British champion Pfeiffer Georgi finished fifth in the women’s Olympic road race as American Kristen Faulkner took a hugely surprising gold medal.
Faulkner attacked her fellow breakaway companions, a high class group that included race favourite Lotte Kopecky (Belgium), Marianne Vos (Netherlands) and Blanka Vas (Hungary), with just over 3km to go.
As they all looked at each other, refusing to chase, Faulkner sailed away into the distance.
It was not immediately apparent whether Faulkner knew she had won. She did not celebrate at all as she crossed the line at Trocadero. With no race radios at the Olympics, riders are sometimes unaware of where they stand on the road.
Famously, Annemiek van Vleuten celebrated what she thought was a famous win in Tokyo three years ago only to discover that Austrian Anna Kiesenhofer had already crossed the line.
Georgi, who had been part of the day’s main breakaway along with fellow Britons Lizzie Deignan and Anna Henderson, easily outkicked Spain’s Mavi Garcia for fifth.
More to follow…
Women’s road race: As it happened
06:12 PM BST
Bravo, renaissance woman Kristen Faulkner
There’ll be a lot more words written about Kristen Faulkner tonight, but that was a very classy ride. The Harvard graduate and former venture capitalist didn’t take up cycling until going on a bike ride in Central Park in 2017. Faulkner was also a late road race pick, replacing triathlete Taylor Knibb who had qualified a place. She’s given USA their first road race gold since Connie Carpenter in 1984.
That’s it from us, thanks for reading. Olympic track cycling starts tomorrow from 16:00 BST, with the first action from the velodrome. There is the women’s team sprint qualifying and finals, plus qualifying rounds for the men’s team pursuit and men’s team sprint.
06:02 PM BST
Not enough shots of the front of the race
It was a chaotic finale, with riders and groups all over the roads, but in my opinion, the TV production left a lot to be desired and may have left some tele-spectators confused. Too many shots of the irrelevant chasing groups, not enough shots of the front of the race until the last 15 kilometres.
We didn’t need to see the Wiebes group fruitlessly chasing or the race for ninth place, with Niewiadoma passing the dropped GB riders, when the action was in front.
05:57 PM BST
Pfeiffer Georgi: “I have to be content” with fifth
Team GB were the ones with numbers and making moves deep into the finale, racing strongly as a team. Anna Henderson and Lizzie Deignan lit it up with attacks and worked hard for Pfeiffer Georgi. The 23-year-old rode strongly, but just missed out on a medal. Speaking to Eurosport, she said:
“I’m a bit gutted. I felt really good all day and just didn’t have the legs on the last climb. The second time up, I tried something a bit on the descent but time trialling isn’t my suit, so I didn’t think it was going to pay off. I felt strong on the climb and was really hoping I could follow, but the legs just said no.
“I have to be content with where I was.”
05:52 PM BST
Here’s the top 10 results – well, top 13 to include the Team GB results
1. Kristen Faulkner (USA) 3 hours 59 minutes 23 seconds
2. Marianne Vos (Netherlands) at 58 seconds
3. Lotte Kopecky (Belgium)
4. Blanka Vas (Hungary)
5. Pfeiffer Georgi (Great Britain) at 1 minute 21 seconds
6. Mavi Garcia (Spain) at 1 minute 23 seconds
7. Noemi Ruegg (Switzerland) at 2 minutes 4 seconds
8. Kasia Niewiadoma (Poland) at 2 minutes 44 seconds
9. Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) at 3 minutes 5 seconds
10. Marta Lach (Poland) at 3 minutes 27 seconds
11. Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) at 3 minutes 31 seconds
12. Lizzie Deignan (Great Britain) at 3 minutes 34 seconds
13. Anna Henderson (Great Britain)
05:48 PM BST
Deignan happy with her performance after “absymal” preparation
Just spoke to Lizzie Deignan in the mixed zone. She said she had had an “abysmal” build up, with Covid at the Giro (which she didn’t realise she was racing with) and then she was hospitalised a couple of weeks ago with a medical emergency. She didn’t specify what that was.
