Dygert acknowledges it's not all running smoothly: "It's getting harder and harder to return every time"

"It's never easy not to be on the top," the American said. "That's what you aim for and what we all train for. So I regret it, it's not easy. Ultimately, I'm on the podium with two of the best riders in the world, so that's an honor, but I'm also more than motivated to get back in the rainbow jersey. Hopefully, next year."

Since her bad crash at the 2020 World Time Trial Championships, things have not been going smoothly for the former top rider. "If you keep getting setbacks, you can only push back to a certain point. You can be the strongest in the world mentally, but in today's peloton, it's hard to keep up if you keep running into bad luck."

Dygert is only praying for one thing: a season in which she can fully emerge. "So I desperately hope to run a consistent year and feel like my old self again. Since my accident (in Imola, 2020, ed.) I haven't had six months where everything went. That's tough, but I'm glad I'm still there and getting a lot of support."

"It's getting harder and harder to return," she confesses. "This season has been the hardest, at least after my crash. Last year, I won the World Championship but immediately ended up with corona. Then I had to come back from that for another month and a half, and already looking at the beginning of this season, but then in December, I suffered another injury. Then I got corona again, and it became tight enough to build up to the Games, where I crashed. Hopefully, the puzzle pieces will fall into place soon, and I can close that difficult period after this year," she concluded.