"We both had nothing left" - Marianne Vos & Lotte Kopecky forced to settle for silver and bronze in women's road race at 2024 Paris Olympic Games

The women's road race at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games was a truly enthralling battle. In a thrilling finale though, it was the American Kristen Faulkner who upset the odds to take gold ahead of the superstars Marianne Vos (silver) and Lotte Kopecky (bronze).

After Vos and Blanka Kata Vas went clear together with around 20km to go, the gold and silver medal looked to have been decided. Faulkner though, had not given up and on the final ascent of the Montmartre, the American put in a monster turn on the front of the chase group, dropping all but world champion Kopecky from her back wheel and eventually reeling back the two leaders. By far the least renowned in a sprint capacity of the four leaders however, Faulkner wasn't done attacking just yet and went flying over the top with around 3km to go. As she rode off into the distance, the trio behind just looked at each other, handing the American the gold medal.

"I was in a good situation with Vas in front, but I didn't have much left. The other two then came closer and closer. When they closed in and Faulkner went, I didn't have the legs to react and then react again," Vos reflected in her post-race interview. "It was a gamble, but in the end I just didn't have the legs anymore."

Was it a case of Vos and Kopecky looking too much at each other? "We both had little left, I think. Then Faulkner is just a very strong rider. We rode a bit further and Kopecky was the first to go through the corner. Then it's just sprinting as hard as you can," Vos assesses. "It's a medal, but we went for gold as the Netherlands. And that didn't work out. I did what I could. We'll look back, but first I have to let this sink in. There are always moments that you can do differently, but I'm completely exhausted in any case."

"I am very happy that I did not finish fourth, like 3 years ago. That was the most horrible place to finish. So I do feel that I won bronze," Kopecky reflected with satisfaction post-race to Sporza. "They forced me to the front and I thought: 'I'm going to get this done quickly.' But it was just enough for bronze."

"When Vos and Vas rode away from that group, I immediately had the feeling that it was over. Everyone started looking at each other and you know that if you go all out in the chase, you will come up short on the last Montmartre," the Belgian continues. "I wanted to go there myself from the bottom, but first Pfeiffer Georgi went and then Faulkner set a very high pace. From then on it was just following and riding together to Vos and Vas."

When Faulkner attacked a second time, Kopecky gambled on Vos doing the catching work. "You know that's what's going to happen with Faulkner. But then I also know that Vos is the fastest on paper and that it's up to her to pull the chestnuts out of the fire," she concludes. "I don't know if I would have been able to react. Once Faulkner was gone, I immediately switched to medals."