This victory is perhaps one of the most impressive of her storied career, especially since–after Wednesday’s crash–it wasn’t a given that she would even start the race, let alone be a contender for the victory. Van Vleuten will now spend her final season as a professional in the rainbow jersey. Van Aert finished fourth, missing out on another world title but happy to have the rainbow jersey going home to Belgium nonetheless. Laporte led home the charging peloton ahead of Matthews. Behind him, chaos ensued as the remnants of the leading group battled for silver and bronze, ultimately getting caught inside the final 500 meters after slowing to a near-stop in a 4-man game of cat-and-mouse that killed any chance they had of making the podium. Catching the field by surprise, she held on for the win just one second ahead of Kopecky and Persico, who settled for silver and bronze.Īlone off the front, Evenepoel–who earned a bronze medal in last Sunday’s individual time trial–was free to ride his own tempo, taking each corner on the technical circuit with care so as to prevent the unthinkable. And that’s when Van Vleuten made her move, escaping with a bit less 1km to go as the bunch prepared for a slippery field sprint. The Dutch led a powerful chase with help from Belgium and Australia and caught the breakaway just before the finish. But when a 5-rider group containing pre-race favorites Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) escaped for a second time, it looked as if Van Vleuten’s chance for a gold medal had gone up the road. The injury clearly took a toll on the 39-year-old: she was dropped the last three times the peloton climbed Mount Pleasant on the Wollongong city circuits but repeatedly clawed her way back to the front to keep herself in contention. Van Vleuten entered the race with a fractured elbow that she sustained in a crash during Wednesday’s mixed relay TTT. Saturday’s elite women’s race covered 164.3km and took place in the rain, but that didn’t dampen the fireworks as the race broke up quickly, starting a day of attrition that would see only 78 riders finish the event.
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