"I've been coughing every afternoon" – Concerned Urska Zigart way off the pace in 'horrible' Kigali Worlds TT

Urska Zigart admitted she was left struggling to find any rhythm in the Kigali World Championships time trial, describing the course as “horrible” and voicing concern over the air quality that has affected several riders already this weekend. The Slovenian finished a disappointing 16th, more than three and a half minutes down on eventual winner Marlen Reusser.

“The last two kilometres were just horrible for me,” Zigart said afterwards in a post-race interview with Cycling Pro Net. “I couldn’t find the feeling on the cobbles – my hands kept slipping off the handlebars and hitting the shifters, and I was all over the place. I couldn’t push there at all. Even before that, the course was really difficult. You push hard, then suddenly it’s downhill and you’re spun out on the last cog, then it’s uphill again. There was no way to find a proper pace.”

Zigart went further in highlighting the environmental challenges, echoing podium finisher Demi Vollering, who also pointed to Kigali’s air quality as a major factor. “I don’t know if it’s the altitude exactly, but I think the quality of the air is not the best,” she explained. “I’ve been coughing every afternoon after training or racing, just from the effort. I think it’s something we all have to get used to here.”

While the course itself was not especially technical, Zigart said its constant changes of gradient made it uniquely demanding. “It was impossible to find a rhythm – almost like doing intervals: five or ten minutes uphill, then straight into a downhill where you can’t push hard enough. That made it really tough to manage,” she said.

Looking ahead to the women's elite road race, Zigart admitted her focus is now on adjusting to the environment and finding suitable training terrain. “I just hope we can find some calmer roads to train on before Saturday,” she added. “That’s my biggest concern, to do some proper preparation. The rest, we’ll see. It’s still a nice experience to be here, but every year it feels harder.”