Vos disappointed by fourth straight silver medal

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Marianne Vos won gold her first time at the Worlds road race, back in 2006, and has been on the podium every year since then. Once again, for the fourth year in a row, the Dutch rider ended up with the silver medal – not the one she wanted.

How did it happen this year? “If I had sprinted later, then the escapees Judith Arndt and Nicole Cooke would have sprinted for the gold, “ she told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. “So I took off at 300 metres from the finish and I felt the Italian Giorgia Bronzini coming up. I had no choice.”

Her teammate Annemiek van Vleuten was supposed to help in the end, but punctured and was unable to get back to the front. When Arndt and Cooke attacked, Vos considering going with them, but decided to wait for help. “Anne did not come back and I did not hear until later that she had punctured. Too bad, she might have played a role in the sprint,” Vos told the ANP news agency.

The 23-year-old has now moved past French legend Jeanne Longo by winning a medal five years in a row. “It's obviously nice to ride Longo to out of the books. I won silver, but of course I came here for gold.

“In Varese, I was very disappointed because I was too eager and actually gave away the gold. This edition is close to it in terms of disappointment."