Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) won the women’s time trial at the World Championships (Canada) on 20 September, in 50’24”. Second was Zoe Backstedt (Great Britain) at 40″, third Franziska Koch (Germany) at 46″.
The race
The course was a 39.2-kilometre city circuit in Montréal, largely flat with a few technical sections. The finish came atop a 600-metre climb, short but arriving after almost an hour of effort.
Reusser started last, and so rode knowing everyone else’s times. On 20 September she turned 35. She was also seeking a repeat after the title she won in Kigali in 2025.
The first time check, at 10.7 kilometres, was not hers. Backstedt was fastest in 13’36”, with Reusser only fifth, 10” behind the Briton. Backstedt, at her first elite Worlds, had given up defending her under-23 title.
Reusser raised her pace as the course went on. At 21.9 kilometres she still had just under 3” to make up on Backstedt, with Koch a little over 6” ahead. At 29.8 kilometres the picture had flipped: Reusser was 13” ahead of Backstedt and 22” ahead of Koch.
On the final straight she added another 27”, up to the final 40”. Backstedt suffered on the 600-metre climb that closes the course. Koch finished strongly and cut the gap to her compatriot, but ended 6” short of silver.
Off the podium, Elisa Longo Borghini finished fourth, 4” from bronze. She lacked just a few seconds: she had lost ground to Koch and made some of it back towards the end. Kerbaol was fifth, Kopecky sixth. Vollering, the Tour de France winner, could not stay with the specialists and came in eighth, 1’50” behind Reusser.
For Reusser it is a second world time trial title, after the one in Kigali. Before the start she had said she was very nervous about the pace to hold on such a demanding course. From the first half of the ride onwards, there was no trace of that tension.
The top Italian is Elisa Longo Borghini, 4th at 50″; there are 2 Italians in the top ten. 47 riders finished out of 47 starters.
The top ten
| # | Rider | Nation | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marlen Reusser | Switzerland | 50’24” |
| 2 | Zoe Backstedt | Great Britain | +40″ |
| 3 | Franziska Koch | Germany | +46″ |
| 4 | Elisa Longo Borghini | Italy | +50″ |
| 5 | Cedrine Kerbaol | France | +1’10” |
| 6 | Lotte Kopecky | Belgium | +1’48” |
| 7 | Antonia Niedermaier | Germany | +1’50” |
| 8 | Demi Vollering | Netherlands | +1’50” |
| 9 | Dominika Wlodarczyk | Poland | +1’59” |
| 10 | Vittoria Guazzini | Italy | +2’05” |
News written with the help of Mnemosyne.
Sources
- Results and times: UCI, official results.
- Photo: Cs-wolves, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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