Down at the first check, clear by the third
Marlen Reusser started last and finished fastest. The Swiss rider defended her elite women’s individual time trial title at the Road World Championships in Montreal this afternoon, covering the course 40 seconds quicker than Zoe Backstedt.
The opening split told a different story. Backstedt went through quickest, three seconds up on Franziska Koch, with Cedrine Kerbaol a second further back. Reusser sat seven seconds behind Koch and ten behind Backstedt.
She cut the gap to two seconds by the second check. By the third she led Backstedt by 13. Over the closing kilometres she kept stretching it, and on the road she caught Demi Vollering, who had rolled down the ramp ahead of her.
Try it for $0.99.
Backstedt takes silver, Koch bronze
The course ran just under 40 kilometres around Montreal, flat and fast for most of its length before tilting upward in the final kilometres. Lotte Claes set the early benchmark at 52:34, and Dominika Wlodarczyk knocked ten seconds off it. Koch then carved more than a minute from the fastest time and settled into the hot seat.
Backstedt, riding her first elite Worlds, beat Koch at the line to lock up silver. Kerbaol faded after a quick start and came in 24 seconds slower than the German. Elisa Longo Borghini finished strongly and missed Koch’s time by four seconds.
Vollering never found the speed. She crossed 1:49 down in eighth. Lieke Nooijen was 12th, more than two minutes back. Taylor Knibb led the Americans in 13th, Nadia Gontova was the best Canadian in 19th, and Kristen Faulkner took 21st.
Two rainbow jerseys in a row
Reusser won this title in Kigali last year and now holds it for a second straight season. She turned 35 on the day she defended it.
Her 2026 already included the individual time trial at the Tour de France Femmes in August, where she won the stage into Dijon and took the yellow jersey. The pattern in Montreal was the one she has built a career on. Sit behind early, hold the power steady, take the race apart in the second half.
The elite men rode the same course later in the day.
Discover the rest of our sports news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply