The World Cycling Championships begin this weekend with the time trials in Zurich, which will occupy the attention of the international cycling community for 8 days. What can the Swiss delegation expect from these time trials? Daniel Atienza, former professional cyclist and consultant for RTSsport, takes stock of these first races.
The excitement is great in Zurich, not only in the city, whose lake shores host the finish area of the races, but also in the rest and on the outskirts of the canton, since the different starts will be given from Gossau, Uster or Winterthur, depending on the categories. The city of Zwingli has been designated host of the planetary events for the fourth time after 1923, 1929 and 1946, allowing Switzerland to host these jousts for the eleventh time, the first since Mendrisio in 2009, those of Aigle-Martigny having been cancelled in 2020.
“It will be a celebration of cycling. The World Championships are one of the rare events that are run with the national jersey. It is something special, because riders who are opponents all year become teammates with the sole idea of making the nation win. It is necessarily an additional motivation“, describes Daniel Atienza.
Not here for sightseeing
“The career of a top athlete is extremely short, about ten years. For most, it will probably be the only time in their life that they will be able to compete in a World Championship at home. It is still something special, not everyone can do it. The Swiss will therefore experience something exceptional and unique. This will perhaps give them that little extra percentage to play for the win.“, explains the former Cofidis rider.
In almost all categories, we have Swiss people who can win a gold medal.
The Swiss cyclists will not be content to simply participate. In most categories, they are among the favourites, or at least the serious outsiders.We are talking about the World Championships and in almost all categories we have Swiss people who can go for a gold medal, it is quite exceptional.“, supports the 49-year-old from Vaud.
Küng for a feat
The best athletes will be competing this afternoon for the women’s time trials (from 12:00 on RTS 2) and men’s time trials (from 14:45 on RTS 2). In the absence of Marlen Reusser, whose season was cut short, the Swiss women are unlikely to play the leading roles.The fact that Marlen is not here is a huge loss, because she could clearly have claimed a medal.“, confirms Daniel Atienza.
The Swiss Jasmin Liechti (start at 13:02) and Elena Hartmann (13:23) do not seem able to compete with the stars that could be Lotte Kopecky (13:26), Demi Vollering (13:30), Grace Brown (13:33) or Chloe Dygert (13:35). The battle between them is however looking very uncertain.
Küng is in excellent condition, he is at home and he knows every metre of this course
On the men’s side, Stefan Küng (4:26 p.m.) will try to build on the confidence gained during the Vuelta, where the Thurgau native took his first stage victory in a Grand Tour in the final time trial.He is in excellent condition, he is at home, he knows every metre of this course, that will be an advantage for him. But the best specialists on the planet will also be at the start, so if Küng wins, it would be by far the greatest feat of his career, and perhaps even one of the greatest feats of Swiss cycling in general.“, analyzes our consultant.
The Groupama-FdJ rider will have his most serious rivals, in particular Joshua Tarling (16:28), Primoz Roglic (16:31), Filippo Ganna (16:32) and Remco Evenepoel (16:34). Stefan Bissegger will also be at the start (16:02), but “the other Thurgovian” seems less well equipped than his compatriot to go and fight for a medal. As for the Swiss prodigy Jan Christen (20 years old), he will be among the favourites for the M23 time trial which will take place on Monday (from 14:45 on RTSsport.ch).
From Zurich, Bastien Trottet
