Four years after Covid forced the cancellation of the would-be hardest World Championship road race ever in Aigle-Martigny, it's time to do battle for the rainbow jersey on Swiss soil after all. Instead of Alpine scenery, however, we find ourselves in the country's largest city, and also its most significant in terms of cycling history. Can Zürich rival the heroics of Glasgow?
Zürich was initially founded by the Romans, and has been among the more important cities of what is now Switzerland since at least the second half of the Middle Ages. In the early 16th century, the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland started here. From the 18th century onwards, the city developed into the country's economic centre, initially off the back of its textile industry but later, of course, above all as one of the world's banking capitals. Today, as you would expect from Switzerland, it ranks near the very top of the world in terms of both quality and cost of living.
As the largest city in the country, it is the national centre for much more than banking - it has the largest university, largest airport, the stock exchange, the FIFA headquarters, and so on - and cycling is no exception. It has hosted the World Championships three times already, albeit in the early days: in 1923 (when the race was still amateur-only), 1929, and 1946. However, that is only the smaller part of its cycling heritage, as it was always the host of Züri-Metzgete too. Running since 1914 and part of the World Cup since its inception, it was as important as any non-monument classic until it became the biggest victim of the fallout of Operación Puerto in 2007. Since the race has disappeared, not even the Tour de Suisse has been in Zürich, making these World Championships the first time in 18 years the peloton sets foot in the city.
Startlist
The route
The riders set out from Winterthur, the sixth-largest city in the country. An industrial centre as well as Zürich's largest satellite town, it is quite literally the last city in Switzerland you'd go to as a tourist, but its location close to Zürich means we are spared of the kind of long, flat run-in to the circuit that this race sometimes gets saddled with. In fact, the point-to-point section of the race is only about 70 kilometres and contains three hills, The one up to Buch am Irchel is pretty easy (don't have a profile), the one to Kyburg not so much.
The climb to Ebmatingen culminates at the entrance to the circuit.
After doing the back half of the lap to make it to the finish line, still at Sechseläutenplatz, there are... only seven laps left to race? There's a pretty simple reason: aside from the last-minute 2020 route in Imola, this is the longest final circuit since Ostuni in 1976. And the laps are pretty hard, too - upon closer inspection, the difference with something like Bergen 2017 seems more pronounced than suggested by the many comparisons made.
Each circuit starts with a short flat section through the city centre, ending at the Kunsthaus. Here, the first of the two marked climbs., Zürichbergstrasse, starts. The steep section isn't that long, but these are still gradients unlike what was present in either Bergen or most other reduced bunch sprint editions of the 00s and 10s.
The next 1.5 kilometres are slightly downhill, then it's time for the big climb. The main road to the suburb of Witzikon certainly isn't the hardest, steepest or most scenic climb above the lake, but if tactics are to play any role here, two of those points count in its favour in the current day and age. Importantly, it's still hard enough for big attacks.
The middle section of the circuit is rolling, with three small hills in there: Breitmoos, Zumikon and Schmalzgrueb. The latter has some surprisingly hard ramps, but the descent into it should blunt its effect.
After Schmalzgrueb, it's time for the main descent, much less scary than the one in the TT. Unlike said TT, we don't immediately head for the wide, flat road along the shore, instead taking in one last easy hill up to Goldbach.
At 2.5 kilometres to go, the riders finally make it to the lake again, and this remaining section is identical to the closing stages of the TT.
Zürich was initially founded by the Romans, and has been among the more important cities of what is now Switzerland since at least the second half of the Middle Ages. In the early 16th century, the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland started here. From the 18th century onwards, the city developed into the country's economic centre, initially off the back of its textile industry but later, of course, above all as one of the world's banking capitals. Today, as you would expect from Switzerland, it ranks near the very top of the world in terms of both quality and cost of living.
As the largest city in the country, it is the national centre for much more than banking - it has the largest university, largest airport, the stock exchange, the FIFA headquarters, and so on - and cycling is no exception. It has hosted the World Championships three times already, albeit in the early days: in 1923 (when the race was still amateur-only), 1929, and 1946. However, that is only the smaller part of its cycling heritage, as it was always the host of Züri-Metzgete too. Running since 1914 and part of the World Cup since its inception, it was as important as any non-monument classic until it became the biggest victim of the fallout of Operación Puerto in 2007. Since the race has disappeared, not even the Tour de Suisse has been in Zürich, making these World Championships the first time in 18 years the peloton sets foot in the city.
Startlist
The route
The riders set out from Winterthur, the sixth-largest city in the country. An industrial centre as well as Zürich's largest satellite town, it is quite literally the last city in Switzerland you'd go to as a tourist, but its location close to Zürich means we are spared of the kind of long, flat run-in to the circuit that this race sometimes gets saddled with. In fact, the point-to-point section of the race is only about 70 kilometres and contains three hills, The one up to Buch am Irchel is pretty easy (don't have a profile), the one to Kyburg not so much.
The climb to Ebmatingen culminates at the entrance to the circuit.
After doing the back half of the lap to make it to the finish line, still at Sechseläutenplatz, there are... only seven laps left to race? There's a pretty simple reason: aside from the last-minute 2020 route in Imola, this is the longest final circuit since Ostuni in 1976. And the laps are pretty hard, too - upon closer inspection, the difference with something like Bergen 2017 seems more pronounced than suggested by the many comparisons made.
Each circuit starts with a short flat section through the city centre, ending at the Kunsthaus. Here, the first of the two marked climbs., Zürichbergstrasse, starts. The steep section isn't that long, but these are still gradients unlike what was present in either Bergen or most other reduced bunch sprint editions of the 00s and 10s.
The next 1.5 kilometres are slightly downhill, then it's time for the big climb. The main road to the suburb of Witzikon certainly isn't the hardest, steepest or most scenic climb above the lake, but if tactics are to play any role here, two of those points count in its favour in the current day and age. Importantly, it's still hard enough for big attacks.
The middle section of the circuit is rolling, with three small hills in there: Breitmoos, Zumikon and Schmalzgrueb. The latter has some surprisingly hard ramps, but the descent into it should blunt its effect.
After Schmalzgrueb, it's time for the main descent, much less scary than the one in the TT. Unlike said TT, we don't immediately head for the wide, flat road along the shore, instead taking in one last easy hill up to Goldbach.
At 2.5 kilometres to go, the riders finally make it to the lake again, and this remaining section is identical to the closing stages of the TT.
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