"I was so devastated" - Marlen Reusser on goliath effort to win Gent-Wevelgem

Marlen Reusser's early breakaway from the rest of the riders paid off as the SD Worx rider claimed victory at Gent-Wevelgem after riding alone for more than forty kilometres to the finish.

“I am super happy, but I am so tired that my head is not quite there yet,” she said in the post-race interview. While she did not intend to attack at first, she made a sudden move on a whim and was hoping that other cyclists would join her, “I didn't attack.”

She continues, “I thought maybe we could sort it out a little bit; maybe we could make it a small group. But no one was in my wheel. Then I thought, let's just try something. It was very, very tough. Especially my arms. I can't even dress myself, I'm all done.”

While she was having a smooth race, she made a wrong turn with only four kilometres left until the finish line. However, she quickly realised her mistake and got back on track. “I don't know what happened there, I didn't see the people pointing in the direction. I went straight. That was my mistake, that wasn't so good. I was not concentrating. Was there panic? No, but I was a little angry. I felt like they didn't show well that a turn was coming. So I thought, why don't you show me better? Because it is not nice to lose seconds like that.”

As a result of technical difficulties with her communication device, she was unaware of her the correct time gap and had to exert herself to the fullest extent until the end, leaving her feeling quite exhausted.

“I was so devastated, so I really wanted to know if I really should go full throttle or if I could take it a little bit more relaxed. But with one kilometer to go, I understood that it was probably going to work. But even at three hundred, four hundred meters I looked back to make sure no one was coming,” concluded Reusser.