"I could cry, and not out of joy" - Stefan Küng forced to endure another painful near miss in World title attempt

Stefan Küng has been an incredibly successful rider over the past years, but has also often been on the brink of a big breakthrough title. Today in Wollongong at the World Championships that could've been it, but three seconds have seen him away from gold and 12 months of rainbow stripes.

"I could cry, and not out of joy. I've been circling around this big win for quite some time," Küng said after the time-tria. "I've been second, I've been third, I've been beaten by Remco a few times, by Ganna, by the other guys. I thought ‘I know how to beat them, I've beaten them all in the past – I just have to beat them all on the same day'. Today that was the case, but the Swiss found an unexpected rival, who will take home the gold medal because of a margin of only three seconds - Tobias Foss. 

"I made a list of the favourites this morning and I beat them all, but I didn't have Tobias in mind, who put in a great ride today. I did a very good time trial today, but he was stronger," Küng said. He led the field through the first intermediate points, but could not hold the dash of Tobias Foss in the final split, who ended up taking a shocking win.

The route was one that satisfied him: "It’s a bit punchy, it's a bit left, right, a lot of changes of rhythm. It suits me quite well. I preferred this year's course over last year's. I was really confident going into today. I knew what I had to do, what had to be done, and the first lap felt like flying," Küng described. "For sure the second lap was a bit harder but when I heard the time split, that I was ahead on Remco and Ganna and Pogačar, I thought 'that is nice, let's keep it in the flow'. I think Tobias surprised us all today."

After several near misses, which include having lost the Europeans by less than a second this past August, this defeat came as another tough hit. "I have to accept it and keep on working. Keep on fighting. One day I hope it will turn my way," he concluded.