2016 Women's Olympic Road Cycling

[regularguy412]

Just started. Neutral roll out ongoing.

Mike in AR:beer:

[nalax]

Are there any links to online coverage?
Just watching NBC and cyclingnews.
Pulling for Armstrong

[cuda]

http://live.robinwidget.com/static/freeplay/39263707781100.html

once you get past the popups its a decent stream

[ptourkin]

Are there any links to online coverage?
Just watching NBC and cyclingnews.
Pulling for Armstrong

http://www.nbcolympics.com/live-stream-schedule/cycling

Pulling for anyone except Armstrong and Armistead. Kristin should have earned her spot on the road not the boardroom.

[choke]

Good feed with no commentary - http://www.bvls2016.sc/stream7.html

[Schmed]

Pulling for anyone except Armstrong and Armistead. Kristin should have earned her spot on the road not the boardroom.

Can you elaborate on Kristin Armstrong?

[bcroslin]

This climb is tough. Here's hoping everyone keeps the rubber down on the descent.

[nalax]

Van Vleuten crashes. Hope she's ok. Bad crash

[MaraudingWalrus]

Holy **** that looked like a really bad crash. Never saw her move.

[bcroslin]

That looked really bad. Looked like she was out cold.

[carpediemracing]

Good feed with no commentary - http://www.bvls2016.sc/stream7.html

Goto 6 now.

[carpediemracing]

wow

[guido]

How heart breaking for Maura Abbot!

[Straz]

Frightening crash! Any word if she is conscious?

[msl819]

Holy **** that looked like a really bad crash. Never saw her move.

Not good at all

[MaraudingWalrus]

Wow. Amazing race. Maybe better than the men's. Great showing by cycling.


Gut wrenching for abbot

[weisan]

Not a fckug word or update about the front rider who crashed...from the minute she crashed till the finish...

[MaraudingWalrus]

Not a fckug word or update about the front rider who crashed...from the minute she crashed till the finish...



That's normally not good.

[bcroslin]

that was just as good as yesterday. Mara Abbott is awesome.

[bcroslin]

Not a fckug word or update about the front rider who crashed...from the minute she crashed till the finish...

I was just saying the same thing to my wife. Never good when you hit a foot tall curb.

[weisan]

.

[Shoeman]

She hit the curb real real hard & she was out cold. When they came back to the shot she was still laying there lifeless, I pray she is ok!!

[ptourkin]

Can you elaborate on Kristin Armstrong?

She unretired and was handed a place despite that fact that she was beaten by others this year, especially Carmen Small, who did take legal action to get her spot. USAC was going for the human interest angle for NBC rather than a national champion or someone who had the best results this year. This was not a popular decision in the road racing world but it illustrates the flaws in the USAC selection process where an athlete's coach may have influence over the results.

[Pastashop]

Reports that van Vleuten has regained consciousness and is en route to hospital.

[choke]

Reports are that she's conscious and talking.

[bcroslin]

ugh, i did not need to see that crash again.

[chengher87]

Dagnabit!!! Mara almost made it! Glad to hear that Annemiek van Vleuten is conscious, that crash made everyone I watched it with jump out of their seats in horror.

[weisan]

,

[OtayBW]

Reports are that she's conscious and talking.
Oh good. Good grief. I came out of my chair when I saw that and then no news for so long! Hope she's alright.

[kramnnim]

Wow. Was afraid she had died.

[Pastashop]

Wow. Was afraid she had died.


Wikipedia said she died in Rio, but that was premature. Hope she recovers. Next 24 hours will be critical.

[numbskull]

Respect to Mara Abbott.
Gutsy, gutsy ride.

[weisan]

Let's all send her our thoughts and prayers.

http://www.sbnation.com/2016/8/7/12398456/annemiek-van-vleuten-road-race-crash-olympics

[Pastashop]

In hospital and communicating.

[Pastashop]

Respect to Mara Abbott.

Gutsy, gutsy ride.


The race belonged to her.

[weisan]

The race belonged to her.

...and Annemiek van Vleuten.

[sitzmark]

In hospital and communicating.

:happy:
Had a sick feeling watching that happen. Certainly she's not ok, but she's "OK" and that's good.

[Hawker]

Wow..was on the edge of my seat for the last hour. Feel sorry for Mara who couldn't have done more. Happy to hear van Vluten is OK, looked horrible in slow mo- like her face and head took the brunt of it. I wish Evelyn could have hung in there just a bit more. Great race for sure.

[Schmed]

The whole family was on the edge of our seats hoping Mara didn't get caught. Dang.

(BTW - this delayed broadcast sucks, as you guys saw this happening before us)...

[bcroslin]

High-sided into a curb. I bet she's broke a few ribs and possibly her pelvis. Awful.

[choke]

.

