Olympic Road Race Women: FAULKNER DEPOSES CYCLING ROYALTY TO SEIZE GOLD

American Kristen Faulkner got here into the Olympic Girls’s Street Race a late entry and a low profile, however with a sequence of highly effective accelerations she overcame the main group, the world’s #1 ranked rider and race favourite, and the expectations of all to win glory on the best doable stage. Her efforts introduced USA Biking a uncommon gold medal, first for a lady within the highway race since Kasia Niewiadoma’s mother-in-law in 1984. Within the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, if not the Bastille, her storming efforts left all of biking royalty gasping for air.

Coming off the ultimate climb in Paris, the long-lasting Montmartre, and with at least Belgium star Lotte Kopecky for firm, the EF Training rider from Alaska closed the half-minute hole to Blanka Vas of Hungary and Marianne Vos, the Dutch biking queen. With minimal assist from Kopecky, the catch occurred with 3km to go, however extremely it was not Kopecky holding the playing cards. Appropriately studying the situation of her rivals, Faulkner sat on solely briefly earlier than accelerating up the left aspect of the highway. Vas led the try to shut down the transfer, however in useless, and extremely the chasers had been damaged, left to jostle for silver.

Vos tucked house a tire’s width forward of Kopecky for silver, including one other medal to her gold from London. Kopecky’s bronze was her first Olympic medal.

Paris – Paris 158 km

A shorter loop than the lads after which two passes up the Montmartre climb as a substitute of three however the course ought to provide primarily the identical traits. Two clear favorites however this might find yourself in one million alternative ways relying on how the group dynamics play out. The one factor I believe we will rule out is one other kieserhofering.

Moulin Rouge of the Day: Lorena Wiebes

Everybody thought this was a foregone conclusion for the reason that course was introduced however in the previous couple of weeks it’s been routinely assumed Kopecky will win it. I nonetheless assume we had been all proper from the beginning.

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