A compelling women’s elite individual time trial at the 2026 UCI Road World Championships saw defending champion Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) hold off a strong challenge from Great Britain’s Zoe Backstedt in Montreal on Sunday morning.
Riding on her 35th birthday, Reusser rode a perfectly paced race, and though she found herself trailing the 21-year-old Backstedt at both the first and second intermediate time checks, by the time she hit the final checkpoint, she had taken control, using her incredible power and consistency to deliver an unbeatable ride.
Reusser claims the first rainbow jersey of this year’s UCI Road World Championships, having gained a huge chunk of time in the final section of the race to finish in a time of 50:24:44, 40 seconds ahead of the Welsh woman.
Backstedt clinched a stunning silver medal on her elite debut, finishing just 5.43 seconds ahead of Germany’s Franziska Koch in a nail-biting battle to the line.
Koch secured the bronze medal, putting in one of the best time trial performances of her career, in a fascinating opening act to this year’s competition.
More to follow
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Katy Madgwick is a freelance writer and broadcaster, covering multiple disciplines across both men's and women's pro cycling. Katy has written for a broad range of publications, and is a regular contributor to Cyclist Magazine, Cyclingnews, TNT Sports and The Roadbook Cycling Almanack.
On the broadcast side, she is makes regular appearances on Track Radio and is an occasional contributor to BBC Radio, and featured as an expert guest on CADE Media's Pro Show podcast in 2025.
She is a lover of all things French and a cyclo-cross obsessive, and probably ought to get on her actual bike more often.
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