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United States | Midwest | Ohio >> Anna van der Breggen wins Gold in the Womens Olympic Road race after dramatic finale

Anna van der Breggen wins Gold in the Womens Olympic Road race after dramatic finale

Teammate Annemiek Van Vleuten hospitalised after severe crash on the final descent after leading the race

Dutch cyclist Anna van der Breggen has won the Gold Medal at the Olympic Women's Road Race. Emma Johansson and Elisa Longo Borghini took Silver and Bronze.

The first rider to try her luck on the day was Belgian Lotte Kopecky who managed to build an advantage of close to two minutes over the peloton.

The Belgian was eventually caught by a lead group of five but the peloton followed soon after, allowing for new adventurers to attack from the front.

Defending Olympic champion Marianne Vos did so and brought several others along, including Pauline Ferrand Prevot of France. The group was looking strong for some time but the peloton, led by the United States, caught up ahead of the final climb.

Once the climb had truly begun, Lizzie Armitstead and Vos dropped from the front and a new lead group formed with Van der Breggen, Annemiek van Vleuten, Longo Borghini, Johansson and Mara Abbott of the USA.

Johansson was soon dropped and Van Vleuten then attacked along with Abbott. The two quickly opened a significant gap with their chasers and Van Vleuten even rode away from Abbott on the final descent.

Disaster then struck for the Dutch team as Van Vleuten suffered a heavy crash (see video below). It was later confirmed that the rider was conscious and speaking, however in hospital it was confirmed that she has a severe concussion and three small fractures on her lumbar spine. She must remain 24 hours in intensive care. 

The next day Van Vleuten posted: “I am now in the hospital with some injuries and fractures, but will be fine. Most of all super disappointed after best race of my career.”

As Abbott reached the flat section leading to the finish, the American's advantage over her pursuers (Van der Breggen, Longo and Johansson, who had struggled her way back) had grown to a comfortable 39 seconds.

But the group refused to give up and once they saw their target ahead of them on the final straight piece of road, the gap soon decreased. With about 400 meters to go, Abbott was surpassed by the three who then got to sprint for the medals. Van der Breggen launched the sprint and never allowed anyone else to catch up.

Just behind the Dutchwoman, Johansson took Silver for Sweden while Longo Borghini handed Italy a Bronze medal. 

Rio 2016 Olympic Games – Women’s road race:

1 Anna Van Der Breggen (Netherlands) 3:51:27
2 Emma Johansson (Sweden) ,,
3 Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) ,,
4 Mara Abbott (United States Of America) +04”
5 Elizabeth Armitstead (Great Britain) +20”
6 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland) ,,
7 Flavia Oliveira (Brazil) ,,
8 Jolanda Neff (Switzerland) ,,
9 Marianne Vos (Netherlands) +01’14”
10 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (South Africa) ,,

VIDEO: Rio 2016 cycling crash Annemiek Van Vleuten 

Anna van der Breggen wins Gold in the Womens Olympic Road race after dramatic finale