Mieke Kröger won her third German national time trial title in Bad Dürrheim, besting top young talent Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon SRAM) after the 21-year-old led at the first checkpoint.
Kröger, 30, retired from road racing after the 2023 season but has maintained a focus on her best discipline of time trialling and racing on the track, with the Paris Olympics as her key goal of the season.
Without a trade team, Kröger raced in a black skinsuit and non-team issue Scott bike for her 30.6-kilometre effort, completing the course in a time of 40:49 to beat Niedermaier by 17 seconds at the finish.
Niedermaier set the fastest time, one second faster than Kröger at the first checkpoint after 12.6km of her effort. But fell away as the hillier sections of the course came thick and fast, losing 10 seconds by the second time check at 22.8km and a further six seconds to Kröger at the line.
Lisa Klein (Lidl-Trek) rounded out the podium with a strong effort, setting a time 41 seconds off the pace of the experienced Kröger.
Results
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