very explosive rider, which makes her predestined for the course in Zurich. On a very good day, she doesn't have to hide from anyone and can fight for a medal.

*** Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland)

The thriller by the second in which the Polish rider won the Tour de France Femmes in Alpe d'Huez was an advert for cycling. Niewiadoma put Vollering in her place. However, the starting position for Zurich looks somewhat different. On paper, the Canyon//SRAM rider is not as strong as Vollering: the reigning gravel world champion is significantly slower in the sprint and this is her first race since her triumph at the Tour, after which she also caught a coronavirus infection.

*** Kristen Faulkner (USA)

In the Olympic road race, the EF-Oatly-Cannondale rider proved that she can win big races. However, she benefited from the fact that her rivals were lying in wait and did not chase her down. The 31-year-old would also be a candidate for an early attack. At Omloop van het Hageland at the end of February, she celebrated one of her biggest victories with a 55-kilometre solo.

** Antonia Niedermaier (Germany)

The 21-year-old from Rosenheim is something like the rider of the hour and, alongside Lippert, the second German trump card for the road race. Firstly, Niedermaier took fourth place in the women's elite individual time trial, which was synonymous with the gold medal in the U23 competition. On Wednesday, Niedermaier was then the outstanding athlete who led the German team to silver in the mixed time trial. In the TOUR interview she was optimistic that there is also a lot in the road race.

** Grace Brown (Australia)

The 32-year-old will hang up her bike at the end of the season. With the Olympic and world championship titles in the individual time trial and the triumph in the mixed race under her belt, the FDJ-Suez rider can tackle the road race without any great pressure. At Liège-Bastogne-Liège this year, she pulled off a surprise coup on similarly demanding terrain.

** Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (France)

The 2014 road world champion from Ponferrada wants to do it again and has already pencilled in signed a contract with Visma | Lease a Bike. The team aims to win the Tour de France Femmes. The Olympic mountain bike champion makes her comeback on the road in Zurich. The course suits her abilities. Despite her abstinence on the road, Ferrand-Prevot is an absolute dark horse.

** Elise Chabbey (Switzerland)

The 31-year-old is probably the best card the hosts can play. In a direct duel with Kopecky or Vollering, it will be difficult for Chabbey. She will have to seek her salvation in an early group, just like her team-mate Noemi Rüegg.

* The outsiders

From a Dutch perspective, Mischa Bredewold, Pauliena Rooijakkers, Riejanne Markus and even Thalita de Jong could also win a medal. Not to be underestimated are the extremely fast Chloe Dygert (USA), Cedrine Kerbaol and Evita Muzic as the second and third ace of the French alongside Ferrand-Prevot, as well as Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark), who has had a mixed season but already won bronze in Glasgow last year.