Great Britain’s Zoe Backstedt delivered a standout performance to take silver in the women’s individual time trial at the UCI World Road Championships in Montreal. The 21-year-old, who hails from Wales, opted to compete at the elite level rather than defend the under-23 title she captured last year.
Defending champion Marlen Reusser of Switzerland retained her crown, clocking a winning time of 50 minutes and 24.44 seconds. Backstedt, who began her run third from last, finished 40.11 seconds adrift of the Swiss star but posted a time 5.43 seconds faster than Germany’s Franziska Koch, who claimed bronze.
Reusser, a 35-year-old veteran with two previous world silvers and a bronze in the discipline, entered the event as the form rider. Although she trailed the British contender by more than 10 seconds at the initial checkpoint, she accelerated in the second half to secure her second career time-trial gold, adding to her victory in Rwanda last year.
Backstedt overcame a windy and technical course to earn Great Britain’s third medal in the event, following Emma Pooley’s gold in 2010 and bronze in 2011. A former world junior and under-23 champion, Backstedt also triumphed in both the road race and time trial at this year’s British Championships.
Wait, didn’t she win the U23 title last year? Jumping to elite right away is a huge risk. Impressive result regardless.
40 seconds is a massive gap in TT racing. Reusser is absolutely dominating this event; can anyone catch her?
Zoe at twenty-one going straight for the elite title was bold. What a statement performance on that windy course!