Mieke Kröger flew to her second German national time trial title, winning on the 32.2km course in Bad Dürrheim by an incredibly tight 0.9-second margin.
“I am very happy,” she said while riding back to the hotel. “This motivates me on the way to the World Championships and I think the course in Glasgow could really suit me.”
A more challenging parcours than previous editions favored the Olympic team pursuit gold medalist, who knew that her pacing strategy was key, particularly through a technical first five kilometers that included some small rises.
“I was like 13th at the first intermediate time,” she explained. “The time was made up in the end though and I had to really push myself over the uphill parts then take a breath and refocus on the downhills.”
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Kröger did not realize how tight the margin with Katharina Fox (Maxx-Solar Rose Women Racing) was because her radio was broken.
The first win of the week, the gold medal in Germany, adds to Human Powered Health Cycling’s medal tally that includes a silver medal in the French national time trial championships for Audrey Cordon-Ragot.
National Championships Germany Time Trial results
1 KRÖGER Mieke – Human Powered Health 0:45:13
2 FOX Katharina – Maxx-Solar Rose Women Racing 0:01
3 KOPPENBURG Clara – Cofidis Women Team 0:18
4 KOCH Franziska – Team DSM 0:23
5 BAUERNFEIND Ricarda – Canyon//SRAM Racing 0:49
6 KLEIN Lisa – Trek – Segafredo ”
7 KASPER Romy – AG Insurance – Soudal Quick Step 1:03
8 BRAUßE Franziska – CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling 1:08
9 LUDWIG Hannah – Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 1:33
10 LECHNER Corrina – Massi – Tactic Women Team 1:40
