UCI-Rad- und Para-Cycling-Strassen-Weltmeisterschaften Zürich 2024
From Saturday, 21 September to Sunday, 29 September, the UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships will cast their spell over the city and canton of Zurich. For the first time, the races of the para-cyclists are an integral part of the Road World Championships. The coveted rainbow jersey will be donned more than 40 times by the winners in various disciplines. Along the attractive and demanding routes, in the fan zones and in the epicentre Sechseläutenplatz one maxim will reign supremely: “TOGETHER WE RIDE”!
When the cycling elite meet in Zurich for the UCI Road World Championships in 2024, it will be over 100 years since the city on the Limmat first hosted this major event: after 1923, the UCI Road World Champions were again crowned in Zurich in 1929 and 1946.
The nine-day programme includes time trials and road races for: Men Elite, Men U23, Men Junior, Women Elite-U23, Women Junior, Para-cycling Men (divided into different sport classes) and Para-cycling Women (divided into different sport classes). There will also be two mixed team events: a road team time trial mixed relay and a para-cycling mixed team relay. In addition, there will be amateur and popular races. Information on all these and other activities will be published continuously on the official website www.zurich2024.com.
Integration and inclusion
A big novelty is that the men’s and women’s para-cycling road competitions are fully integrated for the first time. Among other things, it is planned to start the UCI World Championships with the Para-cycling Mixed Team Relay as part of the opening ceremony, featuring both men and women. The official logo of the UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships embodies integration and inclusion, merging the four elements ZH (short for Zurich), 24, bicycle and handbike in combination with the UCI rainbow colours in a stylised way.
For UCI President David Lappartient, Zurich 2024 will provide an excellent showcase for road and para-cycling: “Bringing these two UCI World Championships together means we will enjoy nine days of non-stop action in and around Zurich. Multiple rainbow jerseys of UCI World Champion will be up for grabs, providing spectators with a festival of racing at the very highest level.
They will be able to witness the fastest road cyclists – able bodied and para-cyclists – in one incredible event that will highlight the best the discipline has to offer.”
The City and Canton of Zurich see the inclusion of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships as an ideal opportunity to make the social inclusion and integration of people with disabilities visible in a high-profile sporting event and to increase people’s awareness of the incredible physical capacity of these athletes.
Routes like a classic
Zurich 2024 will not have to fear comparison with the great cycling classics. The course profiles will give the races a distinctive character and give the rollers as well as the climbers the opportunity to prove their skills, endurance and tactical sense.
The open-air track arena and the Bellevue in Zurich as well as Winterthur, Uster and Gossau are planned as starting locations. For the road races from Winterthur and Uster, start laps are planned in the nearby surroundings. The approach routes to the final laps vary in length depending on the race and categories and bring the UCI World Championship racing atmosphere to 40 communities. Under the motto “The races are to come to the people”, the courses will lead through scenic highlights such as the Pfannenstil and the Weinland, the popular cycling area at Lake Greifensee and then along part of the right bank of Lake Zurich as well as through Zurich city centre. The final circuits, which have to be ridden several times, increase the sporting challenge for the riders and allow the spectators to experience the duels of the cycling giants up close.
As part of the bid, the city and canton of Zurich proposed routes for the various categories and races to the UCI. For some time now, cycling experts, traffic and safety specialists and other experts have been examining possible routes for their suitability according to sporting, traffic and marketing criteria. Parallel to the planning of the race routes, specialists from the city and canton as well as representatives of public transport companies and blue-light organisations are developing the necessary traffic concepts.
UCI World Championships in the heart of Zurich – public festival included
The UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships will “come alive” on attractive courses in Zurich and its surroundings, while an attractively located public festival and easily accessible fan zones will offer the national and local population as well as fans from abroad a varied mix of competitions, entertainment and innovations around the theme of cycling.
Impact beyond 2024
Swiss Cycling, the Canton of Zurich and the City of Zurich as founding members of the organising association, have set themselves the goal of holding the UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships as a sustainable major sporting event, as Urs Schmidig, President of the association, stated: “With various accompanying measures and the supporting programme, we want to create a lasting sporting and social added value beyond this major international competition. This event offers Zurich the opportunity to strengthen existing strategies and initiatives in the areas of transport, mobility, environment, inclusion, sports promotion as well as tourism and location marketing.”
The municipal council of the city of Zurich has already approved an amount of 1,500,000 Swiss francs for various accompanying measures. The cantonal government has also promised additional funds for such activities and projects from the cantonal non-profit fund and the sports fund. The city and the canton of Zurich have also approved contributions of 6.3 million Swiss francs and 3 million Swiss francs respectively (contributions and foregone revenue) for the organisation of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships. The federal government will provide financial support for the event as well.
Official website: www.zurich2024.com
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About the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships, Zurich
The 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships Zurich will be held in the canton and city of Zurich from 21-29 September 2024. The best 1,300 riders, including para-cyclists, from more than 75 countries will take part in the nine-day global sporting event.
Swiss Cycling and the Canton and City of Zurich are the founding members of the association tasked with the hosting of the event. The Local Organising Committee (LOC) under the leadership of Daniel Rupf (overall project manager) and Olivier Senn (deputy overall project manager and head of sport) will be in charge of the planning and actual organisation.
Further information:
LOC 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships Zurich
Andreas Herren, Head of Communication
Mail: andreas.herren@zurich2024.com
Mobile: +41 79 799 00 46
Web: www.zurich2024.com
