Grace Brown crowned world champion in fairytale finish

Grace Brown has capped off a stellar career by adding a world title to her name, two months after winning an Olympic gold medal.

Having twice finished as the silver medallist in the individual time trial, the ARA Australian Cycling Team star made sure the rainbow bands would be hers in her final opportunity at the 2024 UCI Road World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland.

The 32-year-old, who is set to retire at the end of this season, was the penultimate rider to set off as she chased rainbows over the 29.9km undulating course.

Brown clocked the fastest time at the first checkpoint – six seconds ahead of her nearest rival, Demi Vollering, from the Netherlands.

From there it was clear it would be a battle between Brown and Vollering of who had the most power and best pacing over the challenging terrain to clinch victory. 

Vollering went on to attack the descent on the middle section of the course putting eight seconds into Brown by the second checkpoint.

But as the road flattened in the final third of the race, Brown showed why she is the best in the world, clawing back the deficit to Vollering and finishing 16.79 seconds ahead of the Dutchwoman.

It was a dream win for the rider from Camperdown, Victoria, who last year in Glasgow was just five seconds off the top step behind Chloe Dygert.

“It honestly feels like I’m in a bit of a dream these last couple of months, these big goals that seem ambitious but I’ve just been able to get out on the road and do it and realise those dreams,” Brown said in a post-race interview.

“I think the experience of the Olympics and having that success on my shoulders already gave me a lot of confidence and as I was riding the in the last couple of k’s I just kept telling myself I can be world champion and that gave me the strength to push all the way until the end.

“I was pleased that I was ahead at the top of the climb. I expected I might be a bit back against Vollering because she is such a good climber then I guess she just attacked the middle section of the race a little bit more than I did maybe and it took me a couple of kilometres on the flat to get into a rhythm after all the climbing but I felt I had gained strength toward the end so that’s how I was able to gain back that time I lost.”

“I’m still finishing up at the end of this season I just feel really lucky to end my career like this it’s really special.”

Vollering finished with silver, while USA’s defending champion Chloe Dygert claimed bronze.

Fellow Australian Brodie Chapman had a promising performance in her first time trial appearance  at Road Worlds. Chapman finished just outside the top-10 in 11^th, posting a time of 41:42.85, which saw her spend some time in the hot seat earlier in the day.

In the under –23 women’s category  Isabelle Carnes finished 12^th.

Brown and Chapman will turn their attention to the team time trial on Wednesday before they line up for the road race on Saturday.

Photos: Getty