Portugal Colonial - Reusser ends long chase for gold with women's cycling world title

Although she had won a couple of team golds, the Swiss woman had endured a series of individual near misses in major championships, collecting world silvers in 2020 and 2021 and bronze in 2022 as well as silver in the 2020 Olympics.

"I have the feeling I was like, ten times on the podium. I can almost not believe it," she said. "I know it's real and it happened, but I tried so many times and it didn't work out. And now, I think I made it, and it's really special, but it was such an effort."

A day after her 34th birthday, she claimed the first world championship cycling medal in Africa, completing the 31.2 kilometre course in 43 minutes 9 seconds. She beat Anna van der Breggen by 52 seconds with a her Dutch compatriot Demi Vollering another 13 seconds back.

Reusser, a qualified doctor, dominated the race on a course with several steep climbs, including the cobbled Kimihurura hill, which proved torturous for the less experienced riders.

Reusser, who is 1.80m (5-foot-11) tall, said the toughness of the course worked in her favour.

"I went really hard on the climbs," she said. "Then the final climb, maybe even I went too hard in the beginning, so I was full of lactic acid but I think it was the right way to pace it and I think also I have an advantage, I'm quite a heavy rider, so without a lot of effort, I still go down pretty fast, and then I can put all my effort in the climb. So I did this, and it was super hard. It was so hard. But yeah, I made it."

Reusser, who joined the Movistar team last winter, crowned an impressive season with her title. She won the Tours of Burgos and Switzerland and finished second in the Giro d'Italia despite being ill at the end.

French time-trial champion Cedrine Kerbaol strugged home 3min 20sec behind Reusser.

"Time trials aren't very enjoyable to begin with, but this was pure suffering. Even on the descents," said Kerboal.

"It was hard to enjoy myself with the difficulty of the course, the altitude, the humidity and the heat," she explained.

In a festive atmosphere, Rwanda's Xaverine Nirere was the first of 44 competitors to start the race from inside the BK Arena, an ultra-modern sports and concert hall with a capacity of 10,000 people.

She finished 27th, almost seven minutes behind Reusser.

The men's time trial will take place on Sunday afternoon, with Belgium's Remco Evenepoel, the two-time defending champion, and Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar as the big favourites.

N.Esteves--PC