That feeling of pure joy after winning gold! 🥇 Looking back at Greg Van Avermaet's epic win at Rio 2016! 🇧🇪🚴♂️ #StrongerTogether
VIDEO: Remembering Greg van Avermaet's Olympic Gold after he makes retirement announcement
CyclingWednesday, 03 May 2023 at 13:30
The career of Greg van Avermaet is soon coming to an end as announced by the Belgian himself on his official Instagram account. As a tribute, we thought we'd take a look back at one of his biggest wins at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
In the kind of all-star lineup one would expect from the Olympic Games road race, Greg van Avermaet was part of a Belgian side that featured the likes of Philippe Gilbert and Tim Wellens. Van Avermaet's Olympic victory would come after outsprinting Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang who took silver and Poland's Rafal Majka who was forced to settle for bronze.
In a chaotic race, van Avermaet, Fuglsang were tasked with chasing down a group containing Rafal Majka, Geraint Thomas, Vincenzo Nibali and Sergio Henao in the final kilometres. When Thomas, Nibali and Henao crashed hard and took themselves out of the reckoning for the battle for gold it was left for the remaining trio to decide the medal order.
With Fuglsang and van Avermaet catching Majka, the Polish rider simply had no reply in the sprint finish at van Avermaet's crowning glory was secured. "I was working with Fuglsang. We saw Majka. We knew it was possible. I am so happy for gold. Everyone said all week it was for everyone else," said the Belgian post-race.
Refresh your memory further in the clip below.
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- Here he is again, giving real answers! Love it. As a fan, I had not really paid attention but agree with what he says. Between Pogacar and van der Poel, with their attacks from 50k and more, the racing is simply different. At the grand tours, it's that kind of attacking every day, as well (e.g., even when he didn't want to, other teams goaded Pogacar into racing for the win at the Tour). I can imagine how hard that is for a rider, but for me as a fan it's certainly a lot of fun to watch.RidesHills25-11-2024
- Wrong, CrashJames. Frankie a ringleader of the Motorola doping scheme along with Armstrong. Armstrong made his career. And Lemond--you are still clinging to his miracle of "iron injections"? Bless your heart.
MarkFour25-11-2024 - Wrong. Bassons himself said that leaving pro cycling was the best thing that ever happened to him. You don't belong in these comments, or anywhere near a bike.MarkFour25-11-2024
- Agree, it is incomplete to omit the doped peloton. Lance was just better at it, a bigger liar, and vindictively went after people to protect the secret. Look how many results had to be restated, where other riders were also stripped of their results, and the problems ex us postal riders faced because their doping programs were not as good as postal. Why we continue to spend any time on this a$$h0le is beyond me.Crashjames25-11-2024
- Frankie Andrew, Greg lemond,Crashjames25-11-2024
- Christophe Bassons is one of many names. If you don’t that story, you don’t belong in these comments.PhilRidesBikes25-11-2024
- Not all riders in the peloton were using drugs, or using them to the same degree. Plenty of books published from cyclists saying they didn’t all get access to the same stuff whether they wanted it or not. Christophe Basons is just one of many who were outcast for not joining the program. Many new young riders were sent home if they didn’t abide by Lances rules. Andy Hampsten is another clean rider who refused to dope.PhilRidesBikes25-11-2024
- Lance lied, cheated, & destroyed lives during his entire cycling career. He claimed to enter the sport as a clean athlete, but there is evidence was already well into using banned substances as a triathlete. Lance is still lying about his use of banned substances & blood transfusions during his return to competition with Astana team.PhilRidesBikes25-11-2024
- I still can't believe how her teammates treated her that day. Her teammate literally sideswiped her and took her out and then after the race, the teammate claimed that she saw something yellow fall but she kept riding because she was going for the stage win (but finished 8th in the sprint). What the actual heck...Pogboom25-11-2024
- Many other drugs cheats also had no empathy.awp25-11-2024