Switzerland is the last team off the start ramp in Tuesday’s Road Team Time Trial Mixed Relay and intend to win the event for a second consecutive year.
Stefan Bissegger, Stefan Küng, Mauro Schmid, Élise Chabbey, Nicole Koller, and Marlen Reusser won the title together in 2022, and this experience together could be a vital factor in today’s race.
“I think we have a really good chance. We have the same team as last year, so we know each other, and the technical course suits us. We have a really strong team with the men, and we want to defend our title,” Chabbey told Cyclingnews.
Switzerland will also target medals in the individual time trials later this week. Marlen Reusser, Stefan Küng and Stefan Bissegger are all excellent time trialists, while Chabbey and Reusser will lead the Swiss team in the women’s road race.
Chabbey has been struggling with illness and may forgo her own chances in order to support her compatriot.
“Marlen is one of the big favourites for the ITT. She’s in shape for both the ITT and the road race. My own shape is not so good. I was a bit sick in the Tour de France Femmes,” Chabbey revealed.
“I’m doing everything to recover in time. I’ll have to see how I am this week. If you’re not 100% you can’t expect to be a leader; and if that’s the case, I’ll give everything for Marlen to go for the win for Switzerland.”
Chabbey has a unique perspective on racing with illness. She is a fully-qualified doctor, as is Reusser. That the two best Swiss women’s cyclists both have a medical degree is unusual, but it is completely coincidental that they both started racing professionally.
“I didn’t know Marlen before, we didn’t study at the same place and not at the same time, either. But it’s nice to see that we both studied something, came into cycling quite late, and still can perform at this level,” Chabbey said.
“Marlen and I were both quite athletic before and did other sports, so it’s not like we came from nowhere. Then we met the right people at the right moment and could find a team and show our potential.
“Cycling is a sport where you can come quite late because it’s not so technical, so you don’t need to do it since you were little. But at the same time, it is becoming more and more professional, so it does help if you start early because you will have all this endurance that I still don’t have.”