But under the circumstances she said she was delighted. She went for a “suicide move” on Georgi’s behalf as she realised she had the best legs today. Deignan added that it was chaotic on the road and no one had a clue what was happening.
05:46 PM BST
The new Olympic road race champion reacts
Eurosport has just caught up with the beaming winner, Kristen Faulkner of Team USA:
“I feel like it’s a dream come true. I took a really big risk a few years ago to come pursue my dream and I’ve made it happen. It’s the best feeling in the world.
I had high hopes, I’m racing team pursuit in two days, I said I’d only do the road race if I felt strong and had a chance at a medal. I knew it was going to be a really tough race, but I knew if I was racing, it was to win, not to just participate.
I knew [Lotte] Kopecky wanted to catch the front two, I knew she’d work with me. There were a few times she didn’t seem like she wanted to, I had to make her work, I knew she wanted to win. That was her only chance to win, if we caught them.
I also knew that I had to attack, I couldn’t beat them on the line. The best place to attack was right after we caught them and everyone was a bit tired. That was my chance. I’ve practised my late attack several times this year, I felt pretty comfortable in how I would do it and hoped it would work.”
Did she know that she had won when she crossed the finish line?
“I was pretty sure I won, but to be honest, it was like ‘what in the world has happened?’ I couldn’t process it, it was too big to realise it had happened. I had to double check, triple check. I knew it but I didn’t know it. Did I just win gold?”
05:35 PM BST
Scenes from the finale
05:20 PM BST
How Faulkner outfoxed and outmuscled her rivals
You might watch that later and legitimately ask: why did Vos, Vas and Kopecky do very little to chase her down?
Firstly, it’s likely they were all deeply fatigued from the 158km race. It’s all decided in a matter of seconds.
Secondly, it’s a case of who blinks first loses: so close to the finish, spending energy going all-out to try and chase down the American would likely have meant sacrificing the gold medal, even if they did bring her back. Better to save energy and focus on the race for silver.
Thirdly, Faulkner was very strong, perhaps stronger than they expected.
05:15 PM BST
Kristen Faulkner has realised
She lies in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower with the stars and stripes flag around her. The US champion earned it, beating some of the most respected racers in the sport there – and she still has the team pursuit to come.
05:11 PM BST
All-out sprint for medals, GB’s Georgi fifth
A blanket sprint for the other medals, Vos, Vas and Kopecky neck-and-neck, spread across the line. That’ll go to the photo finish.
Vos pipped Kopecky for silver, and it’s a painful fourth place for Vas. Twenty seconds later, Pfeiffer Georgi easily outkicks Garcia for fifth place.
05:10 PM BST
Kristen Faulkner wins women’s road race
The US rider doesn’t celebrate as she crosses the line and keeps going all out. Does she even know she’s won? You’re the Olympic champion, Kristen. There’s no race radio communication for riders today, which might contribute to the confusion.
05:08 PM BST
Faulkner riding to victory
The mind-blowing strength of Kristen Faulkner. She graduated Harvard. She started out as a venture capitalist and did rowing, coming to pro cycling late.
She took her opportunity and did not hesitate. This is far and away the biggest win of the 31-year-old Alaskan’s short career. 500 metres to go. With a 30-second lead, she’ll be able to savour it.
05:06 PM BST
Over the Seine, it’s four riders racing for the medals
With one last big turn from Kristen Faulkner (USA), we have four leaders. Blanka Vas (Hungary), Marianne Vos (Netherlands) and Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) will fight it out.
Or not: Faulkner attacks them straight away and her rivals look at each other. Nobody wants to chase. The gold medal is riding away up the road.
