Less than two weeks after the end of the Paralympics in Paris, the world's best para-cyclists are once again competing for medals. At the World Cycling Championships in Zurich, they can present themselves in a big showcase.
It's all happening in quick succession. The Paralympic flame has barely been extinguished when the next highlight for the Swiss Para-Cycling Team is the home World Championships. And the stage could hardly be bigger.
Zurich is hosting the inclusive cycling world championships, the first ever in which athletes with and without disabilities will be competing for medals. This is a great opportunity for para-cycling to present itself to a wide audience and raise awareness of the sport in Switzerland. "Crossing the same finish line as all cyclists is an important step towards inclusion," says hand cyclist Fabian Recher, who is one of the ambassadors for the 2024 World Championships alongside international cycling stars such as Stefan Küng and Fabian Cancellara.
Together with Fabian Kieliger and Yves Schmied, the 25-year-old from Bern has the honor of opening the home World Championships on Saturday evening with the handcycling team time trial. It is the first of a total of 66 medal decisions, 55 of which will be in para-cycling. A distinction is made between four competition classes: tandem, classic bike, tricycle and handbike. The classes, in turn, are divided into different categories according to the extent of the physical limitation.
Several Swiss trump cards
Unlike at the Paralympics, no categories will be combined at the World Championships. This also increases the Swiss delegation's chances of winning a medal. The starting position is particularly promising for Flurina Rigling, Franziska Matile-Dörig and Celine van Till, the three medal winners from Paris.
All three have already won several World Championship medals in their competition classes. Van Till and Rigling will even be defending their titles in Zurich. Van Till from Geneva won gold in her category in the time trial in Glasgow a year ago, while Rigling from Zurich became world champion in the road race. "Competing in front of a home crowd will be something extraordinary," says Van Till, looking ahead with great excitement.
In addition to Recher, who celebrated his first World Cup victory in May, multiple overall World Cup winner Sandra Stöckli and Benjamin Früh also have justified hopes of a podium place in the handbike category. The 66-year-old Heinz Frei will also be competing in his last international race in Zurich. However, the 15-time Paralympic champion is not one of the 13 top athletes selected by Swiss Paralympic. The man from Solothurn and other Swiss athletes will benefit from the fact that there were still places available for the World Championship host.
World Championships on your own doorstep
For Flurina Rigling from Zurich, the World Cycling Championships are a home race in two senses of the word. It is less than 15 kilometers from her home in Hedingen to the finish line at Sechseläutenplatz.
The 27-year-old was the Swiss flag bearer at the closing ceremony of the Paralympics in Paris, after she opened the Swiss medal round with bronze on the track and later won silver in the road race at her Paralympic premiere.
Despite the "intensive days in Paris" with many impressions away from the race tracks, Rigling only had a short recovery block after her return home. Her focus quickly returned to training in order to be optimally prepared for the World Championships on her own doorstep.
Continuing the medal rush
Unfortunately for her, the course planners in Zurich opted for a flat course for the race in her category, i.e. not the city circuit that Küng and Co. or other para categories tackle. This is because three classes compete simultaneously in Rigling's race, meaning that riders with more severe disabilities than hers are also at the start. "The mountains suit me, but unfortunately they are completely missing," regrets Rigling. However, this doesn't change her timetable: "I'll be going all out in both races."
With her performances in the past, the Zurich native, who has only been competing at the top level since fall 2019, has set the bar high herself. Since 2021, she has made it onto the podium in every time trial and road race at the World Championships; she currently has six World Championship medals. Rigling wants to build on this in front of a home crowd.
SDA
