Leah Thomas wins Chrono des Nations, Emma Norsgaard Jørgensen third

Today Bigla took to the start of the Chrono des Nations in the west of France, the final race for the team this season. The four Bigla riders left the start house in the early afternoon in rainy conditions, which wouldn’t make the course any easier.

In the end, the Pan-American time trial champion, Leah Thomas, won the 26km-long race with a time of 36:04, a significant 41 seconds ahead of the second-placed finisher. Teammate Emma Norsgaard Jørgensen also put in a very strong performance today, completing the course in third place, while Lizzy Banks crossed the line in seventh despite a mechanical incident, and Nikola Nosková finished the race against the clock in twelfth position.

Speaking about her impressive win, Leah remarked: “I think this was a good parcours, one for the pure time trial specialists. It wasn’t necessarily easy with the bad weather conditions today, and I crashed at the first big round about. However, I was able to get back on the bike and was determined not to give up, despite this setback. At the World Championships in Yorkshire, I was injured, and also disappointed that I wasn’t able to produce my best result. So I wanted to do particularly well here and end my season on a high note. Even after crashing, I persisted and the result is a testament to staying focused and putting your best foot forward despite the circumstances. I also want to thank Bigla for all the support during the year, and I’m happy to be able to reward that with the win today."

Team Manager Thomas Campana said about the strong performance of the team: “This was a technical parcours, with rain and wet streets, essentially not easy conditions in which to ride. Of course we’re very happy with Leah’s convincing win, having taken the victory by over 40 seconds. The third place of Emma, who is still a young rider, as well as the performance of Lizzy, who suffered a mechanical problem today, and Nikola, our climber, are all very satisfying. The fact that these riders came out here to race at the end of the season also shows that they are motivated to improve in the discipline of time trialling. And their results today demonstrate the success of the team in helping them achieve this goal. All in all, with two riders on the podium, this race has been a successful end to our season this year.”