Marlen Reusser has extended her European time trial title. The 30-year-old Swiss took off like a rocket and was the fastest over the 24 kilometre course with an average speed of 46.45 km per hour. At the finish line, she was 5.77 seconds faster than world champion Ellen van Dijk. Reusser thus became European time trial champion for the second consecutive time. “I’m very happy with this. I didn’t have a great feeling during the race. That I can extend the title means a lot to me.”
Stunning what Marlen Reusser performed in Munich. The Swiss was as constant as a metronome. She set the best time at every intermediate point. Very impressive, especially considering the difficult run-up to the European Championships. A hand injury knocked her out of the Women’s Tour and a Covid infection prevented her from defending her Swiss national titles. In the Tour de France Femmes she won the fourth stage with supreme power, before literally dropping out of the race due to a concussion sustained in a crash, less than a month away from the European Championships. Yet it did not faze Marlen Reusser. “It’s true that the preparation for this European Championships was far from optimal, but the last few days I have been training really hard again. So I knew it was in the cards, but every time trial is always a new challenge.”
The European Championship was only the second time trial that Marlen Reusser competed in this year. “I really regretted that I could only wear my European jersey once. So it’s no surprise that I really wanted to renew this title.” And it showed. The 30-year-old Swiss started very fast. No one did better at the first intermediate point. After 700 metres of climbing height, the world champion and main competitor Ellen van Dijk lost 11 seconds to Reusser.
