UCI Road World Championships 2024: Women's time trial guide – Chloe Dygert and Grace Brown set for rematch

Just six seconds separated American Chloe Dygert and Australia's Grace Brown at the World Championships last year, and the pair are set for a rematch this weekend with the rainbow jersey once again on the line.

Dygert proved victorious in Stirling but it was Brown who got the better of her rival at the Paris Olympics time trial, finishing a minute and a half faster than closest challenger Anna Henderson to seal the gold medal.

The American was another second back in third, her hopes of gold dashed by a slip on the slick Parisian roads, and she'll take to the start line in Gossau, Switzerland, with redemption in her sights.

Meanwhile Brown will hope to cap off a glorious final year on tour with the biggest prize of all ahead of her retirement at the end of the season.

But the World Championships this year are by no means a two-horse race, with a stacked field of contenders including Henderson, 2022 champion Ellen van Dijk, and all-around threats Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering also hoping for glory.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the favourites, hopefuls, and dark horses for this year's rainbow jersey.

Brown was utterly imperious in Paris, demolishing the competition and rolling across the line over 1'30" faster than her closest competitor, with the margins much smaller between the rest of the top 10. That was on a course of a similar length and design to the upcoming Worlds route in Switzerland, and amid lashing rain on waterlogged roads.

The Australian has had a dream farewell tour from the sport, winning Liege-Bastogne-Liege earlier this year, and could well be on course for the Olympic and world time trial double before hanging up her spurs. Winning the rainbow jersey would be a spectacular way to go out.

Standing in her way is likely to be Dygert. Last year's victory was her second world title, after Yorkshire in 2019, and she likely would have won more if she hadn't been dogged by injuries and illness in the intervening years. Her title defence at Imola in 2020 was brought to a screeching halt by a crash that forced her out of the race and required surgery.

This year, she has continued to underline her credentials as one of the best time triallists in the world, managing bronze at the Olympics despite crashing, and coming second in the individual TT at the Tour de France Femmes last month. Prolific on the track as well as the road, Dygert was also part of the gold medal-winning American team pursuit squad at the Olympics, so the form is certainly there.

Great Britain's Henderson has been knocking on the door of an elite-level victory for some time now - could Sunday's time trial be her moment to shine? The 25-year-old battled to second place on the rain-drenched Parisian streets this summer and has a string of silver medals in the discipline, including Commonwealth silver in 2022 and European silver last year. Her Olympic result was the biggest success of her career so far, but she also came second at the Tour of Britain road race earlier this year and she should be full of confidence ahead of Zurich.

The 29.9km route has a couple of early bumps but then flattens out, and those hills mean it's a course that will suit the all-arounders as much as the specialists, leaving the door open to Kopecky and Vollering. The two ride for the same trade team, SD Worx-Protime, but the gloves will come off on Sunday as they lead the Belgian and Dutch contingent respectively. Even when riding for the same goal - team victory - there has often been friction between the two, most recently in a battling sprint for the line on Stage 2 of the Tour de Romandie. Vollering got the better of her Belgian rival there, but it could be another close call in the World time trial.

Kopecky already has a set of rainbow stripes, having won the road race title last year, but she is also an impressive time triallist and is fresh off the back of victory in the European Championships contre-la-montre last week. On the other hand, Vollering won a hard-fought Tour de France Femmes time trial, beating the likes of Dygert, so she has form on the TT bike. And achieving her own set of rainbow stripes would somewhat make up for the disappointment of missing out on the overall Tour title by just four seconds.

Both riders put in some world-class times at the Paris Olympics, with Vollering just five seconds ahead of Kopecky in fifth place overall, so they have demonstrated they can hold their own against the very best. And never underestimate the power of a fierce rivalry to spur them on...

The Netherlands' Van Dijk is a veteran competitor and already has three sets of rainbow stripes to her name, winning the world time trial title in 2013, 2021 and 2022. Following a break from the sport to have her son Faas in October 2022, she has slowly worked her way back to her best this season.

She won the ITT at the Vuelta Extremadura Feminas on her return in March, but faced another setback, fracturing her ankle in July. The road back to full health hasn't been totally smooth as she missed out on the top 10 at the Olympics, finishing 11th. Since then, though, she has put in some strong performances, placing sixth at the Tour de France Femmes time trial and winning silver last week at the European Championships, so she may have ridden herself back into form just in time to claim a record-equalling fourth time trial world title.

The former Austrian road race and time trial champion Schweinberger will be another to watch this weekend. She has had a succession of third-place finishes at elite time trials, including just last week at the European Championships, matching her result from last year's race. She was also third at the Glasgow Worlds last year, behind Dygert and Brown, and while her Olympic result was a comparatively disappointing 10th place, she has the pedigree to be challenging at the top once again in Zurich.

Labous is another nearly-woman who could yet get her day in the sun this time round. The French home favourite produced a brilliant ride to finish just off the podium at the Olympics this summer, only nine seconds off Dygert's bronze medal-winning performance. A former national junior and under-23 TT champion, she recorded top 10s against the clock at the Giro d'Italia Women and Tour de Suisse earlier, and is clearly in fine form.

Austrian Kiesenhofer stunned the peloton and watching spectators with a long-range attack to take Olympic glory in the road race in Tokyo, attacking from the flag drop and staying out in front for so long that second-placed Annemiek van Vleuten simply forgot there was anyone ahead of her.

It would be a very tall order to replicate that surprise victory against the clock in Zurich, but Kiesenhofer has always described herself as a time trial specialist, finishing in the top 20 in every World Championships TT since 2019. And her Tokyo ride - after she dropped her breakaway companions - was essentially one 40km long TT to the finish. So you never know...

The women's peloton is absolutely packed with talent and while some riders - notably the Netherlands' Riejanne Markus - have missed out due to selection quotas given to each national team, there are plenty more waiting in the wings. Italian national time trial champion Vittoria Guazzini, French youngster Cedrine Kerbaol, Germany's Antonia Niedermaier and Poland's double national champion Agnieszka Skalniak-Sojka are all capable of challenging at the top.

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