The 2024 UCI Road and Para-Cycling Road World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland continued Saturday morning with the Women’s Elite Road Race, covering a total distance of 154.1 kilometers. Among the 197 riders at the start, seven represented the United States.
Under rainy skies in Uster, the Elite Women’s Road Race began at 12:45 PM local time. The riders first circled Greifensee before tackling four laps of the Zurich circuit. With several punchy climbs along the route, the peloton thinned out with each lap. An early breakaway of three riders tried to get away but were reeled back in.
With 100 kilometers remaining, Niamh Mary Fisher-Black (NZL) launched an attack, pulling away with six other riders. The peloton splintered in the effort to chase them down. Five Americans remained in the chase group as the riders approached the 80-kilometer mark.
A few additional riders bridged to the front which meant the lead group was now made up of 11 riders, but the race came back together once again at 74 kilometers to go. The Dutch continued to make attack after attack hoping to split things apart yet again. This time, American Chloe Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind.; CANYON//SRAM Racing) was right at the front and responded.
With 52 kilometers remaining, the peloton had thinned to fewer than 50 riders. Among them were Americans Dygert, Kristen Faulkner (Homer, Alaska; EF Education-Cannondale), and Lauren Stephens (Dallas; Cynisca Cycling). As the race turned into a battle of attrition, the steep climbs continued to force riders off the back. Dygert positioned herself near the front, staying on high alert as Demi Vollering (NED) launched attack after attack on the climbs. The group had dwindled down again with the front group now being less than 30 people.
Riejanne Markus (NED) launched an attack out of the lead group, with Justine Ghekiere (BEL) quickly following. Two more riders bridged the gap, including multi-time World Champion Marianne Vos (NED) and Ruby Roseman-Gannon (AUS). With just under 20 kilometers to go, their gap began to shrink, and three additional riders joined the front. Dygert and Lotte Kopecky (BEL) missed the initial move but kept pushing hard to make the connection. Dygert dropped Kopecky and soloed up to the break. A few minutes later, Kopecky and Vos rejoined the now nine-rider front group.
Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA) launched an attack, but Vollering quickly responded, pulling her back. After a small gap formed, Dygert bridged up with Roseman-Gannon as the race approached the final sprint. In the end, it came down to a six-woman sprint, with Kopecky claiming the rainbow jersey, Dygert finishing second, and Borghini rounding out the podium in third. Stephens was the second American to finish, earning 31st. Faulkner took 35th and Ruth Edwards (Nederland, Colo.; Human Powered Health Cycling) snagged 62nd.
1. Lotte Kopecky (BEL)
2. Chloe Dygert (USA)
3. Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA)
31. Lauren Stephens (USA)
35. Kristen Faulkner (USA)
62. Ruth Edwards (USA)
DNF- Emily Ehrlich (USA)
DNF- Heidi Franz (USA)
DNF- Amber Neben (USA)
