Franziska Koch missed out on gold in the individual time trial at the Road Cycling World Championships, but gave the German team a surprisingly strong start. The German champion won bronze on the 39.2-kilometre course in Montreal, finishing 45.54 seconds behind the victorious defending champion, Marlen Reusser. Silver went to the young British rider Zoe Backstedt, who was 40.11 seconds slower than the Swiss rider.
Antonia Niedermaier, who had also been tipped as a medal contender in the run-up to the event, did not have a good day and ultimately finished seventh, 1 minute and 49 seconds behind. In the history of the World Championships, German female cyclists had previously won gold four times: Hanka Kupfernagel (2007), Judith Arndt (2011, 2012) and Lisa Brennauer (2014) had all triumphed.
An unusually long time trial
The women were racing in Montreal on the exact same course that the men would have to tackle that evening. The distance was also unusual: at almost 40 kilometres, it was the longest time trial of Koch’s professional career.
Yet the 26-year-old was not fazed by this and featured in the medal positions at every split time. Whilst Backstedt was always ahead of Koch, Reusser managed her race best. At the first split time, on her 35th birthday, she was still seven seconds behind Koch; by the third and final split time, some ten kilometres from the finish, she had built up a lead of over 20 seconds.
Nevertheless, Koch is likely to be very pleased with her performance. Time and again, she was shown grinning on the TV screens whilst she was still in the lead before Backstedt and Reusser crossed the finish line.
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