Switzerland's Reusser powers to world time trial title
FILE PHOTO: Cycling - UCI Road World Championships - Knokke-Heist to Bruges, Belgium - September 20, 2021 Switzerland's Marlen Reusser in action REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
KIGALI :Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser overcame illness this year to win the women’s individual time trial at the Cycling Road World Championships in Kigali on Sunday, finishing 51.89 seconds quicker than the rest of the field for a dominant victory.
Reusser took the rainbow jersey in a time of 43:09.34 around the 31.2km course in Rwanda's capital on the opening day of the week-long championships, being hosted in Africa for the first time.
Anna van der Breggen from the Netherlands took silver for a fifth time in 44.01.23 with bronze going to her compatriot Demi Vollering in 44:14.07.
Reusser, one day after her 34th birthday, upgraded to the gold that had previously eluded her after finishing second in the time trial at the 2020 and 2021 world championships and taking bronze in 2022.
But more recently she had suffered misfortune, abandoning mid-race in 2023 citing burnout at the end of the season while last year a crash and COVID-19 infection forced her to miss the championships in her home country.
REUSSER RECOVERS FROM ILLNESS TO WIN GOLD
This year, she fell sick during the Giro d’Italia Women and was forced to abandon the opening stage of the Tour de France Femmes in July but showed no ill-effects as she blitzed over the course, which included a cobbled section near the finish.
Reusser had been the pre-race favourite and quickly set out her stall after Van der Breggen had taken the early initiative in hot conditions and at 1.567m altitude.
The Swiss had faster splits after the first checkpoint (10km) and the second checkpoint (19km) than Van der Breggen.
Vollering, the last rider out, was initially not far behind the Swiss rider's time but when she passed the second intermediate point, she had lost half a minute to Reusser.
"It was brutal course," said Reusser. "I went really hard on the climbs, maybe too hard in the beginning but it was the right way to pace it.
"I still can't believe it, I think I've been on the podium so many times without winning so this is very special."
Van der Breggen , who was world champion in 2020, finished runner-up for a fifth time, following previous silvers in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Vollering was silver medallist in Zurich last year and the last rider out, nudging Brodie Chapman of Australia into fourth spot on 44:30.21. The 2019 and 2023 world champion Chloe Dygert from the United States was ninth in 45:34.77.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town, editing by Ed Osmond)
