- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
news
Rio 2016 logo.jpgGreg Van Avermaet wins Olympic road race
Belgium's Greg Van Avermaet has won a dramatic Olympic road race in Rio today to continue a dream 2016 season, with a crash on the final descent taking out Italy's Vincenzo Nibali and Sergio Henao of Colombia when they seemed poised to contest the medals with Poland's Rafal Majka.
Nibali, Henao and Majka were off the front of the race with 12 kilometres remaining on the way down from the third and final climb to Vista Cinesa when the Italian and Colombian came down.
Majka managed to avoid them, and suddenly found himself alone at the front of the race, with a select group of eight riders - including Great Britain's Geraint Thomas - chasing around a quarter of a minute behind.
But shortly afterwards, Thomas - the country's last hope for a medal with Chris Froome already distanced in what proved to be a tough, attritional race - also crashed.
Twice an Olympic champion on the track, the Welshman was able to complete the race in 11th place - Froome was 12th, and Adam Yates 15th - but the medals had long been decided.
After the final descent bottomed out, Van Avermaet and Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang attacked from the chasing group to set out in pursuit of Majka, and caught the leader 1.5 kilometres from the finish line at Copacabana.
The Pole was spent following his efforts to stay away and finished with the bronze medal, while Van Avermaet, the strongest sprinter of the three, launched his sprint early to beat Fuglsang to the line.
His Olympic gold medal comes in a season in which the BMC Racing rider has won the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Tirreno-Adriatico and a stage of the Tour de France, where he also wore the race leader's yellow jersey for three days.
After taking Belgium's first Olympic gold medal since 1996, Van Avermaet said: “When I saw the crash I was confused about how many riders were still up the road. I was working with Fuglsang and we saw Majka.
"We knew it was possible. I knew I had to hang on. I am so happy for gold. Everyone said all week it was for everyone else."
Fuglsang said: "It was a crazy race. A good race to watch. He [Van Avermaet] was willing to work because he knows he's stronger than me in the sprint."
Team GB coach Rod Ellingworth said: “In general, great team work. The way the lads wanted to race was how they actually raced. It was just unfortunate about the crash at the end. When you think about how many riders crashed down there it was pretty mad.
"Looking at Geraint there he was proper, proper disappointed. He knew that was a proper gold medal chance."
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- mark1a 2 hours 42 min ago
No problem at all old chap, its successor the CAAD13 is available in mechanical 105 11sp guise (not too shabby a groupset IMO with Shimano trickle...
- David9694 3 hours 36 min ago
Car crashing into Colchester Co-op sees two hospitalised https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/24719022.car-crashing-colchester-co-...
- mdavidford 3 hours 36 min ago
That's an 'interesting and brave' repurposing of the word 'highbrow' there.
- mdavidford 3 hours 43 min ago
Best to avoid driving on the A34 if at all possible, never mind cycling on it.
- . . 3 hours 47 min ago
I have two of these (I use one on the front with the red LED turned off and taped up) and think they are great, at least in daylight Plenty of...
- JohnMcL7 4 hours 17 min ago
With the lack of any decent content updates for a long time now, the build up to the tenth anniversary and the big hike in monthly price we'd...
- Prosper0 4 hours 37 min ago
No offence to Endura, but same advice as to Rapha, I actually have all the kit I need, for probably several years. You need to go and win the next...
- chrisonabike 8 hours 32 min ago
Ah - yes, they've got an American Star the wrong way round (means the child carrier needs rearranged though). Or it could be a Facile but inverted?
- lesterama 10 hours 24 min ago
What a bunch of ases
- quiff 11 hours 17 min ago
It was only your comment in the carousel that first brought me here, and yet I still managed to read most of the page before remembering this isn't...
Add new comment
19 comments
Are the organizers of Tokyo 2020 going to dig canals on either side of the roads and fill them with man-eating crocodiles? Because if they did it would only be marginally more dangerous than Rio's wheel-trap gutters on the final descent.
Would be more safe because speeds would be lower on the flat sections where the canals are.
many thanks simon. I even confused myself because now the womens bikes are orange
.
does anybody know whats the aldialized yellow bikes a lot of the olympians are on? Its really bugging me, and again with the womens race.
Assume you mean these?
http://road.cc/content/tech-news/199595-specialized%E2%80%99s-rio-olympi...
I thought it was a fascinating race (the last hour and a half that I saw) and think that GVA, not known as a climber, really earned his win. Stunning parcours, it certainly kept me interested more than any previous Olympic RR I can recall.
As Boardman said in commentary, the best descenders are the guys who take it closer to the limit than the rest. On this occasion pushing hard cost Nibali and Henao a medal. Geraint looked like he was on his limit on the final climb, I don't think he'd have got himself a medal anyway.
I don't know what you mean about commentators being in a London studio, CB and Simon Brotherton were at the seaside in Rio.
https://twitter.com/Chris_Boardman/status/761878878948364288
fantastic race, well done GvA
Excellent and deserved win for GVA.
A true Belgian hardman.
Chapeau!
Great race. tricky descent tho. Hope Porte isn't to badly injured.
Apparently, he has broken collarbone and ribs and Nibali has broken collarbone. Thomas and Henao just cuts and bruises.
That looked like one tough race.
well done Greg
Was hoping Froome would drop out as a challenge to Dumoulin after he resigned at the start. Crash was a shame, ruined the race for me, wanted to see them slug it out, instead of watching that tragic and cheap looking end.
"Cheap Looking"?
Oh what could have been if G hadn't crashed. But then again, what if Nibali hadn't crashed? We still got an epic exciting finish.
*You got a finish you found epic which excited you.
I got a finish that looked like a total facepalm. Made worse by gut wrechingly shit commentary.
I don't know about for the cycling, but there are very few journalists actually in Rio this time around (except Claire Balding, it appears); most of the commentary and reporting is done from offices in London, by reporters/commentators watching the same images that the public do.
Some riders took too many risks on a dangerous descent as predicted by Boardman. There were crashes, a lone survivor, a chase and a sprint. There was narrative. Natural drama, that is when sport is at its best. You will remember this one for a long time. What more do you want?
So, your guy didn't win, so what. Stop being bombastic and say what you mean.
You described the race to me, which I saw. I thought the finish was an anti-climax to what was turning into an a decent final 25km. I didn't have 'a guy' and never said I had a guy, so you're just making up nonsense, which is odd behaviour for an adult.
Someone else on the planet thought the way the race turned out was pants. Deal with it.
What an Earth are you on about?!