Reusser beat the wind and her rivals
But the newly crowned ITT world champions, Merlen Reusser and Remco Evenepoel, didn’t care. Both doubled down and again dominated their respective races on Wednesday. Reusser easily lived up to her top favourite’s role by decimating the field, beating the second-place finisher, Norway’s Mie Ottestad, by 49 seconds. Mischa Bredewold of the Netherlands finished third, at 51 seconds, and a mere 0.2 seconds in front of another Norwegian, Katrine Aalerud. It was Reusser’s fourth European time trial championship, but she said it wasn’t easy because of the 30 kph head- and crosswinds that buffeted the riders and caused many to lose their lines as they tried to stay in the saddle.
“I think everybody’s biggest opponent today was the wind,” Reusser said. “I didn’t really know how to find myself today. It was quite a crazy week in Rwanda, and then a big travel, and I’m really tired.” She went on to say that she didn’t feel super-confident despite her world championship win.
“I think it’s not something you should take for granted,” she said. “I was also not sure to win because sometimes it’s tight, sometimes somebody has a super-good day, and somebody [else] does not. I can also be the one with not a good day. I was not confident that I was going to win this.”
That merely increased her satisfaction. “I’m super happy that I can keep up the level,” she said. “Last year, I was sick, and [in the past] I could win this a few times.” Reusser also won the European Championship in 2021, 2022 and 2023. “I’m really happy. It’s hard to race time trials, so I’m happy it’s rewarded.”
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Remco is simply the best
In the Elite Men’s race, most of the riders who finished in the top 10 in Kigali, including Tadej Pogačar, were not in France. But Remco Evenepoel, who won his third consecutive ITT world championship in Kigali was. As were all of the best ITT riders in the world who had skipped the Worlds, including Filippo Ganna, Joshua Tarling and Mads Pedersen. The question was whether the triple world ITT champion could beat these very quick riders just 72 hours after finishing second in the brutal world road race championship. The answer came after only 7 km of the 24 km course.
At that first timing point, the Belgian already had a lead of 14 seconds over Ganna, 16 seconds over Tarling and 18 seconds over Pedersen. The lead ballooned to 25 seconds at the second timing point, and at the end, his gap over the Italian was a stunning 43 seconds. A remarkable recovery and a real Wow! performance. The Danish rider Niklas Larsen was the surprise third-place finisher, 1:08 adrift and just 0.7 seconds ahead of the Briton Ethan Hayter.
It was Evenepoel’s second European ITT title, after winning in 2019, and confirmed – if confirmation was still needed – that he is the best time trial rider in the world, and perhaps the best ever, such is his domination of the discipline. He is clearly in the form of his life now and has more than a slim chance of turning the tables on Pogačar in Sunday’s road race.
“I’m super happy to take another title today,” he said. “I think the wind was pretty strong, always on the head or a little bit on the side, so it was really difficult sometimes to control the bike and to take the corner properly, but I think we managed everything well and it all went perfectly.”
He said he would now take a day to rest before training for the double that escaped him in the Worlds in Sunday’s road race. “There is a bit more time in between the events, so tomorrow I’m going to rest and then have some good training here, and I hope to be ready for Sunday,” he said.
Ganna, who stands 1.93 m and weighs 82 kg, fell victim to the winds because of his size. “For sure, the wind didn’t help me,” he said. “I think Remco was maybe 60–70 kilos, so today the [aerodynamic drag] was more important than usual.”
Evenepoel stands only 1.71 m and his weight is listed as between 61 and 63kg. That and his near-perfect riding position make him the most aerodynamic rider on the road.
Results of Elite Women’s UEC Road European Championships Time Trial
- Marlen Reusser, Switzerland 33:06
2. Mie Bjørndal Ottestad, Norway +0:49
3. Mischa Bredewold, Netherlands +0:51
4. Katrine Aalerud, Norway +0:51
5. Lieke Nooijen, Netherlands +0:58
6. Juliette Labous, France +1:04
7. Anna Henderson, Great Britain +1:05
8. Christina Schweinberger, Austria +1:30
9. Cédrine Kerbaol, France +1:51
10. Yuliia Biriukova, Ukraine +2:06
Results of Elite Men’s UEC Road European Championships Time Trial
- Remco Evenepoel, Belgium 28:26
- Filippo Ganna, Italy +0:43
- Niklas Larsen, Denmark +1:08
- Ethan Hayter, Great Britain +1:09
- Josh Tarling, Great Britain +1:10
- Daan Hoole, Netherlands +1:38
- Mathias Vacek, Czechia +1:43
- Stefan Küng, Switzerland +1:47
- Bruno Armirail, France +1:48
- Alec Segaert, Belgium +1:51
