The gown rehearsal didn’t go completely to plan, however Stefan Küng wasn’t inclined to panic when he made his method via the blended zone after final week’s European Championships time trial in Hasselt with a silver medal round his neck.
“When you’ve been European champion twice, you need to win once more, however ultimately it’s a race towards the clock and the clock doesn’t lie,” Küng mentioned after dropping out to Italy’s Edoardo Affini. “But generally it’s higher to be behind within the rehearsal after which have every part for the massive one, as a result of Zurich is clearly the massive purpose.”
A World Championships on dwelling roads – the primary in Switzerland since 2009 – has been the plain point of interest of Küng’s late-season, and on Sunday afternoon, he’ll line up among the many prime tier of contenders for the person time trial title.
After a bronze medal in Imola in 2020 and silver in Wollongong two years in the past, Küng has designs on the rainbow jersey right here. But world championships haven’t all the time been sort to the Swiss rider, who missed out on bronze within the time trial on the Tokyo Olympics by simply 0.4 of a second.
Küng had hoped to make amends on the Paris 2024 Olympics, however he was hampered by sickness after abandoning the Tour de France within the last week, and he needed to accept eighth within the time trial and seventh within the street race. Many in Küng’s place would have throttled again at that time with the Worlds in thoughts, however the Groupama-FDJ man volunteered himself for a Vuelta a España debut, reckoning the Spanish race was one of the best ways to reboot his season.
“My summer season was not nice,” Küng informed Cyclingnews on the finish of the Vuelta. “The preparation main as much as the Tour de Suisse and Tour de France was already interrupted by some sicknesses, after which popping out of the Tour, I received COVID. Then I received abdomen issues within the Olympic Games, so I simply needed to really feel good once more. That is what I felt I used to be doing on the Vuelta. I’m feeling like myself once more, I’m on my degree once more and this racing is enjoyable.”
Küng was an all-action presence on the Vuelta, racing aggressively and delivering some notable climbing performances as well, however a motorbike rider can’t dwell on good vibes alone. The flat last time trial in Madrid was all the time the halo of Küng’s pondering via the Vuelta, and he duly hurtled across the course to beat Primoz Roglič by half a minute and declare the primary Grand Tour stage victory of his profession.
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That victory may have been a boon to Küng’s morale forward of the Worlds, whereas he was clear-headed in his evaluation of the European Championships silver medal on a pan flat course. “I had good legs, however it felt like I did possibly an excessive amount of climbing within the final three weeks,” he mentioned afterwards.
Sunday’s course in Zurich, each longer and hillier, is of a distinct register. After setting out from Oerlikon, website of the finale of the a lot missed Züri-Metzgete, the 46km course has a rugged center part earlier than sweeping again into town alongside the shores of Lake Zurich.
“The time trial course is a very lengthy one. There’s a flat part first, then a bit with some hills after which the final half is flat once more,” Küng mentioned. “So it’s important to trip it in three components – and it’s an actual TT, eh.”
An actual time trial with plenty of actual contenders, even when Wout van Aert has been dominated out via harm, and Josh Tarling and Filippo Ganna have but to verify their presence. Reigning champion Remco Evenepoel will likely be readily available, in fact, as will Roglič, however Küng warned towards paying an excessive amount of heed to who will or is not going to be there.
“I’ve to give attention to myself,” Küng mentioned. “I do know there may be going to be a high-level discipline. Maybe one or two guys will likely be lacking, however that’s all the time going to be the case and it’s all the time going to be exhausting to win.”
“I do know that from 2022, once I beat all of the favourites after which I received crushed by Tobias Foss, who no one actually had on the favourites listing that day. I do know that you just all the time should push to the tip and provides the utmost of your effort to turn into World Champion.”
Tackling the Road Race
Küng already has a pair of world titles from the blended staff relay, which Switzerland gained in Wollongong and Glasgow, however his participation within the hat-trick try at dwelling shouldn’t be but sure. The absence of Marlen Reusser will weigh on the choice, as will his ambitions for the street race the next Sunday.
“With Marlen out, our probabilities will not be as excessive as they normally could be, so we’ll see,” mentioned Küng. “But for positive in two races I will likely be at first.”
The time trial understandably dominates Küng’s pondering this week, however he has a high quality pedigree within the street race too. He claimed bronze in Yorkshire in 2019, in any case, in addition to fifth in final 12 months’s attritional outing in Glasgow.
Despite sickness, he was additionally a strong seventh within the street race on the Paris 2024 Olympics, whereas his climbing on the Vuelta advised that he gained’t be daunted by the 4,400m of altitude achieve within the street race, which takes in seven laps over the climbs of Zürichbergstrasse and Witikon.
“I’ve seen from the previous. I’ve been third on the Worlds, I’ve been fifth final 12 months, I understand how it’s achieved, I do know within the lengthy races I can do properly in them,” Küng mentioned. “First the main focus is on the time trial, after which it’s one week in between the place I can give attention to the street race. For positive, the Vuelta was the very best preparation for the street race, as a result of it’s going to be exhausting, with plenty of altitude metres, however it’s not going to be a pure climber’s race, so it’s an ideal lead-up to it.”
Tadej Pogačar underlined his standing as favorite together with his solo victory on the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, whereas Evenepoel is one other apparent contender, however Switzerland will have the ability to lean on power in numbers in Zurich. While Küng and Mauro Schmid showcased their kind on the Vuelta, Marc Hirschi has loved a exceptional profitable run in his last weeks at UAE Team Emirates, racking up 5 successive wins from the Clásica de San Sebastián via to the Memorial Marco Pantani.
“That’s a benefit of our Swiss staff, we now have a number of playing cards to play,” Küng mentioned. “Mauro Schmid can also be in good kind and along with Marc, we’re going to have a number of choices, that’s for positive. That’s how we’ll play it. If it comes right down to a one-on-one with Pogačar, it’s going to be troublesome, however we’ll attempt to be opportunistic and provides it a go.”
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