"After the Tour de Suisse I fell into a hole" - Marlen Reusser explains decision to abandon time-trial World Championships

Marlen Reusser fell victim of mental and physical exhaustion at the time-trial World Championships. The main favourite at the start of the day, she abandoned halfway through and broke down into tears at the side of the road.

“This was not a mechanical problem. I wanted to give up the race at that point. I noticed that I was not ready, that I was not hungry," Reusser told SBF. "All of this has been gnawing at me for a long time now. After the Tour de Suisse I fell into a hole. It was my second overall victory in a stage race. I've also won one-day races and I've won everything else. But there was never a moment to take a deep breath, to be happy. Instead, we immediately started thinking about the Tour de France and the World Championships.”

She believes that she overworked herself, mainly mentally, and that exhaustion has caught up with her. A winner of so many races this year, and contributor in many others of SD Worx, Reusser was the woman to beat in Stirling yesterday after having won the time-trial in the Tour de France Femmes. However she crashed at the Mixed Relay time-trial, eventually still helping the team into the gold medal. However on the day where it mattered, she did not have her head in the game.

Suffering physically and mentally, she stepped down from the bike during her effort. She had been fourth in the first intermediate point but looked distant from a gold medal and her usual self. It was a decision that was criticized over social media. “I know I am very privileged. That's why I try to adapt to the criticism of my decision. I didn't feel like it. And then I stopped. I'm sure when I get some distance it will come back. But at the moment it is missing."