Broken elbow does not stop Annemiek van Vleuten who flies to World Title with surprise late attack

Annemiek van Vleuten crashed earlier this week and spent most of it wondering if she could even race the World Championships. The veteran was at the start line this morning, and she has just taken her second World Title after a late attack that surprised many.

A three-rider breakaway didn't concern the peloton in the 164-kilometer lap, with the attacks starting in the final 60 kilometers. With two laps to go Niewiadoma and Lippert made moves after their teams made the race hard.

As the rain started coming down hard, a group with the duo, Elisa Longo Borghini, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio went clear, but caught with 13 kilometers to go as the Netherlands and Australia organized a chase. Shortly after a few moves went off, with Marlen Reusser getting a gap and threatening the competition with a solo move.

The Swiss was caught inside the final climb, where the very same group of five riders went up the road after the summit. A chase behind was however quickly organized, and the quintet was caught already inside the final kilometer. Annemiek van Vleuten attacked from behind the group, taking the element of surprise to avoid having someone directly in the wheel.

Surprisingly however a small gap was created very quickly as no-one looked to match the attack, and that was enough for Van Vleuten to reach the line isolated. Lotte Kopecky finished in second coming with speed from behind but not being able to go through the Dutch, and Silvia Persico sprinted to third place to complete the podium.

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