[Burnette]

In the video, slowed to it's slowest speed, it looks like she locked the front wheel and went over the bars:
http://http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/video/video-1317503/Annemiek-van-Vleuten-horror-road-race-cycling-crash-Rio.html

[Climb01742]

Abbott made the race by climbing as hard as she did on the ascent. Such a catch 22: need to ride hard to distance as many riders as possible, but then have you burned all your matches? She and Majka looked the same at the end, with her being, perhaps, even more crushing because of how close she was to finish.

So glad van Vleuten is conscious and hopefully recovering well. Horrific crash. Seeing her motionless there was heartbreaking.

[Tickdoc]

That was rough to watch. Looked like too much front brake. Hope she recovers quickly and nothing serious is hurt.

[kramnnim]

At least Majka got a medal...

[jlwdm]

She unretired and was handed a place despite that fact that she was beaten by others this year, especially Carmen Small, who did take legal action to get her spot. USAC was going for the human interest angle for NBC rather than a national champion or someone who had the best results this year. This was not a popular decision in the road racing world but it illustrates the flaws in the USAC selection process where an athlete's coach may have influence over the results.

Or going for the experienced winner angle. She proved to be a valuable teammate with her time trial skills.

Jeff

[choke]

"A concussion and three small cracks in her spine. She must remain 24 hours in intensive care."

http://nos.nl/rio2016/artikel/2123843-van-vleuten-heeft-hersenschudding-en-scheurtjes-in-wervelkolom.html

[makoti]

I missed it, none of the video links appear to be working, and from the sounds of it, that's ok by me.
Sounds like it was a very nasty crash. Really hope she is ok. Latest I heard seems to be good signs.

[cadence90]

http://forums.thepaceline.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1697924355&stc=1&d=1470600870.
Wow, that is great sportsmanship.

"A concussion and three small cracks in her spine. She must remain 24 hours in intensive care."

http://nos.nl/rio2016/artikel/2123843-van-vleuten-heeft-hersenschudding-en-scheurtjes-in-wervelkolom.html

I'm so glad that she is (generally) OK. That was really terrifying.

[regularguy412]

Wow, that is great sportsmanship.



I'm so glad that she is (generally) OK. That was really terrifying.

As she locked up the front, the back wheel came loose and was doing a power slide toward the curb. Before she even highsided, I was yelling (to no one else around) OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!. Cuz I could see the curbing and knew what was about to happen.

Then when the 2nd moto came around that was following Abbott and the pix came, she was still not moving. Very scary.

On a more positive note: if they gave most aggressive rider medals, MA would win. Did everything she could to get the victory. It is too bad that at least one other USA rider could not hang with her over the top. Two taking turns pulling the last 10 K would probably have held off the 3 chasers. And the US would have two medalists.

Velodrome is coming. Hopefully no 6-inch splinters gouged into thighs.

Mike in AR:beer:

[cadence90]

As she locked up the front, the back wheel came loose and was doing a power slide toward the curb. Before she even highsided, I was yelling (to no one else around) OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!. Cuz I could see the curbing and knew what was about to happen.

Then when the 2nd moto came around that was following Abbott and the pix came, she was still not moving. Very scary.

On a more positive note: if they gave most aggressive rider medals, MA would win. Did everything she could to get the victory. It is too bad that at least one other USA rider could not hang with her over the top. Two taking turns pulling the last 10 K would probably have held off the 3 chasers. And the US would have two medalists.

Velodrome is coming. Hopefully no 6-inch splinters gouged into thighs.

Mike in AR:beer:
I just hope she recovers completely, with no lasting brain issues.

If not Abbott, I really wanted Borghini to win today. She was great too. They all were, but to see Abbott get 4th was a bummer. So, so close. A few seconds scrubbed here/there on that descent, and...poof...medal gone.

Definitely. I enjoy Olympics track even more than the road races.

[wallymann]

VdB owes that gold to Borghini...the italian did 95% of the work in the final to close down Abbott...without the italian's largesse, abbott stays away to take the win.

if VdB's teammate van vlueten had taken a couple % off the final descent, with her TT power she probably would have stayed away to take the gold, too.

lizzie woulda been there if not for the ill-timed mechanical and long match-burning chase to rejoin. i'm sure she gave her teammate an earful for that belated attempt to bring her back.

lots of shoulda, woulda, coulda!!!

[wallymann]

She unretired and was handed a place despite that fact that she was beaten by others this year, especially Carmen Small, who did take legal action to get her spot. USAC was going for the human interest angle for NBC rather than a national champion or someone who had the best results this year. This was not a popular decision in the road racing world but it illustrates the flaws in the USAC selection process where an athlete's coach may have influence over the results.

that's BS -- you cant blame armstrong for the selection committee's decision. i actually agree with her selection over small. small has a handy sprint, which would have been useless on that course. small probably would have gotten shelled 30K in with the costa rican team. whereas armstrong did some serious work deep into the race, something i dont think small could replicate.

per abbott about armstrong: “She’s already got two gold medals and as much as she gave to this race?” Abbott said with wonderment. “I can’t say enough for the experience of being able to ride with her.”

