In the end game of the Paris Olympics women's road race, Blanka Vas (Hungary) looked to be set to secure at least a silver medal when she escaped with Marianne Vos (Netherlands) in the final 20 kilometres, but in the last 5km, Kristen Faulkner (USA) and Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) caught the duo.
After Faulkner escaped and rode to victory, Vas was left having to sprint for the medals against two of the biggest names in the sport – but finished fourth by millimetres in the photo finish behind Vos and Kopecky.
There was a mix of sadness and joy in the 22-year-old's eyes as she told Cyclingnews, "It was close so it's painful. Again the fourth place."
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Vas has notched up some big results both in cyclocross and on the road, winning stages in the Tour de Suisse and Giro Donne in 2023, and winning the under-23 title at the UCI Road World Championships in Glasgow last year.
However, she referenced a different fourth place, her similarly close finish at the 2021 Road World Championships in Belgium and then again in the Tokyo Olympics in the mountain bike cross country.
Finishing out of the medals was heartbreaking but Vas looked on the bright side. "I think I need to be happy because I was in the final. It was an exciting race, I was all the time in the front... I still have some years to improve. I'm still young so it's a big motivation again for the future."
To her competitors in Paris, Vas is hardly an unknown. She and Vos have been friendly competitors in cyclocross and, she recalled her first major success in 2019 in Essen.
"I remember in my first cyclocross podium in Belgium, I was second behind Marianne Vos, so this was in my head, maybe now, I can go and do it again, just in the Olympics. Unfortunately, not but in cyclocross, we have been fighting together, and I had the same feeling [here] - it's just so special to ride with her."
Her fourth place was even more remarkable in that Vas started the race without teammates, while Vos and Kopecky both had three teammates and Faulkner one.
"I came to the race without pressure. I just wanted to enjoy it - I had some wheels in my head, for example, Marianne's and Lotte's wheel. And I was like, maybe if I'm there, I would like to follow them. So this was my goal. I think I need to be happy because I could follow them, and it was a really hard race. I just need more experience."
Vas will continue to gain experience and rise through the ranks with SD Worx-Protime, having signed a contract extension through 2027.
