Lotte Kopecky won the bronze medal in the women’s road race but struggled to hide her disappointment after fighting her way back to the front of the race in the final kilometres.
The Belgian was caught behind the crash with 48 km to go that involved Chloe Dygert (USA) and others, and then had to chase the race on the rolling Montmartre circuits.
Kopecky eventually got across to race leaders Marianne Vos (Netherlands) and Blanka Vas (Hungary) in a two-up counter-attack with Kristen Faulkner (USA). However, she then failed to react when the US rider surged away in the final kilometres.
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“For me it was a shit final,” Kopecky admitted immediately after the race.
“Before Montmartre, I was already a little bit behind. I had to make an effort or I‘d never be back in the race. Then there was attacking and gambling.
“When Marianne and Blanka were at the front of the race, I knew it would be really hard to get them back. We managed to come back but then she went and the trio of us looked at each other.”
When Faulkner got a gap, Kopecky was gutted but knew she had to change her mindset and fight for a medal.
"I'm very happy that I didn't finish fourth, like three years ago. That was the most horrible place to finish. So I do feel that I won bronze," Kopecky said.
She kicked-off the sprint on the Pont d'Iéna bridge. Vos came up along the barriers and Vas to her left. A photo finish was needed to decide the medals, awarding silver to Vos and bronze to Kopecky.
“Vos was on paper the fastest, so then you start to think,” Kopecky explained.
“With Faulkner out front, I knew we wouldn‘t catch her, so then I immediately started to think about a medal.
“I knew it would be very hard to win this race and so I came for a medal. I’m actually pretty proud to have taken the bronze.”
Kopecky crashed during the time trial and finished sixth but will now race on the track, her final shot at a gold medal is in the four-event Omnium, which is contested on Sunday August 11.
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