05:04 PM BST
4km to go: chasers closing on Vos and Vas
After a corkscrewing, narrow, corner-strewn section, Kopecky and Faulkner have clawed back a little more time. The deficit is just three seconds. All four contenders are fatigued. Can they make the junction?
05:01 PM BST
Marianne Vos close to a fairytale
Marianne Vos has won everything there is to win. It would be some story if she managed to win a second Olympic gold on the road, 12 years after beating Deignan on The Mall in 2012. Would be her third Olympic gold in total, of course, having won the points race on the track in Beijing. Vos has won four of her last five sprints against Vas according to Pro Cycling Stats. Can these two hang on?
05:00 PM BST
7km to go: Kopecky and Faulkner chasing all out
It’s two versus two. Kopecky and Faulkner can see Vos and Vas in front of them. The gap is just seven seconds, about 150 metres.
Pfeiffer Georgi is chasing them hard, but it looks like she’ll finish fifth or sixth for Team GB. A sterling showing nevertheless from the youngster.
04:57 PM BST
Pfeiffer Georgi dropped
American racer Kristen Faulkner sets a vicious pace up the climb, drawing Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) with her. Georgi cannot stay with them.
Vos and Vas only lead by seven seconds as they start the descent.
04:54 PM BST
10km to go: Georgi in chase group, 30 seconds down
At last, a shot of that chasing group. There are five riders there: Pfeiffer Georgi of Team GB, Mavi Garcia (Spain), Noemi Ruegg (Switzerland), Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) and Kristen Faulkner (USA). They are doing even turns to chase down the pair leaders.
It’s in the balance. Still a chance of a medal for Georgi, but she may struggle to get the better of the classy Kopecky here.
04:49 PM BST
15km to go: 25 seconds for Vos and Vas
We’re getting precious little footage of the chasing group on the road from the TV producers. GB riders Henderson and Deignan have been dropped, as is Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy. That’s a surprise.
They’re about to race up the Butte Montmartre for the last time. Expect a huge attack from pre-race favourite Lotte Kopecky (Belgium), if she has anything left. Pfeiffer Georgi is still in contention here, hanging tough.
04:46 PM BST
30 seconds lead for Vos and Vas
The Dutchwoman and Hungarian are working well together, fitting given that partnership sounds like a hoary comedy duo. Pfeiffer Georgi and the chasers won’t be laughing.
Both cut their teeth winning cyclo-cross races. Vas is at the other end of her career, 15 years younger than the pro cycling “GOAT”, the Olympic road champion back in 2012 who has won every race under the sun in her remarkable career.
04:42 PM BST
20km to go: Deignan dropped
Under pressure from Vas, Deignan is dropped. Blanka Vas (Hungary) and Marianne Vos (Netherlands) are in front, leading by 19 seconds. Are they riding off with gold and silver?
One more climb of the Butte Montmartre to go.
04:38 PM BST
Deignan and Henderson are back – and on the move
Well, there was such a dip in the pace that GB team-mates Anna Henderson and Lizzie Deignan are back after being dropped on the Butte Montmartre. Deignan goes straight past the idling leaders and on the attack.
Marianne Vos (Netherlands) and Blanka Vas (Hungary) are on her wheel, with Lotte Kopecky chasing hard behind.
04:36 PM BST
Georgi caught
The Briton has been brought back to heel and it’s stalemate.
Here are the nine leaders: Pfeiffer Georgi (Great Britain), Lotte Kopecky (Belgium), Marianne Vos (Netherlands), Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy), Blanka Vas (Hungary), Liane Lippert (Germany), Mavi Garcia (Spain), Noemi Ruegg (Switzerland) and Kristen Faulkner (Team USA).
Longo Borghini gives it a dig, followed by Vos. They are not working well together anymore in front.
04:32 PM BST
Pfeiffer Georgi attacks
Georgi rides hard over the Butte Montmarte, using her bike handling skills to distance Kristen Faulkner (Team USA). However, she only has a handful of seconds’ lead.
