World Championships 2012 / 22 September / Elite Women
The elite women had to start their road race at the World Championships at 2.30 in the afternoon, after the Men Under 23 race had finished. In the photo above four riders from Italy and Russia were warming up before they had to line up at the start line. There were 132 riders at the start and Giorgia Bronzini was wearing the number one on her back, because she was the World Champion in 2011 and was given the chance to defend her title in 2012.
The peloton with Evelyn Stevens, a talented rider from the USA, just before crossing the finish line for the first time. The women had to face a distance of 128,8 km, which meant that they had to cross the finish line several times that day on the local circuit. 80 riders were able to finish the race after riding their bikes for over 3 hours and 2 riders unfortunately finished outside the time limit.
It was a very special championship for Marianne Vos (NED) this year. The fact that she got to ride in her own country and for her own country and fans would give her extra motivation, she stated in many interviews before the race. After having become 2nd for so many times, this would be the perfect opportunity to win the gold medal. It was magnificent to see that Vos was able to stand the pressure and got to wear the rainbow jersey at the end of the day.
Marianne Vos’ team was able to bring her in the perfect position by attacking several times from early on in the race. Eventually, the young and talented rider Anna van der Breggen (NED) had a special role in this, because she managed to stay away and become 5th. Marianne Vos took the gold medal home, Rachel Neylan (AUS) won silver and Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA) won bronze.
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