What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, Marlen Reusser was enduring a challenging season. A crash at the Tour of Flanders left her with a fractured jaw, and illness soon followed, sidelining her for the rest of the season
Struggling with what she described as “a so-called post-infectious syndrome caused by a viral infection,” the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist in the individual time trial was ultimately forced to withdraw from the Olympic Games and miss the World Championships held in her home country of Switzerland.
Now back to full health, Reusser has returned to the top level of the sport with her new team, Movistar. The Swiss rider made an immediate impact. She opened her season with a victory at the Trofeo Palma in January, followed by second overall at Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, tenth at the Tour of Flanders, and sixth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes.
Reusser then battled for stage wins and the overall victory at the La Vuelta Femenina, where she ultimately finished second overall to winner Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez).
“It’s a very special result. One year ago, I was in such a bad state, and now I’m second in the Vuelta. Achieving this after this period is incredible and super special. I really enjoyed racing the whole week. It was really nice to race with the team: good feeling, joy, cool girls, cool staff.” Reusser said.
The Movistar team didn’t let the chaotic team time trial in stage 1 impact their focus for the next stages. On stage 5, Reusser was the only rider to initially stay with Vollering when the Dutch rider attacked on the finishing climb, and held on for second on the stage, moving up to third overall, just one second behind Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime).
The general classification was decided on the final mountain stage to the Alto de Cotobello, where Reusser was part of the elite group battling for the win. Although Reusser was not able to follow Vollering’s blistering pace in the final kilometre, she was able to drop Van der Breggen to claim second place and move up one spot in the GC.
“I’m super happy. What else can I say! I’m just super happy. I think we did a really good week of racing with the team. I think we played a main part in the unfolding of the race. It’s sad that the team couldn’t win a stage, because we were really dominating the race itself each day. But to be 2nd overall is really good and it makes us really happy and proud of our whole performance. We were super strong, really.”
For the second time in 2025, Reusser finished as runner-up to Vollering, first at Setmana Ciclista Valenciana and now at La Vuelta Femenina. But she remains motivated and optimistic.
“It was beautiful. I think I can be confident in view of the upcoming challenges, but also I still have some work to do. I think there’s not a lot missing – but a little bit. I’m improving and my numbers are getting better and better. I can’t say I will beat Demi, but I will keep trying to get there. Let’s see.”
