2022 UCI Road World Championships – 6 riders to watch in the elite-U23 women's time trial

The first rainbow jerseys will be awarded at the combined elite and under-23 women’s time trial on September 18 at the 2022 UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia.

For the first time at Worlds, the women will cover the same distance as the men, sharing a 34.2km route that will run along two laps of a circuit starting at Market Street and ending on Marine Drive in Wollongong.

The technical circuit will start at Market Street and head past the Wollongong Botanical Gardens and into a climb as the course runs along a part of Mount Ousley Rd before shifting onto the adjacent Dumfries Ave. The ascent peaks at the 7.2km-mark, which is the first intermediate time check.

Riders then head back toward Towradgi before opening up into a less corner-heavy section along the coast and taking their first pass of what, at the end of the next lap, will be the finish line.

The route will demand a blend of technique and power, with the more skilful bike handlers enjoying the early technical aspects before the more powerful riders likely take advantage of the straighter coastal run-in to the finish along Wollongong Beach.

Here, Cyclingnews highlights the riders to watch for the elite/under-23 women’s time trial.

Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands)

Ellen Van Dijk is the obvious favourite for the time trial title and lines up as the defending champion, having won the event in Bruges last year. She also won the time trial world title in Florence 2013, so it is a third rainbow jersey in the discipline that Van Dijk will be looking for.

The long straight along the coast, where wind could play a factor, will favour a rider like Van Dijk. She can really use her power to gain time on those who might be faster through the technical corners or on the circuit’s small climb.

There weren’t many time trials on the international calendar this year where Van Dijk could show her world champion’s jersey, but she made them all count. She won the opening time trial and the overall title at Bloeizone Fryslan Tour, the time trial at the National Championships, plus the prologue, the stage 3b time trial and the overall title at the Baloise Ladies Tour. She was also part of the Trek-Segafredo team that won the team time trial at Postnord Vårgårda WestSweden, and she finished second at the European Championships.

In all the time trials she started this year, she was only beaten once.

Marlen Reusser (Switzerland)

Marlen Reusser was the one that beat Ellen van Dijk to win the European Championship for the second year in a row. It was the only time trial that Reusser won this season.

However, her remarkable run of success in the event, which includes two silver medals at the 2021 Worlds in Flanders and 2020 Worlds in Imola, and a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games, means there is still reason for her to be a favourite in Wollongong.

Reusser noted that there were few time trials on the calendar this year, and she missed out on some of them, though she used her power to take a solo victory on stage 4 at the Tour de France Femmes. Later in the race, however, she crashed, which meant she could not race some of the events in early August, but she returned to defend her title at the European Championships.

After finishing runner-up for two seasons in a row at the Worlds, watch for Reusser to try and claim her first rainbow jersey in the discipline.

Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands)

Annemiek van Vleuten dominated the time trials, winning two back-to-back world titles in Bergen in 2017 and Innsbruck in 2018, where the Dutch swept the podium with Anna van der Breggen in second and Ellen van Dijk in third.

The Dutch have long been favourites in the discipline, and in the last five years there has only been one rider capable of out-powering the nation at Worlds: Chloe Dygert in Yorkshire 2019.

Van Vleuten's major goal last year was to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games, and she ended up winning the time trial and finishing second in the road race. She narrowed her season targets to only a handful of events this year, and with huge success, winning the Giro d’Italia Donne, Tour de France Femmes and the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta.

Her only remaining goals this season are at the World Championships, where she will race the individual time trial, mixed team relay, and the road race. When Van Vleuten sets her mind to a task, she usually succeeds because she is as meticulous about race-specific training and dialing in her equipment as she is about every other aspect of her job as a professional athlete.

Van Vleuten is a rider that could potentially secure more than one world title in Wollongong.

Grace Brown (Australia)

Grace Brown started the season in the best way possible, winning the time trial title at the Australian Championships in January. Back on home soil, Brown will be looking to cap off her season with a strong performance at a special edition of the World Championships.

She will have the home-team advantage in her favour – not just in motivation, but in support and local knowledge of the routes, including the time trial. She will have spent time studying the technical sections of the time trial circuit, and the route's small climb. These are aspects of the course that will suit her and so could give her a leg-up against the more powerful riders.

She comes into this World Championships, generally, in great form having also taken wins at the Women’s Tour and more recently at Ceratiizit Challenge by La Vuelta.

She hasn’t competed in many time trials this season – only two – but she won them both. In addition to her victory at the Australian Championships, she also won the time trial title at the Commonwealth Games. She is certainly one of the medal contenders at Worlds.

Kristen Faulkner (United States of America)

The US have two contenders for strong performances in the time trial at the World Championships, including national champion Leah Thomas and compatriot Kristen Faulkner. Faulkner didn’t contest the National Championships this year, but she had ample success in time trials on the international calendar.

She won the stage 2 time trial and finished second overall at the Tour de Suisse. She also won the prologue at the Giro d’Italia Donne, where she secured the first maglia rosa and went on to win stage 9 into San Lorenzo Dorsino.

She also then went into the Tour de France Femmes as a leader for her trade team BikeExchange-Jayco, and while there was no time trial at that event, she hopes there will be one in the future to improve her odds of success.

Faulkner has had a steep trajectory since joining the pro ranks in 2020 and is only beginning to realise her strengths and skills as she improves on various areas of performance. She has spent extra time training specifically on the time trial bike and for technical courses in an effort to give her best performance at the World Championships.

Shirin van Anrooij (Netherlands)

Shirin van Anrooij may not be a medal contender for the elite women’s category, but she is a favourite to win the first-ever under-23 time trial world title.

This will be the first year the UCI awards a world title to under-23 women in both the time trial and the road race. Rather than offer standalone events for the under-23 women, the governing body has made the controversial decision to wrap the under-23 women’s competition into the elite women’s time trial and road race, for combined events.

Van Anrooij is a multi-discipline rider who won the junior women’s world title in cyclo-cross last season. This year, she won the under-23 women’s titles in the road race and time trial at the European Championships and the under-23 women’s title at the Dutch Championships. She was also part of the Trek-Segafredo team that won the team time trials at PostNord Vårgårda WestSweden and at Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta.