Worlds: Grace Brown wins time trial silver in Glasgow

Grace Brown has come agonisingly close to winning the 2023 elite women’s time trial world championship, claiming the silver medal for the second year in a row.

Just 5.97 seconds separated Brown and gold medallist Chloe Dygert, from the United States of America, who had set an untouchable time of 46:59.80 minutes over the 36.2km course earlier in the day.

As the intermediate time splits rolled in deeper into the start list it was becoming clear Brown was the only rider who could possibly unseat Dygert from the world championship hot seat.

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At split three, Brown had begun clawing back time on Dygert, but ran out of road up the steep Stirling Castle finish.

“Knowing how close it was, I feel like I could have paced my ride a little bit better," Brown said.

"I feel like I could have got that six seconds somewhere but at the end I really had nothing left to give.

“It just would have been so nice to put on the rainbow jersey today.”

Brown, the second last rider for the day, was a picture of composure on the start ramp as she looked to hunt down Dygert’s time and the rainbow jersey.

Many of the favourites including Tour de Femmes France winner Demi Vollering were off the pace early in the race, while Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser was a surprise abandonment mid-way through her ride.

When Brown went through the first time-check with just a 17-second deficit to Dygert it was clear it would come down to the wire.

The margin grew to 30 seconds at the second time check, before Brown began to claw back time and in the final kilometres, reducing the gap to 5.97 seconds at the finish to win the silver medal.

It was bittersweet for Brown who had come so close to winning the rainbow jersey last year, just 12 seconds behind Dutch woman Ellen van Dijk.

But she indicated in the post race interview she had unfinished business and would be back in 2024 for the rainbow jersey.

Fellow Australian Georgie Howe produced an impressive result on her ARA Australian Cycling Team debut in her first, finishing 10th at +2:26.02 minutes.

For more coverage of the ARA Australian Cycling Team at the UCI Cycling World Championships, visit our Glasgow 2023 Hub. To subscribe to daily updates, click here.

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Main picture: Pauline Ballet/SWpix.com