Treacherous track draws ire
Canadian cyclists finish well back in women’s 140-kilometre road race
It was a sickening moment witnessed by TV viewers around the world and equally horrific for riders who whipped past, unable to do anything to help.
Near the end of the 140-kilometre women’s Olympic road cycling race at Fort Copacabana on Sunday, Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten, who was leading at the time, crashed violently to the ground while trying to negotiate a particularly difficult part of the final descent.
She crumpled into a heap and lay motionless as the rest of the field passed by, riders only able to glance over, but still able to see the severity of the situation.
People across the world reacted on social media, fearing van Vleuten may have been killed. However, after a considerable time, she regained consciousness and was able to communicate as she was taken to hospital.
“We passed Annemiek and she was at the side of the road and it was very strange,” eventual winner and Dutch teammate Anna van der Breggen said. “That shocked me and it shocked all of us. It was pretty difficult because you can’t really think what to do. We can’t help her anyway.”
The site of the crash was familiar to anyone who watched the men’s road race on Saturday. With riders descending at high speeds, there were several incidents in that spot and only 63 of 144 men’s riders finished the race.
There were certainly questions before the Olympics about the danger riders would face on the course, and this crash proved those questions warranted.
“It’s a difficult descent because you can go really fast but you also really need to look out for the corners,” van der Breggen said. “After the men’s race, we were all warned that we need to take care of that descent, and we did. If you are riding up front, then maybe you take too much risk. I don’t know.”
Van der Breggen, who was in tears just before she stepped up to the podium to accept her gold medal, was in a group of three riders behind van Vleuten and American Mara Abbott when the crash occurred.
The incident gave Abbott the lead by about 40 seconds, but that slowly evaporated and the pack of van der Breggen, silver medallist Emma Johansson from Sweden and bronze medallist Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy passed her in the final 150 metres.
Abbott was stoic despite missing out on a medal, and saved some of her words for the dangerous course.
“It’s not that the descent is so technical, but there were almost ripples in the surface of the pavement that threw your balance off,” she said. “So you had to be very, very careful coming out of the corners because the surface of the pavement looked smooth, but it was a little bit bumpy there.”
Canadians Karol-Ann Canuel of Gatineau, Que., (25th), and Leah Kirchmann of Winnipeg (38th) finished well back of the leaders, while Tara Whitten of Calgary started but dropped out to focus on Wednesday’s time trials.
“We passed (the crash) and it didn’t look good,” Canuel said. “That’s really bad. Hopefully she’s OK.”
You have to wonder what goes through a rider’s mind when they see something like that, knowing it could be them lying in a heap on the side of the road.
“You try to not think about it, to be honest,” Canuel said.
“It sucks when that happens and you don’t wish that on anybody, but it’s a dangerous sport sometimes and especially since it started to rain a little bit, the road was slippery.”
Kirchmann said she didn’t take too many chances on a course she called one of the most challenging she had ever ridden. She rode at her pace after recognizing she didn’t have a chance at a medal.
“It is a really, really dangerous descent, so I was careful going down it,” Kirchmann said. “After watching the men’s race yesterday we knew we had to be careful.”
Kirchmann was also feeling for Abbott, who looked to have the race wrapped up but simply didn’t have the legs to hold the lead with the finish line in sight and finished fourth.
“Bike racing can be brutal like that sometimes,” Kirchmann said. “I’m sure she’s terribly disappointed. I’ve been in lots of situations like that where you either win or lose by less than a wheel. I know the feeling.”
We passed (the crash) and it didn’t look good … It sucks when that happens and you don’t wish that on anybody, but it’s a dangerous sport sometimes.