Welcome to Escape Collective. Please select your language.
Please note that this is an automated translation and it will not be perfect. All articles have been written in English and if anything appears to not make sense, please double check in English.
You could look at your favourite results website and easily dismiss the weekend’s racing at the Zurich Road World Championships. Lotte Kopecky was the big favourite in the elite women’s road race, and she won. Tadej Pogačar was the big favourite in the men’s race, and he won as well. But these snapshots don’t do justice to what was a fantastic weekend of bike racing.
The women’s race was a fascinating and dynamic affair, raced in near-constant rain and low temperatures. Kopecky won, but it was far from a foregone conclusion – there was a time when it looked like her day was done.
And while Pogačar did win on Sunday with one of his trademark long-range attacks – from 101 km out, if you don’t mind, with more than 50 km of that solo – this was far from another procession. The Slovenian looked vulnerable in the last lap and it seemed for a time as if he was destined to be caught.
So as the championships come to a close, let’s look back on the final two races of the 2024 Zurich Worlds, courtesy of some great photos from Kristof Ramon, and the Cor Vos photo agency.
The mood was sombre at the start of the elite & U23 women’s road race, following the horrible news that local rider Muriel Furrer had died after crashing in the U19 women’s road race on Thursday.The Swiss riders led a moment of silence for the peloton in appropriately dire weather conditions.Mischa Bredewold (and indeed her Dutch teammates) would have plenty to ponder after the race as well, but more on that in a moment.The grim weather didn’t paint Zurich in its best light, but it did make a tough race even tougher.Demi Vollering was one of the favourites coming in and she’d play a leading role in the latter stages.As the rain pelted down over four hours of racing, several different lead groups formed, broke apart and reformed in what was your classic race of attrition.Welcome back to road racing, Pauline!Did we mention the weather was grim?The Dutch team came under significant fire during and after the race for their sometimes incomprehensible racing tactics. Here’s Pauliena Rooijakkers drilling it on the front of the peloton, with Vollering in her wheel, while up ahead her Dutch team was the only one with multiple riders in the break. Rooijakkers’ effort would close down that break. It wasn’t the last time the Dutch would seemingly ride against themselves.The big names come to the fore as the final kilometres approach.Kopecky was dropped with around 20 km to go after a strong move from Elisa Longo-Borghini was built upon by Vollering. She’d eventually fight back though.Tour de France Femmes champ Kasia Niewiadoma didn’t have her best day.Right?This dangerous lead group came together with around 32 km to go – Riejanne Markus, Marianne Vos …… Ruby Roseman-Gannon in one of her best-ever days on the bike, and Tour de France Femmes stage winner Justine Ghekiere. Note that while the Dutch have two of the four leaders here, Bredewold would soon be chasing in the peloton – the Dutch chasing the Dutch again.Kopecky was still behind the leaders until 14 km to go, when she bridged across.She’d ultimately go on to win the sprint from a group of six after being seemingly out of the race. A combination of strong legs, patience, and some more strange racing from the Dutch allowed her back in contention, and ultimately to another rainbow jersey.Kopecky was brilliantly supported by Justine Ghekiere who was out front for much of the day, flying the flag for Belgium.Vollering, meanwhile, ended up fifth as the best Dutch finisher. Her team was the strongest in the race, and looked it, but despite putting three riders in the top 10, they missed out on a medal entirely. Puck Pieterse produced one of the few positives from the race for the Netherlands, taking out the U23 world title (in addition to her recent elite XCO MTB world title and her best young rider classification and stage win at the Tour de France Femmes).Niewiadoma said after the race that it was the coldest she’s ever been on the bike.A patient but aggressive race from Elisa Longo-Borghini landed the Italian on the podium in third …… while another tenacious ride from Chloé Dygert saw the American take second in the sprint.A world-class podium at the end of an incredible race …… with Kopecky the deserving recipient of another year in rainbows.Who knows how much we’ll get to see Pieterse race in rainbows, but her future is super bright nonetheless. Speaking of the future, the U23 women will get a standalone road race at the 2025 Worlds in Rwanda, finally.Silver in the U23 ranks for Australia’s Neve Bradbury with her trade teammate Antonia Niedermaier taking bronze.Meanwhile, a police investigation into Muriel Furrer’s tragic death is still ongoing. More information will surely come to light in the weeks and months ahead.The weather was just a little better for the elite men’s race on Sunday. Here’s an early breakaway in action through the streets of Zurich.Belgium and Slovenia – the teams of favourites Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogačar – were a familiar presence near the front of the peloton.Can you tell that Remco Evenepoel is the Olympic road race champion (and TT champ for that matter)?The men’s race spanned a hefty 274 km and took in seven laps of the local circuit around Zurich …… giving fans plenty of opportunities to watch the riders, and enjoy a nice day in the moments in between.Jan Tratnik (right) was up the road when Tadej Pogačar made his move with more than 100 km still to race, giving the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France champion a bit of a sit as he powered on towards the front of the race.Pavel Sivakov was the only rider that could follow Pogačar when the latter attacked out of the lead group …… but with 51 km to go, Pogačar set off alone as he so often has in recent years.Ben Healy and Toms Skujiņš put in a superb counter-attack in the closing stages, trying to catch Pogačar …… while reigning champ Mathieu van der Poel was in the group behind. Healy and Skujiņš would be caught, forming a very strong chase group who attacked each other repeatedly in the closing laps. Pogačar appeared to tire throughout the final lap and there was a moment when it really looked like he would be caught; that his audacious long-range attack was just a little too audacious.But ultimately, the Slovenian held on to take the first world title of his career and a fully deserved one at that.Ben O’Connor, part of that elite late chase group, punched away with 1.5 km remaining and held on to take a silver medal. It caps an amazing season for the West Australian who was fourth at the Giro and second at the Vuelta.Skujiņš launched his bid for a bronze medal with a strong early sprint, but the Latvian (who just happens to be the husband of Escape‘s very own Abby Mickey, in case you didn’t know) was overhauled at the last moment by Van der Poel. Still, it was another terrific result for Skujiņš who was eighth in Glasgow last year too.Snap snap.Van der Poel said before the race that “For me, based on this year, Tadej is the deserved world champion.” He hadn’t changed his mind after the race.Silver for O’Connor and bronze for Van der Poel.What more can be said about this man? With his win in Zurich he becomes only the third male rider in history to win the Giro, Tour and Worlds road race in the same year. He now has 23 wins for the year and 86 in his career. We truly are witnessing one of the greatest ever, and he’s still only 26.
