Women's Road Race - London 2012 Olympics - Medal Results
In what I'm sure is a shocking turn of events, it is raining in London! However, a little (or a lot) of rain isn't going to stop the tough competitors in today's Women's Road Race event.
The Women's Road Race features Holland's Marianne Vos who expects to be challenged for gold by American sprinter Evelyn Stevens and Giorgia Bronzini of Italy. However, a lot can happen over the course of a 140k bike race. As many British fans were reminded in yesterday's Men's race, the Road Race is a game of tactics, strategy and a bit of luck and often it's not the fastest or strongest that wins, but the competitor who has the best combination of skill, luck, strategy and a little help from their friends that claims the gold.
The London course treks through a picturesque Surry neighborhood, with its most famous feature being "Box Hill," which is the site of most of the big moves on the race course. The riders must brave the hill, including it's hairpin left turn twice before the race finally heads back to London for the home stretch.
The wet road conditions, with some parts of the course being covered in rather impressive pools of water, contributed to a number of crashes throughout the race, particularly in that hairpin left turn. Not a good day to find yourself at the back of the pack.
The Dutch team gave the rest of the field everything they could handle with attacks occuring all over the race course. Not quite so many spectators standing along the side of the course as there were for the men's race and so far no naked people....
After a bit of a break from the rain in the middle of the race, as the women headed down the final leg of the course, the rain began pouring down again and things got pretty hairy in the final corner, with one rider crashing head long into the barrier.
With just about 7 miles to go, the race appeared to become a three woman race, as the Russian, Dutch and British rider pulled away from the Peloton.
After three and a half grueling hours of racing, it turns into a three way sprint for the finish! Vos makes an aggressive move in the last 200 meters, but has to hold off a tough challenge from Armitstead, trying to erase the disappointment of the men's race and bring home Britain's first gold. However, it's not to be, as Vos is just too strong and hangs on to claim the gold!
What an exciting finish! These are some tough ladies. The wet conditions made this already grueling race a real test of determination and skill.
Results:
Gold: Marianne Vos - Netherlands
Silver: Elizabeth Armitstead - Great Britain
Bronze: Olga Zabelinskaya - Russia
Congratulations to all the medal winners and to the host team for picking up their first of the games!
