Brown says goodbye with world title: "Special to end career like this"

After already taking gold in the time trial at the Olympics in Paris, Brown now captured the world title. "It feels like I've been living a dream the last few months. The big goals seemed very ambitious, but accomplishing it on the road is cool," she told the flash interview. Never before has a female cyclist managed to win both the world title and the Olympic title in the same year.

That title in France gave the 32-year-old time trialist a boost and the necessary peace of mind. "The experiences at the Games and the success I achieved there gave me tremendous confidence. When I entered the final kilometers, I said, "You can become world champion." That gave me the strength to go full steam ahead."

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It was shifting places along the way with Vollering, who had an eight-second lead over her Australian competitor at the final intermediate point. "I had all the info. I was happy to be ahead at the top of the climb. I expected to be behind Vollering because she is such a strong climber. She attacked that middle section more than I had. After all that climbing, I needed a few kilometers of flat to regain my rhythm, but I felt my strength return at the end. That allowed me to make up for lost time."

A world title and an Olympic title are unprecedented. The preparation for the time trial in Zurich differed significantly from the one in Paris. "It was a different approach compared to the Games. I was very focused; I reviewed my plan a thousand times and knew everything in detail. I was more relaxed now and didn't have as much time to prepare. I had the confidence and knew that I had already done so many time trials well. That gave me the belief that I could give my best performance."

After this season, the FDJ-Suez rider's career is over. With all the successes of recent years (she also won Liège-Bastogne-Liège this spring), Brown could undoubtedly continue athletically. "A lot of people say that. But I'm still finishing the season and feel lucky to end my career like this."