Puncture for Marta Lach (Poland) and she’s out of the front group. Rotten luck.
04:31 PM BST
Henderson and Deignan dropped on the Butte Montmartre
Pfeiffer Georgi’s team-mates did a lot of hard work to set the pace for their GB leader and they have dropped off the lead group. That’s the numerical advantage gone. Unperturbed, Georgi takes up the pace at the front as she races past the Sacre Coeur.
Nine riders left in front, 27km to go.
Behind, Kasia Niewiadoma and Lorena Wiebes are attacking on the cobbled climb to make up the gap, but it’s still 45 seconds.
04:27 PM BST
Anna Henderson attacks
30km to go, and Henderson makes the most of the numerical advantage by going on the attack again. The Hemel Hempstead local has been prominent today. Marta Lach (Poland) joins her, then Marianne Vos (Netherlands) bridges across at speed. The group is threatening to break up as they hit the Butte Montmartre.
04:23 PM BST
Can Pfeiffer Georgi get a medal?
Great Britain are in a strong position, they’ve done exceptionally well to get all three riders into the dozen-strong front group.
And yet, it’ll be a tough ask to beat the likes of Marianne Vos (Netherlands), Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) and Liane Lippert (Germany). Clearly, as Deignan and Henderson do the lion’s share of the pace-setting, they’re going all-in for Pfeiffer Georgi.
They’re about to turn onto the Butte Montmartre for the second time.
04:21 PM BST
Fervour for French hopefuls
Big cheers from the crowds here at the finish as the third chase group, led by Audrey Cordon Ragot, was given some screen time. If they can make it back, you might see Marc Madiot get as excited today as he did yesterday when Valentin Madous and Christophe Laporte took silver and bronze in the men’s race.
“POUR LA FRAAAAAAAANCEEEEEE !”
🚴♂️ Nouveau MEME de Marc Madiot débloqué dans ces JO 🔓😍😂
Si vous avez comme une envie de chair de poule, mettez le son à fond 🔊⬇️ pic.twitter.com/K6iQn1CFoG
— RMC (@RMCInfo) August 3, 2024
04:18 PM BST
Team GB take charge
Lizzie Deignan sets the pace in front for the ten leaders, with Georgi saving energy at the back of the group. Team GB have their full contingent here in the front group and there is strength in numbers.
After Mavi Garcia (Spain) puts in a dig, Anna Henderson chases her down. They will be mindful of ensuring Vollering, Wiebes and company don’t get back in touch: their group is 35 seconds behind.
04:12 PM BST
40km to go: GB’s Pfeiffer Georgi rides on the front
This scenario suits Team GB contender Pfeiffer Georgi, with several dangerous rivals distanced down the road. The Demi Vollering group is 40 seconds away and she is getting little help from rivals.
She is setting the pace on the front with Kristen Faulkner (USA) on her wheel, followed by Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) and Blanka Vas (Hungary). Lizzie Deignan grits her teeth and keeps the tempo high.
04:08 PM BST
Kopecky chasing down lead group
The Belgian contender is on her own, about 10 seconds in arrears. She ought to make it back on. Dutch stars Demi Vollering and Lorena Wiebes are in a bigger group, slightly further back. That delay before turning onto the climb has caused all sorts of problems.
There’s not much cohesion in the lead group. Anna Henderson and Lizzie Deignan have just chased back on, making it all three Team GB riders in front. They’ve got a numerical advantage, though the latter pair are tired.
04:03 PM BST
45km to go: ten in the front group, first time up the Butte Montmartre
Mavi Garcia (Spain) rides hard on the cobblestones of the Butte Montmartre with Kristen Faulkner (USA) at the front of the lead group. The camera helicopter pans out and we can see pre-race favourite Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) racing hard: she was stuck behind the Dygert fall and is having to make up time. That could impact how she races in the finale.
Elisa Longo Borghini and Marianne Vos dodged the carnage and are there. So is Pfeiffer Georgi of Team GB.
