There will be no defending champion participating in the elite women’s time trial at the UCI Road World Championships held on September 29 in Belgium. Anna van der Breggen has chosen not to compete which leaves the chances of securing the rainbow jersey wide open for the other specialists in the race against the clock.
The elite women will race 30.3km and an elevation gain of 54 metres with a start at Knokke-Heist, upon the North Sea coast by the Dutch border, and a finish in the centre of the historic city of Bruges.
The out-right favourite will be Annemiek van Vleuten, who recently secured the gold medal in the discipline at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in July, but there are several other contenders to watch including Olympic silver medallist Marlen Reusser (Switzerland), who was second. in the event last year.
There will be no Chloe Dygert (USA), who has ended her season early to continue recovering from the injuries sustained in a crash in the event at the Imola Worlds, nor Sarah Gigante and Grace Brown (Australia).