GB's Backstedt wins world time-trial silver

Great Britain’s Zoe Backstedt claimed silver in the women’s time trial at the UCI World Road Championships in Montreal, finishing 40.11 seconds behind defending champion Marlen Reusser of Switzerland. The 21‑year‑old Welsh rider, who could have defended her under‑23 title from the previous year, chose to compete at the elite level instead. Backstedt, who started third from last, posted a time that proved 5.43 seconds faster than Germany’s Franziska Koch, who took bronze. Reusser, the final rider to begin the course, trailed the Briton by more than 10 seconds at the first checkpoint. The 35‑year‑old Swiss champion then raised her pace to secure a second world‑time‑trial gold, adding to her victory in Rwanda the year before. Reusser also boasts two satellite silvers and a bronze in the discipline and entered the event as the favourite. Backstedt’s performance earned Britain just its third medal in the women’s time trial at the World Championships, following Emma Pooley’s gold in 2010 and bronze the subsequent year. A former world junior and under‑23 time‑trial champion, Backstedt also captured both the road race and the time trial at this year’s British Championships.