CyclingNewsHound

Shocked Van Vleuten rides through pain to cap stellar year with road race gold

24-Sep-2022 09:10:13 | The Guardian

• Dutch rider was a domestique but pounced on chance of victory
• 39-year-old was nursing fractured elbow after crash this week

Everything changed with 30 kilometres to go. It was as if a switch had been flicked, a new act begun in the theatrical showing that was the elite women’s road race at the 2022 Road World Championships in Wollongong on Saturday. And, lingering patiently in the wings, the surprise star – the Netherlands’ Annemiek van Vleuten – waiting to steal the show yet again.

After ominous clouds had threatened all day, suddenly the rain started to fall. The home nation of Australia took the downpour as their cue: first Amanda Spratt, a two-time medallist at the world championships, then the team’s protected star Grace Brown, and finally workhorse rider Sarah Roy. None of the Australians could make their efforts stick on local roads, but it was the opening that other nations needed.