In a thrilling finish, American Kristen Faulkner won the women’s grand-distance race at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in an extraordinary and surprising manner on Sunday, climbing to the top of the podium to claim the gold medal.
The places of honor were completed by Marianne Vos of the Netherlands and Lotte Kopecky of Belgium. Paula Patiño from Antioquia, Colombia’s only representative, finished 50th, 7:53 behind the winner.
The 92 riders were presented with a route with a length of 158 kilometers and 1,700 meters of elevation gain, where the cobblestone climb of the Côte de la butte Montmartre (1 km at 6.5%) was definitive.
In the early stages Era Awa Bamogo of Burkina Faso made a move just 15 kilometers from the start, but her attempt failed and she was quickly neutralized by the peloton.
Then came the first breakaway of the day with Slovakia’s Nora Jencusova, Israel’s Rotem Gafinovitz, Thailand’s Thi That Nguyen and Belarus’ Hanna Tserakh and Afghan sisters Yulduz and Fariba Hashimi.
With 68 kilometers to go, the most serious moves started. Not only the leading group exploded completely, but the large peloton was selected. Spain’s Mavi Garcia was the first to change the pace, followed by Marianne Vos and Demi Vollering, who reacted to the attacks of British riders Anna Henderson and Elizabeth Deignan and Canadian Alison Jackson.
In the closing stages, the favorites appeared, but they were surprised by the American Kristen Faulkner, who launched an attack 3.4 km from the finish line to win alone with a time of 3 hours, 59 seconds and 23 minutes.
With 68 kilometers to go, the most serious moves started. Not only the leading group exploded completely, but the large peloton was selected. Spain’s Mavi Garcia was the first to change the pace, followed by Marianne Vos and Demi Vollering, who reacted to the attacks of British riders Anna Henderson and Elizabeth Deignan and Canadian Alison Jackson.
In the closing stages, the favorites appeared, but they were surprised by the American Kristen Faulkner, who launched an attack 3.4 km from the finish line to win alone with a time of 3 hours, 59 seconds and 23 minutes.
Olympic Games WE – Road Race (Olympics)
Resultados París › París (157,6 km)
| 1 | Kristen Faulkner | Estados Unidos | 3:59:23 |
| 2 | Marianne Vos | Países Bajos | 0:58 |
| 3 | Lotte Kopecky | Bélgica | ,, |
| 4 | Blanka Vas | Hungría | ,, |
| 5 | Pfeiffer Georgi | Gran Bretaña | 1:21 |
| 6 | Mavi García | España | 1:23 |
| 7 | Noemi Ruegg | Suiza | 2:04 |
| 8 | Katarzyna Niewiadoma | Polonia | 2:44 |
| 9 | Elisa Longo Borghini | Italia | 3:05 |
| 10 | Marta Lach | Polonia | 3:27 |