"Everyone was allowed to go": Marlen Reusser frustrated by favourites' tactics at World Championships

The expected battle for rainbow jersey between world's best female cyclists did not come at the 2025 World Championships. Magdeleine Vallieres stole the show in Kigali and crowned herself the world champion, leaving the stars of the caliber of Marlen Reusser and Kim Le Court with nothing to write home about. While the stalemate behind leading group was fully on, these two were one of the brave enough to try to break up the silence in the leading group. But to no avail.

"We were almost two minutes behind. Come on: you had to do something, otherwise it was over anyway," Reusser reflected. Initially, her compatriot Elise Chabbey and Le Court from Mauritius joined her, but when the trio re-grouped, the pace died out. "No one really wanted to chase, and that was a problem. All the leaders were at the back, and everyone was allowed to go."

Reusser watched passively as the gap widened again, ultimately leading to a sprint for seventh place where a 9th place was reserved for the Swiss woman. Her compatriot Chabbey was allowed to break away from the chasing group, but couldn't get further than fourth. "Kimberley didn't join me, and then we had to decide. I felt great, but Elise also looked very strong. I thought: if I keep riding, Elise can save her bullets," as Sporza quoted her.

Despite the impressive display of Swiss team, they leave with no medal from the road race. "When Elise attacked and broke away, I really thought she would make it, because we weren't that far behind the leading group anymore. And she was going like a rocket. I was very disappointed at the finish. Not with Elise, because she did so well, but I can't understand why we didn't finish it with those legs."

So Le Court jumped with Reusser and Chabbey in the final lap, but she let the Swiss do the work. "I was hoping the other countries would control the breakaway, but the gap kept widening. That forced me to jump, and I felt super strong when I went with Chabbey," she said of the attack from the favorites group to Reusser, who had already broken away.

"But they played it tactically as a Swiss duo," she continued. "That was a bit annoying, because closing the gap on Marlen wasn't easy, and it would have been strange for me to participate as a soloist. She (Chabbey, ed.) countered me on the climb, and my legs wouldn't cooperate. So it was a strange race, but I expected that."

The Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner said beforehand that the course was tailor-made for her, but the race ultimately proved too hard and breakaway up the road too strong. But an 8th place still equals Ashleigh Moolman's (2019) best historical result for an African women at the road World Championships.

Le Court was understandably disappointed to have missed out on medals on the first World Championships in Africa. "Yes, it does hurt. I put a lot of pressure on myself and I wanted to make everyone proud. But I gave it my all, and I'd rather lose this way after trying."