Marlen Reusser beats Demi Vollering to win record fifth European time-trial title

Marlen Reusser claimed a record fifth European elite women’s time-trial title in Šenčur, completing the 22.1km Slovenian course in 31:30. Demi Vollering finished 24 seconds behind in second, while Juliette Berthet took bronze at 1:10 as Reusser moved clear of Ellen van Dijk as the most successful rider in the history of the event.

The Swiss rider arrived as defending European champion and reigning two-time world time-trial champion after retaining the rainbow jersey in Montréal two weeks ago. Vollering, who had won the European road race on the same finishing circuit four days earlier, provided the closest challenge but could not dislodge Reusser from the top of the standings.

Reusser makes European time-trial history

Reusser’s fifth title takes her beyond Ellen van Dijk, who had previously shared the record with four European elite women’s time-trial victories. Reusser won the championship in 2021, 2022 and 2023 before returning to the top step in 2025 and successfully defending the title in Slovenia.

It also continues an exceptional run against the clock. Reusser retained her world title in Montréal in September and has now added another continental jersey only a little over two weeks later. Her place among the leading championship time triallists of the modern era was already secure, but a fifth European title gives her the outright record in an event that has only been held for elite women since 2016. Our look at Reusser’s World Championships time-trial record puts that recent run into wider context.

How the 2026 European Championships women’s elite time trial unfolded

The 25-rider field tackled the same Šenčur finishing circuit used for the elite road races, but the 22.1km course was far from a straightforward power time trial. It contained 367 metres of climbing, with almost all of that elevation packed into the first half of the race.

The central obstacle was the climb to Možjanca, around 2.1km at an average of 10.2% with the steepest ramps approaching 16%. That gave Vollering a much better opportunity to use her climbing strength than on the flatter Montréal World Championships course, while the technical descent that followed and the flatter final kilometres shifted the advantage back towards a rider with Reusser’s sustained power.

The leading contenders were concentrated at the end of the European Championships time-trial start order. Elisa Longo Borghini started at 14:51, Franziska Koch followed a minute later, Vollering began at 14:53 and Reusser was the final rider down the ramp at 14:54.

Vollering had already demonstrated exactly how well the Možjanca climb suited her by attacking there on the way to the European road race title. Against the clock she again emerged as Reusser’s principal rival, but the Swiss rider was able to combine the climbing section with greater speed through the second half of the course and secure another European title.

Juliette Berthet completed the podium for France, with Elisa Longo Borghini fourth. Dominika Włodarczyk took fifth ahead of Cédrine Kerbaol, while Sandrine Tas, Lauren Dickson, Lotte Claes and Lieke Nooijen completed the top 10.

A second championship win in little over two weeks

The result underlines how strongly Reusser has finished the 2026 championship period. In Montréal she won the world time trial by more than 40 seconds, whereas the shorter and much hillier Slovenian course offered Vollering a considerably better chance of overturning that hierarchy.

Instead, Reusser adapted again. She had already been identified as the rider to beat in our European Championships women’s time-trial preview, but the combination of a steep early climb, technical descending and fast final roads meant this was a different test from the one she dominated in Canada.

Vollering’s silver adds another medal to a week in which she had already defended her European road race title, while Reusser leaves Slovenia with the continental time-trial record to herself.

European Championships Women Elite ITT 2026 Result