Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet prevails in brutal race

Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium outsprinted Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark and Rafal Majka of Poland on the long run to the finish at Copacabana Beach yesterday to win the men’s Olympic road race.

Van Avermaet threw his arms in the air and let out a roar when he crossed the line, blowing a kiss to the sky. Fuglsang took silver and Majka coasted contentedly across to take bronze.

The race was thrown open on the final descent of the Vista Chinesa climb, when Italian star Vincenzo Nibali and Colombian counterpart Sergio Henao crashed on a sharp bend after building a lead

Majka was with them and managed to stay upright, but he was eventually reeled in near the finish. That left Van Avermaet - the best sprinter of the group - to sprint away for gold.