"I felt after about 20 kilometres that it was going to be difficult" - Stefan Küng unable to mount World Championship challenge

Widely regarded as one of the best time-trial specialists and runner-up at the World Championships in 2022, Stefan Küng was unable to mount a serious challenge for the Rainbow Jersey this time around, finishing 12th over two minutes down on Remco Evenepoel.

“When I started to explore the course, I already realized that it was not 100% my thing," the Swiss rider Le Matin post-race, explaining what went wrong. "All those straights without a lot of tempo changes, that's not really something for me. During the race itself, I felt after about 20 kilometres that it was going to be difficult. It 'cut' into my legs and I couldn't put as much force as I wanted."

The Glasgow World Championships haven't been a complete disappointment for Kung though. After finishing 5th in the road race, he helped Switzerland defend their title in the mixed relay team time-trial event.

"It's not the end of the world," he concludes, putting it into some perspective. “I'm glad now that I can take a break and catch my breath a bit."