Switzerland overcame a crash to win the Team Time Trial Mixed Relay world title, snatching the rainbow jerseys from long-time fastest team France by just seven seconds at the UCI Road World Championships in Glasgow.
Stefan Bissegger, Stefan Küng and Mauro Schmid set the fastest time amongst the men, and then Élise Chabbey, Nicole Koller and Marlen Reusser completed the task to take a second consecutive title.
Reusser crashed on a corner but got up to rejoin her teammates and power to the finish. They set a combined time of 54:16, beating France, who watched from the hot seat, with Germany producing a solid performance to take the bronze medal at 51 seconds.
Great Britain was fourth at 1:03 and Italy fifth at 1:17.
Switzerland got their timing right for a second year, overcoming Reusser’s crash with a clockwork performance.
“I'm good. I'm sorry for my team that I frightened them a bit. I hope for every spectator I made it a bit more interesting to watch,” Reusser joked after her ride.
“I think we can be really proud. It's one thing to win once. Twice shows that we have the strength and the skills. We are a good team.”
Küng revealed Swiss men’s race tactics.
“We know each other really well. We did the last two editions together. We trusted each other but also know that we don't have to overcook it. Otherwise, it happens what happened to Marlen and plenty of other teams; that you go down,” he said.
“We just wanted to leave it on the good track and give them some advantage.”
How it unfolded
The Team Time Trial Mixed Relay kicked off the midweek time trials at the Super World Championships in Glasgow.
Sadly just 21 of the 108 cycling nations were in action, with Belgium, like a number of other major nations, opting not to field a team and save their big-name riders for the individual events later in the week.
The Team Time Trial Mixed Relay is a relatively new event format but offers a chance for men and women to compete together, even if they ride in different moments, first as a trio of men and then as a trio of women.
The times of the two teams are combined to decide the final results.
The men and women raced on a twisting 20.15km Glasgow circuit for a total distance of 40.3km. The course included many of the city centre roads of the road races with extra sectors at each end of the circuit. The start ramp was on Argyle Street, with the finish in George Square a block away. A series of traffic lights signalled when the men’s team finished and when the women's trio could start. Times were taken on the second rider crossing the line, allowing one rider to be dropped from each trio.
The numerous corners made for a technical race. Time trial bikes were vital for the straight sectors, but bike handling skills and team unity made a huge difference, with riders constantly switching from their aero bars to their straight bars.
Afghanistan was the first nation to start, with Uzbekistan, the UCI World Cycling Center team, China, Mauritius and Ukraine also in the first wave of teams.
One of the Afghan women fell on the start podium, but the combined team finished off the pace after using road bikes; one of the men was in tears. They could be proud of their performance as they made history. Afghanistan, and especially the Afghan women, have overcome so much in the last two years so that they are able to race freely and represent their nation.
Uzbekistan was the first team to finish under the hour in 59:42. They were soon beaten by the major cycling nations, with the USA stopping the clock in 56:02, which would give them a seventh place.
The USA men’s trio included Neilson Powless, Lawson Craddock and Will Barta, with Craddock forced to chase back on during the final kilometres. They stopped the clock at 26:19, and then Megan Jastrab, Coryn Labecki and Skylar Schneider stopped the clock at 56:02.
That was 11 seconds faster than Austria and put them momentarily in the hot seat. However, France was soon faster, with the men setting 25:59 and the women finishing in 54:23. That became the time to beat.
Australia’s ride was disrupted by Ruby Roseman-Gannon testing positive for COVID-19 in the morning of the race, then Lukas Plapp crashed hard in an early corner, forcing Michael Matthew and Luke Durbridge to ride a two-up time trial.
The Australian men fought against their misfortune to set a final time of 26:22. Brodie Chapman, who replaced Roseman-Gannon, rode with Sarah Roy and Lauretta Hanson. They were fast and smooth but finished with a final time of 55:53, which was good enough to take sixth place.
Great Britain also suffered disruption in their men’s ride, with track rider Josh Charlton struggling after just eight minutes of riding. He was a late replacement for a sick Ben Turner and climbed into the team car as Ethan Vernon and Dan Bigham pressed on.
They set a time of 26:18, with the three Great Britain women, Elynor Backstedt, Pfeiffer Georgi and Anna Shackley, producing a more paced ride to set a final time of 55:19.
Italy suffered a similar fate to Great Britain, with track rider Manlio Moro dropped after five kilometres on the twisting course. Alberto Bettiol and Mattia Cattaneo pressed on together and set a time of 25:54, four seconds faster than France.
That gave Letizia Paternoster, Silvia Persico and Alessia Vigilia a chance of victory, but Paternoster was distanced at half distance, and Vigilia struggled to stay with the ever-strong Persico. Then Perisco suffered a gear problem. A kick couldn't resolve it, and so she was forced to make a bike change. That perhaps cost Italy a medal, and they set a time of 55:36.
In 2022 the Netherlands was disrupted by an early mechanical problem for Bauke Mollema and Annemiek van Vleuten’s early crash. This year they lost Daan Hoole after he crashed into barriers after a fast corner and broke the front fork on his time trial bike. The men set a time of 26:16, and then Riejanne Markus was soon dropped in the women’s leg. The Netherlands set a final time of 55:59.
Germany lost Max Walscheid with two kilometres to go, and then Jannik Steimle had to wait for Miguel Heidemann, but they set a time of 26:08. That left Ricarda Bauerneind, Lisa Klein and Franziska Koch with a huge task if they wanted to win but proved good enough for the bronze medal as their rivals struggled. Germany set a final time of 55:07.
Switzerland started last and fielded the same teams as in 2022 when they won the world title.
Stefan Bissegger, Stefan Küng and Mauro Schmid are all talented time trialists and have raced the Mixed Relay together for the last two years. They rode smoothly and stayed together until the late climb of Montrose Street when Bissegger was dropped. Küng and Schmid then stopped the clock in 25:35, the fastest time by a significant 18 seconds.
It was up to Élise Chabbey, Nicole Koller and Marlen Reusser to finish off the winning ride. Thanks to race radio, they knew about their significant advantage, and so paced their ride.
However, their plans suddenly suffered a blow when Reusser crashed on a corner with 13km to race. Her pedal seemed to touch the road, and she was flipped off her bike. She got going quickly and soon joined her teammates, but it cost them vital seconds.
Yet they fought back, with Reusser fighting the pain of her crash. Koller was dropped in the final 1.5km, but Reusser and Chabbey powered to the finish together.
They stopped the clock in a total time of 54:16 to secure a second consecutive world title. They were the first-ever nation to defend their title, and all pulled on a rainbow jersey.
Results
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