©Mathilde L’Azou
Chrono des nations: Küng and van Dijk fulfill expectations
Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) got his revenge. Beaten by Tobias Foss (Jumbo-Visma) at the world time trial championships on September 18th in Australia, the rider from the Groupama-FDJ team beat the Norwegian on Sunday at Les Herbiers, winning the Chrono des Nations for the second year in a row. The 28-year-old Swiss won by two seconds at the end of an intense 45.4 kilometer course: “It’s nice to win and finish on a good note, in a great event with a very high level this year. I’ve taken a little revenge on the world championships. It’s the conclusion of a very good year for me, where I’ve been very consistent overall,” commented Stefan Küng, already focused on the 2022/2023 season.
Among women, no surprise with the success of the Dutchwoman Ellen van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo), triple world champion in time trials (2013, 2021, 2022). She ended her season with a ninth victory: “I’m really happy to have been able to end my season this way. What else could you wish for? I feel very happy and lucky. It was a very good season. I’ve always dreamed of breaking the hour record, my biggest dream has come true. Then winning the world championships again is something I never thought I could do. It took me eight years to start over after my first victory. For me, it’s crazy how good the last two years have been. Everything fell into place, I’m grateful for that and I’m looking forward to next season,” she concluded.
The results:
Men: 1. Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ), 2. Tobias Foss (Jumbo-Visma), 3. Matteo Sobrero (Team BikeExchange-Jayco)…
Women: 1. Ellen Van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo), 2. Valeriya Kononenko (Ukraine), 3. Amber Neben (United States)…