UCI Road World Championships 2024

The road

At the start

Winterthur to Zürich, and a treble

A loop out of Winterthur, then seven times round a 27-kilometre Zürich circuit over the Zürichbergstrasse and Witikon — six hours of racing, 4,500 metres of climbing, and a last kick at Zollikon five kilometres from the line. Tadej Pogačar has won the Giro and the Tour this year, and only Merckx and Roche have ever added the rainbow jersey in the same season. Mathieu van der Poel defends, two kilos lighter.

How it was won

1. 1158 km to go

   A dangerous 16 forms ahead

   On the Zürich circuit a strong counter-move fuses with the early break to make a 16-man group, and with Slovenia and Belgium refusing to chase, the favourites' hesitation lets it swell out to over three minutes.

2. 2100 km to go

   Pogačar goes at 100km

   At the jaw-dropping distance of 100km to go, Pogačar simply rides up the side of a draggy climb and away, Tratnik dragging him across to the leaders. No favourite has even begun to think about attacking; the champion has decided to make history.

3. 350 km to go

   Alone with 50 kilometres left

   On the steepest pitch of the Zürichbergstrasse, 50.5km from home, Pogačar shakes off his last companion Sivakov and rides on utterly alone — the longest winning solo at a World Championships since 1971, a lone rider against a whole disorganised peloton.

4. 426 km to go

   Hirschi's home counter

   On the final lap the impossible flickers: Marc Hirschi tears clear to lead a seven-man chase, the gap tumbles to 39 seconds, and for the first time in three hours Pogačar looks mortal.

5. 516 km to go

   Pogačar slams the door

   On a short kicker over the last long descent, Pogačar suddenly shrugs off his fatigue and in a trademark flurry of the pedals stretches his lead back out to fifty seconds. The scare is over.

6. 6At the line

   The Triple Crown

   Pogačar punches the sky in Zürich, Slovenia's first ever road-race rainbow jersey and cycling's first Giro-Tour-Worlds treble in 37 years. Ben O'Connor takes silver at 34 seconds, Van der Poel bronze, on one of the greatest days the Worlds has known.

The result