Zoe Backstedt earned silver in the women’s elite time trial at the UCI World Road Championships in Montreal, finishing 40. 11 seconds behind winner Marlen Reusser.
Great Britain’s 21‑year‑old Zoe Backstedt rode a strong race to claim silver in the women’s elite time trial at the UCI World Road Championships in Montreal. She chose to step up from the under‑23 category, where she was the defending champion, and finished 40.11 seconds behind defending champion Marlen Reusser of Switzerland. Backstedt started third from last, set the benchmark time, and was 5.43 seconds faster than Germany’s Franziska Koch, who took bronze.
Reusser retained her title on her 35th birthday, posting a winning time of 50 minutes 24.44 seconds on the 39.2 km course, which is nearly double the usual distance. She was more than 10 seconds behind Backstedt at the first checkpoint but paced a powerful effort to secure a second consecutive world time‑trial gold, adding to her previous victories in Rwanda and recent stage wins in the Tour de France Femmes and Giro d’Italia Women.
Backstedt said she began to dream of winning after a “storming start” and praised Reusser’s strength. British rider Hayley Simmonds described Backstedt’s race as mature, noting she led the first two intermediate checkpoints and managed her effort well. Backstedt will compete in the elite women’s road race later in the championships. The available reporting provides these details without further context.