Dygert down but vows to come back stronger after missing Worlds TT podium

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Chloe Dygert (United States) finished fourth in her maiden elite time trial at the UCI Road World Championships, but couldn't hide her disappointment after coming so close to a medal. The American's result comes after a long injury layoff that meant she hadn't raced since the Pan American Games in May.

"I'm bummed with the result but it was the best I could do," she told Cyclingnews after Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands), Anna van Der Breggen (Netherlands) and Katrin Garfoot (Australia) took the top three spots in the 21.1km time trial.

"I really like to set my standards high. It's great, it's awesome but for me personally I'll be bummed for a while. I'll get over it though and I'll come back next year and hopefully get a better spot," she added.

Dygert started the course with real intent and was fourth at the first time check. She had lost two places by the next marker but clawed her way back to fourth in the closing stages. It looked as though a bronze was within reach as she sat on the provisional podium but a strong ride from Katrin Garfoot saw the Australian rise from eighth to third by the finish line. Dygert, just 20, was off the podium.

"It was a tough one," Dygert said. "I knew that it was raining on the back side of the course so I was little nervous on some of those turns because I've not ridden in the rain in a while. And with my injuries I just didn't know how I was going to feel, especially with the downhills because my hip has a lot of problems when I'm spinning at a high cadence. That meant I was little nervous about certain things but everything turned out to be fine."

Considering her recent injury layoff Dygert's ride was certainly impressive. She finished ahead of former world time trial champions Linda Villumsen and Ellen van Dijk and was the top finisher from her nation.

"I stopped racing after the Pan American championships earlier in the year. I have torn labral in my hip and a bulged disc in my back and that caused me to sit out. I've only been training for a little while now but it's been great because I have Kristen Armstrong, a three time Olympic gold medallist, as my coach, so I was totally confident of my training leading into this race. Congratulations to the other girls though."