04:00 PM BST
Crash for Dygert as break is caught
As the city circuit narrows before the first ascent of Butte Montmartre, Chloe Dygert (USA) goes down about twenty riders back, bringing down a few others. It slows down plenty of others. Deignan and Georgi were in front of the carnage, avoiding problems.
It’s over for Hashimi and Tserakh, the last breakaways have been caught. What an effort from the pair. Leading the road race into central Paris over the Seine and past the Louvre, those are memories to last a lifetime.
03:51 PM BST
Peloton back in Paris
Franziska Koch (Germany) jumps from the front of the bunch, but she’s marked by Megan Armitage (Ireland) and neither have any joy. Alison Jackson of Canada, a former Paris-Roubaix winner, tries to escape as well. There are only 40 riders or so left in the bunch as they head back through central Paris.
There are 53km left to race and the bunch are five kilometres from the first ascent of the Butte Montmartre, a magnet for spectators and likely launchpad for wannabe winning moves. They will do three laps of the 18km finishing circuit, which has a couple of shorter drags too to push legs, head and lungs to the maximum.
03:41 PM BST
60km to go
Attacks come thick and fast now. Lizzie Deignan (Great Britain) gives it a go, followed by Elena Cecchini (Italy). Victoire Berteau (France) accelerates, but every move is being marked so far. Stalemate.
Henderson uses a lull in the pace to strike again. Marianne Vos (Netherlands) hits out to bring her back into the bunch. The break’s lead is dropping like a stone, down to 1:21.
03:35 PM BST
Anna Henderson (Team GB) attacks
On the steep gradients of the Côte du Pavé des Gardes, the last hill before those in central Paris, Mavi Garcia (Spain) launches an attack. Lizzie Deignan is a dozen wheels back, vigilantly following it. Anna Henderson bides her time in the wheel and launches an attack over the top. It’s keeping the pace up and dropping a few riders in the bunch, including Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands).
In front, Hannah Tserakh (Individual Neutral Athletes) and Fariba Hashimi (Afghanistan) dropped their breakaway companions on the short, sharp climb.
03:32 PM BST
Berets, baguettes and breakaways
03:26 PM BST
70km to race: showdown in Paris awaits
Yulduz Hashimi (Afghanistan) sits up and waves her arms, amping up the watching crowd in the French capital’s suburbs. She is enjoying leading the Olympic women’s road race, in front alongside sister and compatriot Fariba, Rotem Gafinovitz (Israel), Hanna Tserakh (Individual Neutral Athletes), Nora Jencusova (Slovakia) and Thi That Nguyen (Vietnam).
The bunch is waking up behind, cutting their lead to 3:21. In 30 minutes or so, the racers will be back in Paris for three laps of the decisive 18km finishing circuit, where the kilometre-long, cobbled Butte Montmartre will be a launchpad for attacks.
03:20 PM BST
Break’s lead drops under four minutes
Yulduz Hashimi hangs onto the Shimano neutral service car, getting some deft help from the mechanic sat inside to change her handlebar height. Up in the breakaway, three years after fleeing Afghanistan following the Taliban’s seizing of power, the 24-year-old doesn’t want to pull over and risk having to play catch-up.
Back in the bunch, Anna Henderson is taking water bottles on and having a quick chat with GB team manager Matt Brammeier. Her silver medal in the time trial last weekend was a happy surprise and the former skier will want to add another piece of Olympic precious metal here.
03:15 PM BST
Netherlands up the pace in bunch
Time trial doyenne Ellen van Dijk is powering away in the peloton for her decorated Dutch team-mates, cutting the break’s lead to 4:20. She’s had a race against time to recover from a fractured ankle sustained in early June; she still finds it hard to unclip her pedals from the bike, but she’s doing a good job at turning them hard on the roads around Paris.
Olga Zabelinskaya (Uzbekistan) has been caught after her futile 30km escape between break and bunch.
