Road World Championships 2021 - Marlen Reusser steals the show despite fading to time trial silver
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Updated 20/09/2021 at 18:39 GMT
Marlen Reusser may be cursing a near-miss at the UCI Road World Championships, but there is plenty for the Swiss to be optimistic about ahead of her move to SD Worx, writes Niamh Lewis. Reusser, who only turned professional at 28, will have retiring duo Anna Van der Breggen and Chantal van den Broek-Blaak to guide her from the team car in 2022.
The moment Marlen Reusser’s gold dream faded
Ellen Van Dijk may have became a double world time trial champion in Flanders, but it was Marlen Reusser of Switzerland who stole the show, and celebrated her 30th birthday in the process.
As Van Dijk sat in the hot seat watching her fastest time on the leaderboard slowly evaporate at each time check, Reusser, powerful in her position of starting later knowing the time she had to beat, was able to make the 34-year-old sweat and cast doubt on herself as to whether she had done enough to seal the rainbow stripes.
As is the nature of time trialling, it all came down to a matter of seconds in a thrilling end to the first women's elite event at the UCI World Championships in Belgium.
Reusser passed the time checks two seconds ahead of Van Dijk, and was on to a storming finish looking so smooth in her perfect TT position, but she couldn't maintain the blistering pace of 50kph+ and eventually finished 10 seconds back.
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'Is this a gold medal winning ride?' - Van Dijk sets world title winning time
At the start of the day, all eyes were on Annemiek Van Vleuten, 38, who was tipped to become a three-time holder of the ITT stripes (in addition to her road race title), but the Dutchwoman couldn't match the speed and settled for bronze, 24 seconds behind. It's difficult to tell whether it was an off day for Van Vleuten or she was beaten fair and square by two riders who were on blistering form.
All three riders came into the week following a superb run of success in the most recent races. Van Vleuten won gold and silver at the Tokyo Olympics last month, then flew to Madrid to win claim the red jersey at the Ceratizit Challenge.
Van Dijk, just two weeks ago, became the European road race champion, and although we know she's one of the strongest riders in the peloton, the Dutchwoman's success is difficult to quantify since she often rides for Trek-Segafredo as a domestique to Lizzie Deignan and Elisa Longo Borghini.
Reusser, though, just two years into her career as a professional rider has had a monumental run of success.
The Ale BTC Ljubljana rider won silver in the Tokyo Olympic time trial, beat Van Dijk to the European time trial title, won a stage of the Ceratizit Challenge until Van Vleuten claimed the red jersey, and that's all within the last two months. Needless to say she is also a five-time Swiss national champion, including a win in the road race earlier this year.
Reusser started at the UCI world cycling centre in 2019, and rode for Equipe Paule Ka, which is unusual to turn professional so late at 28. Reusser has signed for SD Worx for the upcoming two seasons, where Anna Van der Breggen and Chantal van den Broek-Blaak have called time on their careers and at the end of the season will trade bikes for a team car as they join the team's management.
All which paves the way for a new star in the squad, and with the best mentors a rider could wish it seems it is only a matter of time before we see the Swiss on another podium, wearing the rainbow stripes.
Speaking to Cycling News on Van Der Breggen, Reusser said: "Her style and calmness on the bike are unique. She moves and anticipates the race and thereby saves energy. She provides pure power on the pedals without moving one unnecessary muscle. Next to the bike, she speaks up and engages herself in the future of our sport. She is an idol.
"Anna, and also Chantal, raced with me as competitors. They know exactly where my weak spots are and what I need to improve. To have them as directors will be a great opportunity. SD Worx also has a very strong roster and is highly professional. This is what I was looking for in a team," she added.
Meanwhile, Van Dijk who is 16 years into her career, shows no signs of stopping, only hinting of what is yet to come. And what is yet to come is another highly competitive era of women's cycling.
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