International stars Marlen Reusser, Stefan Küng, Flurina Rigling and Fabian Recher as well as former UCI World Champion and Olympic Champion Fabian Cancellara are the first five high-profile ambassadors of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships taking place in Zurich next September. At a media conference to mark the kick-off to the global cycling event, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) Zurich 2024, together with the cantonal and municipal ministers of sports, Cantonal President Mario Fehr and Municipal Councillor Filippo Leutenegger, were able to announce further good news: The UCI has approved the race courses and the race programme for the UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships.
Buoyed by the traffic solutions that have been agreed with the Children’s Hospital and other opponents and the recent conclusion of another official partnership with Feldschlösschen Getränke AG, the LOC Zurich 2024 is well underway with the preparations for next year’s UCI World Championships. “In the past few months we have pushed ahead intensively with all our plans and, with the support of the canton and city of Zurich as well as Swiss Cycling, we have reached important milestones,” said Daniel Rupf, Managing Director of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road Championships. “We are delighted that from now on the riders and the sport of cycling will take centre stage.”
“For the first time, athletes in para-cycling and road cycling will be competing on the same routes and crossing the same finish line as part of the same UCI World Championships,” said President Mario Fehr. “These UCI World Championships will play a pioneering role in the inclusion and integration of para-cyclists.”
“With the Sechseläutenplatz, the finish area is right in the heart of the city of Zurich,” emphasised Zurich’s Minister of Sport Filippo Leutenegger. “The UCI World Championships attract worldwide attention and feature cycling at the highest level. The perfect opportunity for the city on the Limmat to showcase its most beautiful side.”
In addition to contributing to the organisation of the UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships, the city and canton are supporting various accompanying measures in the areas of cycling promotion and location promotion.
Proud ambassadors on bikes and handbikes
During the joint media conference with Swiss Cycling, the LOC Zurich 2024 presented the first five ambassadors. With UCI World Champions (team time trial – mixed relay) and Olympians Marlen Reusser and Stefan Küng as well as multiple UCI Para-cycling World Champion Flurina Rigling and paralympian Fabian Recher, the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships will gain additional charisma. The current quintet of ambassadors is completed by cycling legend Fabian Cancellara. All five are proud to be the first sporting faces of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships.
UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships race courses and race programme approved by the UCI
In close coordination with the LOC Zurich 2024, cycling’s world governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has approved the courses for the various races. The routes correspond to the traffic ordinances of the canton and city of Zurich published at the beginning of 2023. First impressions of what the riders can expect are given in the 3D animations of the routes of the Men Elite Road Race as well as the Women Elite Individual Time Trial. The latter route will also be ridden by Women Under 23 and Men Under 23 as well as by para-cyclists in the B (blind-tandem) and C (cycle) sports classes in the individual races against the clock.
The nine-day race programme, which combines para-cycling road and road cycling competitions for the first time, has also been officialised. The 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships will open with the Mixed Handbike Team Relay. The individual time trials are scheduled from Sunday, 22 September to Tuesday, 24 September. The road races will take place from Wednesday, 25 September to Sunday, 29 September, with the Men Elite road race concluding the UCI World Championships on Sunday. All information is available at www.zurich2024.com.