02:58 PM BST
90km to race: a “potato chase” in the middle
As the six-rider break takes on the Côte du Saint-Remy-les-Chevreuse, Georgi is safely back in the bunch. They are 5:48 behind the leaders.
Olga Zabelinskaya (Uzbekistan) is 3:57 behind the break, on her lonesome having what the French call chasse patate in cycling terminology: a potato chase, a pointless endeavour.
02:51 PM BST
Mechanical issue for GB’s Pfeiffer Georgi
No such drama for Team GB’s three-time national champion, who stops at the side of the road. She quickly gets a new bike and is on her way again. Not ideal, but if you’re going to have any kind of problem, now is the time for it, not the final 40km when it’s all-out racing in Paris.
02:49 PM BST
Niamh Fisher-Black’s mechanical nightmare
Talk about a botched bike change. You could put the Benny Hill theme tune to that.
The New Zealander needs a new bike because of a puncture, but the mechanic only brings a new wheel and is dispatched back to the car. Once on her fetched steed, it transpires the battery is dead and she can’t change out of the smallest gear.
Spinning her legs at about 200rpm for a couple of minutes, she eventually links up with her team car and the mechanic leans out of the car to fix the issue, necessitating a long chase through the convoy. Luckily, the race isn’t on and the bunch is creaking along.
The mountain-loving SD Worx-Protime youngster is an outside bet for a medal, she could be one to go on the front foot up the Butte Montmartre.
02:42 PM BST
100km to go: Six riders in front
As they pass the race’s most westerly point and head back to Paris, the chasers have caught our lone leader. The six in front are Fariba Hashimi (Afghanistan), Yulduz Hashimi (Afghanistan), Rotem Gafinovitz (Israel), Hanna Tserakh (Individual Neutral Athletes) ,Nora Jencusova (Slovakia) and Thi That Nguyen (Vietnam).
They lead veteran Olga Zabelinskaya by 3:22. The bronze medallist in the road race at London 2012 has clipped off the front in pursuit.
The peloton is 5:11 down, with Team GB’s Lizzie Deignan, Pfeiffer Georgi and Anna Henderson safely in there. We haven’t seen much of them: they’re sat in the slipstream, saving energy for the showdown later.
02:30 PM BST
Meet the pre-race favourite
Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) is top of most bookmakers’ lists, and with good reason. A fast-finishing sprinter who can climb with the best, she has very few weaknesses and will be a formidable challenger.
She won Paris-Roubaix, Strade Bianche and the Tour of Britain this year and has spent the season racing in the rainbow jersey after winning the world title in Glasgow last year.
The 28-year-old will hope to end her Olympic hoodoo. At Tokyo 2020, she crashed in both the omnium and Madison, wrecking her chances of a medal, and finished fourth in the road race.
02:19 PM BST
A game chase group forms behind Jencusova
It contains the Yashimi sisters, racing to inspire millions of women in Afghanistan – see the 13.10 GMT entry for more – alongside Rotem Gafinovitz (Israel), Hanna Tserakh (Individual Neutral Athletes) and Thi That Nguyen (Vietnam). They are gaining on the Slovakian, 25 seconds down.
With 115km left to race, a disinterested bunch is 3:30 in arrears. We’re a long way from Kiesenhofer/Tokyo 2020 panic stations territory: realistically, these are six minnows up the road who don’t pose a significant medal threat.
02:00 PM BST
130km to go: Nora Jencusova (Slovakia) attacks
It’s the calm before the storm as the bunch trundles west into the Chevreuse valley. World university road race champion Jencusova has taken a flyer, leading the bunch by 55 seconds, able to take in the grandeur of the Palace of Versailles without any other riders around her.
Yulduz Hashimi (Afghanistan) is chasing hard in no (wo)man’s land, 25 seconds in arrears.
