UEC European Championships: Marlen Reusser beats Demi Vollering to win her fifth elite women's time trial title

World time trial champion Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) won the elite women's European time trial title for a fifth time, storming to victory in Šenčur, Slovenia ahead of newly crowned European road champion Demi Vollering (Netherlands).

Reusser was quickest at each checkpoint along the way on the 22km route, eventually crossing the line in a time of 31:30 at an average speed of 41.905kph.

Vollering, who started second-last ahead of Reusser, was in second place throughout the race, eventually crossing the line with a 23-second deficit to the Swiss racer to claim silver.

France's Juliette Berthet claimed the bronze medal, racing to the finish 1:10 down on Reusser. She beat Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) to the final spot on the podium by six seconds.

The race took place on the same 22km parcours in Šenčur that hosted the rest of the time trials at this Championships, with the mid-route climbs of Mozjanca (2km at 10.2%) and Stefanja Gora (900m at 4.7%) likely to prove decisive for the destination of the European champion's jersey.

25 riders took the start, and it was the 10th woman to start, Sandrine Tas (Belgium), who set the early pace, going quickest at the checkpoints at 8km and 16.3km before easily going top at the finish.

Tas's time of 33:32 was 2:49 ahead of the Greek racer Eleftheria Giachou, who was the first rider to start the time trial.

Lauren Dickson (Great Britain), the 11th starter, was pushing her closest along the way. She was three seconds up on Tas at the opening checkpoint, but lost time the rest of the way to go second at the finish, 21 seconds down.

25 riders took the start, and it was the 10th woman to start, Sandrine Tas (Belgium), who set the early pace, going quickest at the checkpoints at 8km and 16.3km before easily going top at the finish.

Tas's time of 33:32 was 2:49 ahead of the Greek racer Eleftheria Giachou, who was the first rider to start the time trial.

Lauren Dickson (Great Britain), the 11th starter, was pushing her closest along the way. She was three seconds up on Tas at the opening checkpoint, but lost time the rest of the way to go second at the finish, 21 seconds down.

Meanwhile, as they raced to the finish, the big favourites were already underway, with Juliette Berthet (France) beating both to top the timing boards at the first two checkpoints and then at the finish, 51 clear of Tas with a time of 32:40.

Riders including Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy), Dominika Włodarczyk (Poland), and Cédrine Kerbaol (France) were coming up next, though none could beat Berthet's time.

Włodarczyk was the first of the trio to cross the line in second place, 21 seconds down on Berthet. Kerbaol finished her effort a further 29 seconds down, while Longo Borghini was closest to the Frenchwoman, finishing just seven seconds back.

Meanwhile, the two top favourites Demi Vollering (Netherlands) and Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) were out on course and blitzing the quickest times as they fought over the jersey.

Vollering's time of 15:17 at the first checkpoint saw her go 43 seconds quicker than Longo Borghini, though Reusser was quicker still, passing through less than a minute later to go 11 seconds up.

That pattern repeated at the second checkpoint, where Vollering's 24:52 put her 49 seconds up on Berthet before Reusser came through 20 seconds up. At the finish, it was no surprise to see Vollering once again beat Berthet, putting 46 seconds into her trade teammate.

But it was Reusser who ended the day the quickest, crossing the line 23 seconds ahead of Vollering to claim the European title once again.

Results

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