'Too much spectacle in Zürich?' – Elite time trials kick off loaded week at Road World Championships

Zürich hosts the UCI Road World Championships for the second time in nine days .

The Para-Cycling World Championships are combined with the Cycling World Championships .

The opening weekend of the Worlds also features two of the week 's marquee events, the elite women's and men's individual time trials.

The women's time trial is 29.9km in length, setting off from Gossau , with the first checkpoint coming atop the steady climb from Oetwil am See .

The elite men's time trial takes place on a 46km course that sets out from one of the holy places of Swiss cycling, the Oerlikon Velodrome .

The men's route links up with the women's course just beyond Gossau , tackling the same climb from Oetwil am See shortly after the midpoint before the rapid finale along the lakeshore.

In the junior men's road race, Paul Seixas ( France ) will be the man to watch ahead of his move to the WorldTour with Decathlon-AG2R next season .

David Lappartient's bid for the IOC presidency and what that means for his UCI mandate will come under considerable focus.

The local organising committee will hope that the criticism of the UCI jamboree will dampen once the rainbow jerseys start being distributed.

Behind closed doors, team coaches will set about the delicate task of persuading trade team rivals to find common cause in the national jersey.