Games – Gold for Armitstead

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Lizzie Armitstead wins Commonwealth Games Gold after a brilliant performance in the Glasgow Road Race on Sunday morning

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Games – Gold for Armitstead

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In a 1-2 for England, Lizzie Armitstead bided her time in the road race before pouncing and landing a killer blow to her rivals, racing past Emma Pooley in her last race with Lizzie going on to win Gold and Emma hanging on for the Silver. It was the first time an English female has won the road race title at the Commonwealth Games.

Despite starting at 8am which seems a little unfair to the riders, the race swung into action quickly as the attacks came and went on the opening lap which will have woken up any riders still feeling a little sleepy. In a race where the ability varied a lot between riders, the Aussies did the safe thing and put the pressure on to reduce the numbers at the front.

The English team stayed composed and strong in support of Armitstead, chasing down moves with the help from riders like Dani King, British champion Laura Trott and Hannah Barnes working for Armitstead and Pooley. The key moment came with about 25 miles to go when Armitstead and Pooley led a five-strong break clear before two more, Scotland’s Katie Archibald and Australia’s Gracie Elvin bridged their way up to them.

Pooley kept the pressure on though on a course suited to her climbing ability but it was Armitstead, with the rain falling and making the course technical to race on, who seized the moment with around three miles to go and raced clear. The World Cup leader who has stood on the podium probably more times than anyone this year, not always in top spot however, put the hammer down all the way to the line to win well by 25 seconds.

 

Behind, the race was on for the minor placings and Pooley, seeing Armitstead was alone as she raced past her, used her time trialling ability to stay clear of the chasers to get her second Silver medal, 45 seconds clear of the chasers. South Africa’s Ashleigh Pasio was third in a photo finish with Tiffany Cromwell of Australia.

“I am really happy,” said Armitstead to the BBC. “That was the best cycling teamwork I have ever been a part of. It’s such a shame Emma is retiring today – it was a fantastic job from her and all the girls and I am really proud of them. I feel like I deserve this. I’ve trained so hard. I’m always on the podium, I don’t win that many races but once you’ve got a big title you can call yourself a champion finally. This is something I have always dreamed about; it means so much to me. I am always a runner-up.”

RESULT
1 Lizzie Armitstead Eng 2.38.48
2 Emma Pooley Eng 0.25
3 Ashleigh Pasio SA 1.11
4 Tiffany Cromwell Aus 1.11
5 Linda Villusem NZ 1.14
6 Gracie Elvin Aus 2.19
7 Katie Archibald Sco 2.19
8 Leah Kirchmann Can 2.4.12 5.29
9 Joanne Kiesanowski NZ 5.29
10 Dani King Eng 5.29
11 Melissa Hoskins Aus 5.29
12 Hannah Barnes Eng 5.29
13 Amy Roberts Wal 5.29
14 Rushlie Buchanan NZ 5.29
15 Reta Trotman NZ 5.29
16 Jaime Nielson NX 5.29
17 Shara Gillow Aus 5.29
18 Anna Christian IOM 5.29
19 Lucy Garner Eng 5.29
20 Laura Trott Eng 5.29
21 Lydia Helene Boylan NI 12.12
22 An-Li Kachelhoffer SA 12.17
23 Gemma Neill Sco 12.17
24 Tamiko Butler Ant 12.17
25 Jasmine Glaesser Can 12.17
26 Chloe Hosking Aus 12.17
27 Anne Ewing Sco 12.17

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