New Zealand’s Niamh Fisher-Black, read the race and team tactics perfectly, joining the decisive three-rider breakaway that would battle it out to take second in the elite women’s road race at the UCI Road World Championships. The 25-year-old couldn’t match the sharp acceleration of Canada’s Magdeleine Vallieres on the final steep ascent of Côte de Kimihurara, but was satisfied to come away with the silver medal.
“I'm not sure I ever expected that,” Fisher-Black, the under-23 road race winner at 2022 Wollongong Worlds, said about winning the silver medal, “I knew it would have to come down to a scenario like this for me to compete in this race because I'm not naturally a comfortable punchy rider.”