01:51 PM BST
Deignan flying under the radar for once
For so long, Lizzie Deignan has been the figurehead of British women’s road racing, walking the walk and talking the talk. A vociferous advocate for women in sport, she’s won over 40 races in her career including all the biggest ones: world road title, Commonwealth Games, Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
She took a break from pro cycling in late 2021 to give birth to her second child, Shea. Since returning, she’s done plenty of work for team-mates at her trade team, Lidl-Trek, and hasn’t won a race individually. Sixth at last year’s World Championships road race is the pick of her performances.
While it’ll be some ride if she finishes higher than that, the experienced Yorkshirewoman has a knack for saving her best for the biggest occasions.
01:39 PM BST
Bunch back together
Bamogo is caught on the day’s first climb. As Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) taps out a gentle pace – methinks we’ll be seeing her on the front a lot today – several riders are already suffering and being dropped.
Former African continental champion Ese Lovina Ukpeseraye (Nigeria) is one of them, battling to stay in touch. She might not be on the podium this afternoon, but that green-and-white striped Nigerian team kit is a winner, one of the best in the bunch.
01:33 PM BST
The scene at the start in Trocadero
Just back from watching the start. Not a whole lot to report. The most startling thing for me was the way we went from Jeannie Longo’s solemn, ceremonial taps to Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now) within the space of about half a second.
Chloe Dygert didn’t seem to be hobbling following her crash in last weekend’s time trial. It will be interesting to see whether she finishes today’s race given her track commitments this coming week. If she’s not in contention, perhaps she’ll tap out.
I still have visions of Dygert’s leg spasming in the mixed zone following that crash in the wet last Saturday. For some reason the US medic allowed her to carry on speaking to us for about 15 mins in the freezing cold after the spasm had passed. Seems like yonks ago.
01:30 PM BST
145km to go: Awa Bamogo (Burkina Faso) breaks away
The 25-year-old debutant is making the most of a slow-rolling peloton. Attacking in the Paris outskirts, she has a lead of 45 seconds, hunkered down in the drops. She’s making the most of this potential once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, though the forthcoming first climb of the day – the 2km Côte des Gardes – will likely slow her progress.
01:20 PM BST
What happened at Tokyo 2020? Kiesenhofer’s shock triumph
From the COVID-19-enforced postponement to the shock winner, not much went to plan at the Olympic women’s road race for the favourites.
Rank outsider Anna Kiesenhofer went off the front on a long solo breakaway, the bunch were slow to cobble together a chase and they badly misjudged the Austrian’s strength and resolve. They left their efforts too late and she came away with the gold medal despite the hilly terrain, over a minute ahead of silver medallist Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy).
It’s one of the biggest shocks in modern cycling history. Kiesenhofer has done the square root of sod all since then, but she’ll always have that Olympic gold medal and the memories. The 33-year-old is on the start line today, but she won’t be getting that kind of freedom up the road this afternoon.
01:13 PM BST
Official start
The flag drops, 158km to go, racing is underway. The peloton rolls past the Notre-Dame and Pantheon. I can’t think of a better event for showing off the cultural delights of Paris. Not that the French capital needs much help for attracting visitors.
01:10 PM BST
The Hashimi sisters: overcoming Afghanistan horror and hardship
Afghanistan’s Fariba Hashimi waves at the camera as the bunch takes on the five-kilometre neutralised section from the start on the Pont d’Iena.
It’s not all about winning medals at the Olympics: that the two sisters, Fariba and Yulduz, are even racing here is some feat. They only started cycling six years ago and were stoned and insulted in their home country for racing in short clothes and without a head scarf. They fled their home country days after the Taliban returned to power in 2021 and have trained for the Olympics at the UCI World Cycling Centre in Switzerland.
“We represent the oppressed women of Afghanistan who are not even allowed to go to school,” Fariba told CBS News. “I will win, and bring a smile to their faces and hope in their hearts, thinking one day they could also fulfil their dreams.”
