The group of absolute top favourites around Demi Vollering (Netherlands) and Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) only crossed the finish line behind Niedermaier. One and a half minutes had already passed by then. The biggest medal contenders had completely lost their way and merely eyed each other - several times. When the group that included Vallieres, Fisher-Black, Garcia and Niedermaier left on the third-last lap, the gap quickly widened to more than two minutes because all the major nations were represented and none of them wanted to take the lead. When the gap shrank to 30 seconds five kilometres before the finish and the decisive passage at the Cote de Kimihurura, mainly thanks to Reusser's initiative, nobody wanted to continue. When Tour de France winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France) led the group and should have been working, she reached for her water bottle.

It was clear that the winner would come from the leading group, even though Elise Chabbey (Switzerland), who ultimately finished fourth and was part of the group of favourites, was at least able to beat Niedermaier and Riejanne Markus (Netherlands) in fifth. She was 41 seconds off gold and 14 seconds off Garcia, who in turn finished four seconds behind Fisher-Black.

Only the second professional victory for the new world champion

Vallieres, who is a member of the EF Education-Oatly team, celebrated only her second professional victory with the world title. She won the Trofeo Palma at the beginning of 2024. The 24-year-old looked correspondingly overwhelmed and almost disorientated on the podium, but was more or less taken by the hand by Garcia, who is 17 years her senior. "I can't believe it. With the world championship next year in Canada, it's just perfect," she said in the winner's interview. "Of course I've been dreaming of a moment like this, the World Championships were also a big goal of mine this year." However, she could not have expected such a success. An eighth place on a stage of the Tour de France Femmes was her best result this season.

"The girls believed in me, so I believed in myself too. I had good preparation and knew that I was in good shape, so I just gave it a go and didn't want to have any regrets at the end. I knew that I couldn't let it come down to a sprint with Niamh because she is so strong. We both worked a lot in the group, she let up a bit on the last climb, so I gave it my all and it worked out."

The women had to complete 164.4 kilometres or eleven laps in Kigali. From a German perspective, Franziska Koch and Liane Lippert were at the start alongside Niedermaier. Koch finished a strong twelfth, just five seconds behind Vollering. Lippert did not finish the race. She had started the race as captain of the German team. Niedermaier and Koch had previously put themselves at her service.

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After one lap in a closed peloton of 106 women from 44 countries, it was Carina Schrempf (Austria) who revitalised the race from the second lap onwards. She extended her lead to a maximum of three minutes. Towards the end of the fourth lap, there was some movement in the peloton, which reduced the gap.

In the middle of the sixth lap, halfway through the race, an attack by Blanka Vas (Hungary) breathed new life into the competition. However, her attack was quickly stopped. Instead, Julie Van de Velde (Belgium) rode to the front of Schrempf, whose cushion had shrunk considerably due to the movement at the back. At the start of the seventh lap, Shirin van Anrooij (Netherlands) also surged to the front and broke into the group on the next climbs, causing Schempf to drop back into the peloton.

This had become much smaller 60 kilometres before the finish, with around 30 riders finishing lap seven together. Shortly afterwards, however, van Anrooij was also dropped again and Mireia Benito (Spain) and Noemi Rüegg (Switzerland) took over the role of the breakaway. The duo was still in front 30 kilometres later. Behind them, a group had formed around Niedermaier, in which all the major nations were also represented.

Niedermaier suddenly within medal range

In the group behind, it was Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) who was the first of the favourites to have to let the others go at the end of the third-last lap. In the meantime, Niedermaier and Co. had moved up to the leading duo, taking a 40-second cushion into the final two laps. Right at the finish line, Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) came out and first tested the favourites, who were at least able to catch up again after a slight delay.

But suddenly there was a huge gap between the leading group and the favourites. A gap of almost two minutes was reported, with 22 kilometres still to go. Shortly afterwards, however, the leading group also fell apart. Fisher-Black, Garcia and Vallieres initially rode in front. As the penultimate climb up the Cote de Kimihurura began, Niedermaier came back, as did Markus.

The leading quintet then set off on the final lap with a one-minute lead. Reusser in particular chased the leaders and was able to pull away from the rest of the favourites with Barbara Malcotti (Italy). Ten kilometres before the end, the duo was only 30 seconds behind the front runners. Niedermaier and Markus lost the connection to the front over the Cote de Kigali Gulf. Behind them, however, Chabbey flew up, who had joined Reusser with Kim Le Court (Mauritius).

Favourites lose out

Then suddenly Niewiadoma, Vollering, Longo Borghini and Ferrand-Prévot were back with Reusser and within reach. It seemed as if the favourites had backed the right horse with their restraint after all. However, when it came to closing out the final seconds, nobody felt responsible. The train had finally departed. 2500 metres before the finish, Vallieres left Fisher-Black and Garcia standing on the cobblestones. The Canadian proved to be the strongest rider in the group and ultimately rode unchallenged into the rainbow jersey. Fisher-Black and Garcia also crossed the finish line as soloists.

Chabbey, who did not take part in the poker games in the group of favourites, overtook Niedermaier and Markus on the final climb, but ultimately had to settle for the wooden medal.