Anna van de Breggen Wins Olympics Women’s Cycling Road Race for Netherlands

Van Vlueten suffers horrendous crash while leading

Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands celebrates after winning the Women's Road Race at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 7. Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Dutch rider Anna van de Breggen overtook USA’s Mara Abbott 150 meters from the finish line and outsprinted two other riders to win the Rio Olympics Women’s cycling road race Sunday afternoon, August 7, 2016.

Van de Breggen was part of a four-rider attack on the final climb of the race, 20 km from the finish line. These four: Abbot, van de Breggen and compatriot Annemiek van Vleuten, and Italy’s Elisa Longo-Borghini—chased by Sweden’s Emma Johansson, had been part of a ten-rider breakaway led by Abbott since km 23.

Van Vlueten attacked this four-rider group 18 km from the finish; Abbott struggled to cover the move, while Longo-Borghini and van de Breggen could not. Johansson caught the chasing pair 17 km from the finish, while Abbot caught van Vlueten at 16.8 km.

USA's Mara Abbott (L) leads Netherlands' Annemiek Van Vleuten during the Women's road cycling race at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 7, 2016. Eric Gaillard/AFP/Getty Images