Paris 2024: Kristen Faulkner soloes to brilliant women's road race gold ahead of Marianne Vos and Lotte Kopecky
Updated 04/08/2024 at 20:45 GMT+1
Kristen Faulkner broke clear from a lead group containing Marianna Vos and Lotte Kopecky with 2km of the women's road race to go to take gold. The 31-year-old American only turned professional in 2020 and becomes the first American to win the medal since Connie Carpenter at Los Angeles 1984. In a sprint for the remaining medals, Vos took silver while Kopecky claimed bronze.
Watch finish to road race as Faulkner clinches gold, Vos silver, Kopecky bronze
Video credit: TNT Sports
Kristen Faulkner performed a tactical masterclass two kilometres to the line in the women’s road race, breaking clear from a lead group of four containing race favourites Lotte Kopecky and Marianna Vos to solo to victory.
The 31-year-old took advantage of her opponents' indecisiveness as the quartet passed the point where Remco Evenepoel had suffered a flat tyre just 24 hours, puncturing the hopes of world champion Kopecky and London 2012 Olympic champion Vos and using raw power to pull away on the banks of the Seine.
The American time trialled to the finish, making 58 seconds on the chase group that also featured Hungary’s Blanka Vas. Crossing the line, she kept her head down and didn’t even take her hands off the handlebars, appearing to be in disbelief at what she’d just achieved.
Kopecky, Vos and Vas would sprint for the final medal placings, the Dutch veteran adding silver to the gold she won at London 2012, while the 2024 Paris-Roubaix Femmes winner edged Vas in a photo finish for bronze.
“I feel like it’s a dream come true,” she said to Discovery Plus’ Adam Blythe at the line.Â
“I took a really big risk a few years ago to come pursue my dream and I made it happen. And it’s the best feeling in the world. I don’t know how to describe it.
“I knew Kopecky wanted to catch the front two with me, so I knew she’d work with me. There were a few times where it seemed like she didn’t want to work and I had to make her work.Â
“I knew she wanted to win. I knew that her only chance of winning was if we caught them. But I also knew that if we caught them, I had to attack, because I couldn’t beat any of them on the line. I knew that the best place to attack would be right after we caught them when everyone was a bit tired and that was my chance.Â
“I’ve practised my late attack several times this year so I felt pretty comfortable in how to do it. I’ve practised it a lot and I just hoped it worked.”
Faulkner becomes the first American to win gold in the event since Connie Carpenter at Los Angeles 1984, and did so in its longest ever edition - a 158-kilometre route peppered with short, sharp climbs that concluded with two laps of the 18.4km city centre circuit.
Rolling out along the Left Bank four hours earlier, riders were able to drink in the atmosphere during a five-kilometre neutralised zone, with spectators lining the road along the Seine five-deep.Â
When the race started in earnest, Awa Bamogo was the first to break - Burkina Faso’s only entrant going solo with a little under 155 kilometres to go. The rest of the bunch, controlled by teams from the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland, were happy to let the 25-year-old Olympic debutant go, catching her on the first climb of the day: Cote des Gardes (1.9km at 6%).
A number of attacks on the descent animated the bunch, but none stuck until Slovakia’s national champion Nora Jencusova stayed away as the peloton neared the Palace of Versailles.Â
Afghanistan’s Yulduz Hashimi broke shortly after in an attempt to join the lone breakaway, while four more riders - Rotem Gafinovitz (Israel), Hannah Tserakj (AIN), Thi That Nguyen (Vietnam) and Hashimi’s sister and team-mate Fariba - were allowed to slip off the front of main peloton to form a five-strong chase group.
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The main group of favourites started to work with 90 kilometres remaining and soon started to whittle down the breakaway’s six-minute lead with the Netherlands controlling the bunch.
Re-entering Paris, the escapees were in sight, and it wasn’t long until the decisive flashpoint set the race alight.
A crash in the peloton with 48km remaining on a narrow corner of the twisting, turning course was the spark. A group of 11 featuring all of Team GB’s riders went clear, while Team USA’s Chloe Dygert and world champion Kopecky were caught up in the delay.
The Belgian - one of the favourites for the race - time trialled herself back to the group to make it a strong dozen, but had she burned through her matches to just stay in contention?
On the second ascent of the cobbled Cote de la butte Montmartre (1km at 6.5%), the lead group was animated once more, Team GB’s Lizzie Deigan and Anna Henderson unable to stick with the pace and dropping off the back. But team-mate Pfeiffer Georgi used all of her bike handling prowess to attack on the descent, breakaway from the front group.
Kopecky was forced to work to bring back the British rider - the group not wanting to help the Belgian in her tilt at trying to emulate team-mate Evenepoel’s victory.
The pressure appeared to go out of the front group as they all attacked each other rather than working together, allowing Deignan and Henderson to regroup before the London 2012 silver medallist went over the top - only Vos and Vas tracking the move.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
The 35-year-old couldn’t hang on though, Vos and Vas working together to pull away to extend a gap of 35 seconds on the eight-strong chase group containing Kopecky, Henderson and Borghini.
With 13km remaining, the chase group started working together again and the pace was too much for Henderson, Deignan and Borghini, reducing the battle for bronze medal on the road to five. But with the gap to the leaders at 30 seconds, it looked like it was too little, too late.
With 10km to go, Kopecky and Faulkner laid down the watts on the final climb of Montmartre, dropping everyone and reducing the gap to six seconds on the leaders as Vos and Vas sailed past Sacre-Coeur.
After a tense run in, the chasing pair caught the leaders as they rejoined the Left Bank. But the Team USA rider wasn’t hanging around to try and win in a four-up sprint.
Kicking again, Kopecky, Vos and Vas had no response to Faulkner’s attack - the trio looking at each other as the meters ticked down rather than working to contain the break.
Rounding the final corner, Faulkner had extended her lead to almost a minute and had enough time to step off her bike to celebrate. But she kept her head down, hardly acknowledging the enormity of her achievement, appearing shocked at what she’d just carried off in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
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