Giorgia Bronzini rode to her second consecutive World Road
Championship, while Marianne Vos had to settle for second yet again.
Bronzini and her Italian team timed the sprint to perfection,
as she launched herself off the front and beat Vos by a mere half a wheel. Vos
ran out of road, as she chased the defending champion, and had to settle for
her fifth silver medal in a row. The Dutch rider tried to move out from behind
the bunch, but Teutenberg was also beginning her sprint and momentarily blocked
her. This is now Italy’s fourth women’s title in five years, only interrupted
by Nicole Cooke in Verese.
Teutenberg’s attack faded towards the line and she was passed
by Vos, but still managed to hold off Cooke. It looked like it was going to be
an exact repeat of the podium in Geelong, but Cooke timed it slightly wrong and
couldn’t catch up with the German. Her teammate Lizzie Armitstead was, for many,
one of the pre race favourites, but she could only manage seventh.
