UCI World Championships: Switzerland win mixed relay TTT for second year running

Switzerland successfully defended their world title in the mixed relay team time trial in Glasgow on Tuesday, setting the fastest time over the city centre course to beat France into second, with Germany taking the bronze medal.

Switzerland were the only team to select the exact same team as last year - Stefan Küng, Stefan Bissegger, Mauro Schmid, Elise Chabbey, Marlen Reusser and Nicole Koller - and the formula of strong time trialists proved to be a winning one once again. Not even a crash for Reusser could get in the way of victory, with the SD Worx rider quickly getting back on and rejoining her team to ride the final 13km of the women’s half of the race.

“I think we can be really proud,” Reusser said at the finish. “It’s one thing to win once, and to win twice, it shows that we have the strength and the skills - maybe except for me! We have a good team.”

“We knew [the course] by heart, especially after racing on it for ten laps on Sunday,” Küng added.

“There were two different sections and on a TT bike with a TT helmet it’s a little bit different, but with Mauro and Stefan we knew each other really well, we did already the last two editions [of the mixed TTT], so we each trusted each other, but we also know that you don’t have to overcook it.”

The Swiss team was head and shoulders above most of the field, going 51 seconds faster than third-placed Germany, but they were pushed close by the French team who eventually claimed silver. Led by the likes of Audrey Cordon-Ragot and Rémi Cavagna, the French team spent a long stint in the hot seat, only dethroned by the final team and claiming their first medal in this discipline.

Losing their third riders early on in both the men’s and women’s portions of the race, the Italian team struggled to back up their previous success in the mixed TTT to finish fifth, whilst Great Britain finished fourth, led by track star Dan Bigham and local hero Anna Shackley.