American Chloé Dygert wasn't sure she would be racing in 2023. On the day of the UCI Road World Championships elite women's time trial, she wasn't sure she'd even be racing on the day. Overcoming serious injuries, ailments and uncertainty, she finally reclaimed the rainbow jersey she was unable to defend in Imola in 2020.
After taking a stunning victory in Yorkshire over Anna van der Breggen and Annemiek van Vleuten, the COVID-19 pandemic brought racing to a halt, and Dygert never raced in the rainbow bands. Then, during her title defence at Worlds in 2020, she suffered a dramatic crash on a descent where the metal crash barrier sliced through her thigh.
Since then, she's been through a litany of health issues. In her post-race press conference, Dygert summed it up: "It's been a long three years."
In addition to her leg injury, Dygert has overcome Epstein Barr virus, long-standing back problems, and, until this year, had year totals of race days in the single digits. Even at the start of the year, she revealed, she wasn't sure she could race the 2023 road season.
"I think this is a very special title for everyone behind me. At the beginning of this year, it was unclear if I was going to race this season. To be able to be here and win - it's a huge accomplishment for everybody that's been behind me.
"In November, I had my heart surgery; one month later, I got sick for four weeks, and then I had a crash at team camp and tore a muscle in my bad leg. I technically didn't start training until March."
Her lack of preparation scarcely showed on Thursday in Stirling, Scotland, where she powered over the 36.2-kilometre course and up the steep cobbled climb to the line six seconds quicker than Australia's Grace Brown.
In doing so, she became the first woman to win the individual pursuit and the individual time trial in the same season.
After racing to an individual pursuit gold medal last week, Dygert fell ill and revealed that she was sick enough that the team considered having her sit out the time trial.
"The decision was going to be made this morning if I was going to start. If the race was yesterday, I don't think I could have started, It was a huge benefit for me this morning when I woke up, and I was able to smell a little bit. So then I got on the trainer and rode for 30 minutes, and my legs felt decent."
She said she had mentally prepared not to start, not knowing how her body would respond to such a brutal effort.
The effects of her illness showed in her post-race interviews - she was coughing, sniffling, and had a cold sore - and said that she struggled during the race.
"It was definitely 16km too long. After a certain point, I couldn't catch up with my breathing and the fatigue set in. I just did everything I could to make it to the finish. I'm really lucky it was enough."
Dygert is also due to lead her USA team in Sunday's elite women's road race but said that her starting that is also not certain.
"Today was the goal for me, and if I'm not feeling 100% for the road race, I don't want to take that away from the team. But if I am feeling well, it's going to be a good race; it's going to be hard.
"I will make the decision in the next day or two to see how I'm feeling and recovering. But if I am feeling well, I'm really looking forward to it. We have a really strong team going into it."
