Cycling Weekly Magazine 11th August 2016 Retour à l'édition précédente

BRUTAL START FOR RIDERS IN RIO
It was always going to be a tall order but in two wildly unpredictable races over a hectic opening weekend of sport, Great Britain lost out in the road race roulette at the opening cycling events at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Amid high hopes for the team in the road races just as they were in London four years ago, Lizzie Armitstead claimed GB’s best performance by sprinting across the line on the seafront of Copacabana beach for fifth in the women’s road race behind Dutch winner Anna van der Breggen. With a medal almost in sight, Geraint Thomas crashed out on the demanding final descent from the hills of Rio, getting up from the gutter to finish eleventh behind canny Belgian winner Greg van Avermaet while Chris Froome, who sprinted to twelfth, was unable to become the first man to win the Tour de France and Olympic Games road race double.