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

Grace Brown was engaged in a heated duel with Demi Vollering for the title at the World Time Trial Championships in Zurich, but the Australian eventually won. With that, she ends her career on a high note.

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."

Should Brown not retire now anyway? "A lot of people say that"

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."