In the Thurgau duel for the Swiss time trial championship title in Aire-la-Ville near Geneva, Stefan Küng wins out over defending champion Stefan Bissegger.
20.06.2024, 16:23
21.06.2024, 09:24
SDA
The 30-year-old Küng took 1:07 minutes or more off his rivals on the way to his sixth championship title - he had won five times in a row between 2017 and 2021. The soon-to-be 20-year-old Jan Christen lost 1:11 minutes in third place.
Küng completed the 30.8 km, on which the Côte de Russin with a length of 1 km and an average gradient of 5.8 percent had to be tackled twice, at an average speed of 51.12 km/h. Küng had not taken part in the title fights in the past two years. In 2022, he fell ill with coronavirus and in 2023, a crash at the European Championships made it impossible for him to compete against his national rivals.
In the absence of European champion Marlen Reusser, who was unable to compete due to illness, the decision in the women's competition for gold was also a clear one. Elena Hartmann came out on top with a lead of almost three and a half minutes over Melanie Maurer and Noemi Rüegg. The 33-year-old from Graubünden thus celebrated her third Swiss championship title in a row. Local hero Elise Chabbey missed out on the podium in seventh place by one minute.
The road race titles will be awarded in Aire-la-Ville on Saturday (women) and Sunday (men).
