3 minute read

Australian cycling great Grace Brown has put the seal on her glittering career by winning the world individual time trial championship in Zurich.

Australian Olympic champion Grace Brown has found the rainbow at the end of her glittering cycling career, racing to the road world championships individual time trial title in Zurich.

The 32-year-old, who will retire at the end of the season, becomes the first woman to achieve the Olympic-world time trial double in the same season.

Less than a month since she dominated her opponents at the Paris Games, the 32-year-old sped to her first rainbow jersey as world champ with a sensational ride against the clock on Sunday's opening day of the championships.

With a superbly timed ride - fittingly, on a golden bike - over the 29.9km course, Brown saved her best for the final flat 10km section, clawing back an eight-second deficit on Dutch superstar Demi Vollering to win by 16.79 seconds along the banks of Lake Zurich.

Vollering ended up second, with race favourite and defending champion, American Chloe Dygert, taking the bronze, 56.42 seconds behind Brown.

The remarkable ITT double represented a dream conclusion to Brown's career in her final world championships, after she finished runner-up in this race for the past two years.

She could, though, enjoy one more blaze of glory in next weekend's road race.