01:02 PM BST
Jeannie Longo does the three taps and they’re off
The 1980s and 1990s French star gives it the trois coups ritual with the big stick to get the race underway. She won gold in the Olympic road race at Atlanta 1996 and nine elite world road titles in a lengthy career, checquered by a positive test for ephredine and three missed doping tests.
12:54 PM BST
Nils Politt’s pause – aka what happens when a rider needs an urgent toilet stop in central Paris?
Five minutes to go until the start. Last-minute toilet breaks for the riders. They probably don’t want to hit social media today like Nils Politt (Germany), who had an upset stomach after having so many energy gels in the heat and had to stop at the Cafe des 2 Moulins in Montmartre, surrounded by fans, for a natural break during the race finale.
Of course, that’s also one part of what makes cycling’s road races so great: free, unfettered access to their heroes – even midrace, on this exceptional occasion.
The tens of thousands of fans on Rue Lepic and around Montmartre created an unforgettable atmosphere in yesterday’s men’s road race, and they’ll no doubt be out in force in the Sunday sun to cheer on the women.
12:44 PM BST
Outsiders who could cause an upset
After taking a bronze medal in the time trial, despite crashing hard in the rain, Chloe Dygert is lining up here. She’s made of stern stuff.
Together with Kristen Faulkner, the pair of Americans will offer a threat on the attack, though they’ll both likely have to pre-empt the expected moves from punchier contenders Kopecky and Vollering.
Meanwhile, Juliette Labous (France) had a flying TT, finishing fourth, and she will be there or thereabouts. Look out for Kasia Niewiadoma (Poland), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark), time trial gold medallist Grace Brown (Australia) and Kim Cadzow (New Zealand) too. With little control once the race splits up and the potential for favourites to mark one another out of conteiton, it ought to be a case of she who dares wins.
12:36 PM BST
Women’s road race preview
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the Olympic women’s road race.
The 158km course will be one of the longest races of the year for this bunch. Realistically, Team GB will do very well to come away with a medal, given the versatility of pre-race favourite Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) and the unparalleled strength-in-depth of the Netherlands.
Even with the four-rider maximum in this dinky 93-rider field, the oranje possess a fearsome line-up: GOAT Marianne Vos, still winning regularly 18 years after her first senior world title, prolific sprinter Lorena Wiebes and reigning Tour de France Femmes champion Demi Vollering, who is perhaps best-suited to the punchy Butte Montmartre climb, the key test in the finishing circuit.
Starting at 13:00 BST, the riders will head west from the shadow of the Eiffel Tower through Versailles and out into the lumpy Chevreuse before returning and taking in three laps of the photogenic, fan-packed city centre loop up and through Montmartre in the last 50km. In total, the course includes 1,700 metres of elevation. There are no lofty, lung-busting mountains, but lots of short, leg-stinging hills.
Italy are not to be discounted either, with irrepressible attacker Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) fresh off a Giro d’Italia win and always one to leave everything out there.
Lizzie Deignan has ruled as a British contender for over a decade. She hit the big time with silver to Marianne Vos at London 2012 and has won almost every prestigious race under the sun sincve then – a world road title, Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders, Strade Bianche. At her fourth Olympic Games, can the stalwart and mother of two roll back the years one more time and challenge?
The form book suggests that team-mate and British road race champion Pfeiffer Georgi is a better outside tip for silverware. The 23-year-old has consistently been challenging for big wins this year, finishing third at Paris-Roubaix and fourth at Amstel Gold Race.
With such small teams and no race radios for on-the-fly time gaps or communication, perhaps having two cards to play will be in Team GB’s favour. Belgium proved that yesterday, with Remco Evenepoel doing an Olympic road double with fellow favourite Wout van Aert tracking Mathieu van der Poel attacks behind.
Time trial silver medallist Anna Henderson completes the Team GB roster, bringing her big engine and bunch craft.
Source Agencies
