Annemiek van Vleuten crashes during women’s road cycling
By John Buhler
![RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 07: Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands stands on the start line prior to the Women's Road Race on Day 2 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Fort Copacabana on August 7, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images) RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 07: Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands stands on the start line prior to the Women's Road Race on Day 2 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Fort Copacabana on August 7, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/52d36311300d9db13483c6b65b1092eb83627f589cbc51e11b4f98fc066d7a8b.jpg)
Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten suffers a scary crash during the medal round of the women’s road cycling medal competition on Sunday in the Olympics.
Next: 50 greatest Summer Olympians in history.
UPDATE: According to a Dutch news outlet, Van Vleuten is conscious and has been transported to a hospital.
Van Vleuten bij bewustzijn vervoerd naar het ziekenhuis voor verder onderzoek. KNWU dokter is bij haar.
— KNWU (@KNWU) August 7, 2016
With Olympic gold on the line during Sunday’s road cycling competition in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten suffered a devastating fall during a crucial part of the race.
This is van Vleuten’s second Summer Olympic Games as she also represented the Netherlands in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. She did not medal back in 2012 and will not earn either gold, silver, or bronze after slipping on the pavement during Sunday’s medal competition.
Van Vleuten’s stumble did give way to American cyclist Mara Abbott to expand on her half-minute lead on the competition. Her fall also allowed British cyclist Lizzie Armitstead to position herself to fight for Olympic silver down the stretch.
Armitstead struggled to keep pace with Abbott in the final few kilometers, as she was later passed by Swedish cyclist Emma Johansson, Italian cyclist Elisa Longo Borghini, and van Vleuten’s Dutch teammate Anna van der Breggen.
Though Abbott led for much of the road race, she simply ran out of gas, as she was surpassed by three cyclists to go home without an Olympic medal. Van der Breggen was able to best all the female cyclists to take home Olympic gold.
While van der Breggen did bring home Olympic gold to the Netherlands, most of the attention in the Women’s Road Cycling competition will be to that of van der Breggen’s teammate van Vleuten and her untimely fall mid-race. Though one Dutch cyclist won the ultimate prize of Olympic gold, another seems to have suffered a devastating crash in the same event.