On day ten of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, 92 athletes from around the world competed in the 158-kilometer women’s road race. The dynamic duo of Chloé Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind.; CANYON//SRAM Racing) and Kristen Faulkner (Homer, Alaska; EF-Oatly-Cannondale) represented the United States on today’s global stage.
Starting at the Trocadéro, the women’s road race had a total of 1,700 meters of ascent with nine notable climbs. The race was a loop that finished back in Trocadéro after racers completed three additional circuit loops inside Paris. Saturday’s time trial bronze medalist, Dygert, lined up today determined to earn a medal. Her teammate, Faulkner, was also ready to leave it all on the course.
The first break of the day was launched by Slovakia’s rider, Nora Jencusova. Eventually, several riders joined her up the road. At 94 kilometers to go, a group of six were over five minutes ahead of the peloton. The Dutch, Great Britian, and Canada kept exchanging attacks in the peloton; these surges ate away at the break’s time gap.
Dygert crashed with around 45 kilometers to go. This crash was significant, breaking up the entire peloton into two. A hard crash for Dygert would not keep her down, but she had a lot of ground to make up with not much time left in the race.
Faulkner attacked with 40 kilometers to go on the first time up the Cote de la Butte Montmartre climb to catch the two leaders and bring the race back together. This was the break that stuck. Nine riders were in the lead group, growing their lead on the city circuit after the crash. Lotte Kopecky (BEL) finally made the connection, along with two other riders who were from Great Britian.
It was attack after attack from the break, but nothing stuck. The climb on the city circuit is where most of the big moves took place. Margarita Victoria Garcia (ESP) attacked up the climb, but Faulkner pulled it back together. That’s when Marianne Vos (NED) and Blanka Vas (HUN) made a big move and escaped. This move influenced the rest of the race.
Faulkner and Kopecky knew that both riders were about to get away for good, so they went together with a plan to reel them back in. At 10 kilometers to go, the pair were only 14 seconds behind Vos and Vas. Faulkner kept them in sight until she made the connection with five kilometers to go. She then launched a counterattack and rode away from the three riders. Vos, Vas, and Kopecky all looked at each other, confused as to why nobody was going with Faulkner. With the time adding up, Faulkner soloed to the finish, gaining 58 seconds on her competitors when she crossed the line. This marked Team USA’s first road Olympic gold medal in almost 40 years. The first women’s road race was in 1984, where the Americans won gold and silver with Connie Carpenter-Phinney and Rebecca Twigg.
When describing her pathway to this point, she said “This has been a whirlwind and has happened quite quickly. I think it’s even been the same for my parents watching me on this journey. First, I left my job, and then I moved to Europe and am doing this full time. Even for the people closest to me it’s been a whirlwind. For me I love learning, and I love new challenges and I feel like cycling over the past several years has always been a constant, I’m always learning.”
She knew in the middle of the race that she was feeling good enough to go for gold, saying, “After the first time up the cobble climb, I said to myself, I’m feeling the best I’ve felt in a really long time, so I'm going to go for it."
Dygert was able to make her way back into the peloton. She stayed in the race to chase back what was left of the group. She battled back from her crash to break away and take 15th, an incredible result after a hard fall. After looking up at the video board at the finish and realizing her teammate had won, she said, “Faulkner had an amazing ride, she’s been riding great this year. This is so impressive. She has shown repeatedly that she has that power for those final moments. She’s put a lot of work in, she’s been doing a lot on the track, so that’s helped her. I am super happy for her, this is huge. Her first Olympics... what a way to leave it with a gold medal.”
Results:
1. Kristen Faulkner (USA)
2. Marianne Vos (NED)
3. Lotte Kopecky (BEL)
15. Chloé Dygert (USA)
Team USA has a day off racing on Monday. On Tuesday, racing will pick up with the Women’s Team Pursuit Qualifier on the track. Jennifer Valente (San Diego; Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24), Chloé Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind.; CANYON//SRAM Racing), Lily Williams (Tallahassee, Fla.; Human Powered Health), Kristen Faulkner (Homer, Alaska; EF Education-Cannondale), and Olivia Cummins (Fort Collins, Colo.; DNA Pro Cycling) will be racing together for Team USA.
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