Noemi Rüegg becomes the fifth Swiss woman to win a diploma in an Olympic road race. She is a promise for the future and says afterwards: "I've never experienced anything so crazy."
Noemi Rüegg changed teams this season after two years with Jumbo-Visma, joining EF-Oatly-Cannondale, the team with which the new American Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner is also under contract. The change visibly did the Zurich rider good. In January, she won her first 2024 race in Spain, in June she became Swiss champion for the first time, and now she finished seventh in Paris to win an Olympic diploma. Never before has a Swiss woman finished better in an Olympic road race.
"I suffered enormously"
However, the fact that she was still part of the leading group with around ten kilometers to go and was therefore fighting for the medals did not leave Rüegg unscathed. "I couldn't quite withstand the pressure," she admitted. So the third and final climb to the Sacré-Cœur pilgrimage church was one too many. "I suffered enormously, the tank was empty," she explained. "The fans would have carried her to the top."
In general, she was more than impressed by the atmosphere: "I've never experienced anything so crazy. There wasn't a single quiet second." It was sometimes impossible to have a conversation. She took a few moments to soak up the atmosphere. There were also many other impressions to process.
Still plenty of time
Rüegg continued: "It was a big dream of mine to take part in the Olympic Games, now I was not only there, but also performed well. It's crazy, I was able to show how strong I am today." She didn't always get the chance to do this, for example at Jumbo-Visma. "That gives me a huge amount of confidence, I could only have dreamed of that a few years ago."
It would therefore come as no surprise if Rüegg were to make a few more headlines - after all, she is only 23 years old. But first she wants to enjoy Monday to the full, as she leaves Paris on Tuesday morning and her first Olympic adventure comes to an end.
SDA
