National Time Trial Silver for the versatile Nicola Spirig
A week after Lisa Norden won the Swedish National Time Trial Championship, Nicola Spirig – who just pipped Lisa to Gold in the London 2012 Olympic Games via a photo finish – took second on Wednesday at the Swiss National Championships in the Time Trial.
Always one of the strongest riders in the ITU peloton – getting on the ‘Spirig Train’ was a regular goal for athletes who exited the water close to her – Spiring has shown incredible versatility in her career. Along with Olympic Triathlon Gold (2012) and Silver (2016), she also won her only IRONMAN start (Cozumel 2014), has won IRONMAN 70.3 races, represented Switzerland in the Marathon at the European Athletics Championships and was incredibly impressive at Super League Jersey last year, just four months after the birth of her second child.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Nicola raced in Nottingham at the Accenture World Triathlon Mixed Relay Nottingham, producing a fine performance on leg three to bring the young Swiss team into contention, where they finished sixth overall in a very competitive field.
The win on Wednesday went to defending champion Nicole Hanselmann (Cervélo – Bigla), who finished 38 seconds quicker than Spirig over the challenging and hilly circuit.
A very interesting day with lots of new experiences! Great to win the silver medal at the time trial Swiss Championships, very happy with a tough race, congrats to winner @NicoleHanselmaa and thank you everyone for the support! @swisscycling #cycling #viceswisschamp #timetrial pic.twitter.com/jJmTmfGWPs
— Nicola Spirig (@NicolaSpirig) June 27, 2018
Spirig will be back racing at the ITU World Triathlon Hamburg on Saturday 14th July.
Swiss National Time Trial Championship – Wednesday 27th June 2018
18.6km
1st – Nicole Hanselmann (Cervélo – Bigla) – 29:20
2nd – Nicola Spirig – 29:58
3rd – Marcia Eicher-Vouets (RE/MAX Cycling Team) – 30:37