[cadence90]

VdB owes that gold to Borghini...the italian did 95% of the work in the final to close down Abbott...without the italian's largesse, abbott stays away to take the win.

if VdB's teammate van vlueten had taken a couple % off the final descent, with her TT power she probably would have stayed away to take the gold, too.

lizzie woulda been there if not for the ill-timed mechanical and long match-burning chase to rejoin. i'm sure she gave her teammate an earful for that belated attempt to bring her back.

lots of shoulda, woulda, coulda!!!
Yes, Borghini really was stellar.

Heck, Armistead was giving her teammate an earful the very second they re-connected on the course. The angry demonstration was a bit odd.

[Pastashop]

She went down around the same place as the men. The course was deemed unsafe from the get go, and you could easily see why -- terrible banking on virtually every corner...

[wc1934]

VdB owes that gold to Borghini...the italian did 95% of the work in the final to close down Abbott...without the italian's largesse, abbott stays away to take the win......


This!!!

[bcroslin]

She went down around the same place as the men. The course was deemed unsafe from the get go, and you could easily see why -- terrible banking on virtually every corner...

Apparently she went down in the same corner that took out Geraint Thomas yesterday.

Cycling tips has a great recap (http://cyclingtips.com/2016/08/anna-van-der-breggen-takes-olympic-gold-in-a-nail-biter-of-a-race/) for those of us not lucky enough to have had a full feed of the race.

[choke]

VdB owes that gold to Borghini...the italian did 95% of the work in the final to close down Abbott...without the italian's largesse, abbott stays away to take the win.Elisa did do pretty much all of the work in the last 2~300m before the catch but for the rest of the chase they all did their share. They had a strong group about 10 seconds behind them that never made any inroads....there is no way that they could have held them off if only one person was contributing.

I think Elisa felt her only chance was to try to ride them off her wheel at the end since she knew there was no way she could beat Anna or Emma in a sprint.

I'm hoping that Anna can do the double in the ITT on Wednesday.

[roguedog]

Oh my. So glad to have paceline. Saw that crash and looked horrible. And then ya seeing camera go around again and no motion.

Thank you all for the updates.

Soo feeling for Abbot. Great race. On the edge of the seat nailbiter.

[Climb01742]

Interesting article on Abbott. I didn't know much about her except her climbing prowess.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jul/01/mara-abbott-womens-cycling-still-faces-an-uphill-struggle-giro-rosa

[Hawker]

When you watch the crash in slo-mo it sure appears that her head and face are what hit first. Horrible to see, so glad she will be OK after recuperating. Man that curb is awful.

[Hawker]

Interesting article on Abbott. I didn't know much about her except her climbing prowess.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jul/01/mara-abbott-womens-cycling-still-faces-an-uphill-struggle-giro-rosa

Thanks for posting. I feel bad for her, but she is tough in a lot of ways.

[bikinchris]

The Italian sacrificed herself like a domestique. She was supposed to be the best sprinter?

[tigoat]

Man I almost cried for Mara today. I don't have cable so I don't watch TV much nowadays but after a long ride today I sat down to have a drink and turned on a local channel 5 from my indoor antenna and boy I was so happy to catch the last part of the race where Mara was kicking as@ on those hills. So sad! Why the hell did that Italian girl have to chase Mara down for other twos to settle for a bronze? If she was to play game with her chasers then she could possibly get a silver or perhaps a gold. She wasn't racing smart.

[paredown]

Here's the moment before...

[cadence90]

Man I almost cried for Mara today. I don't have cable so I don't watch TV much nowadays but after a long ride today I sat down to have a drink and turned on a local channel 5 from my indoor antenna and boy I was so happy to catch the last part of the race where Mara was kicking as@ on those hills. So sad! Why the hell did that Italian girl have to chase Mara down for other twos to settle for a bronze? If she was to play game with her chasers then she could possibly get a silver or perhaps a gold. She wasn't racing smart.
Because:
1. Play games with van der Bregghen and Johansson and still Abbott 99.99% wins the gold while Borghini might win silver or bronze. Maybe.

2. Play a few more games with van der Bregghen and Johansson and still Abbott 99.99% wins the gold while Borghini might be completely out of the medals, especially with the Armitstead group breathing down their necks.

She was smart, imo, and more importantly was all in for gold at all costs, which I completely respect. She's a TT champ, and I assume believed in her chances. That was no time to play games. Things were down to meters and seconds.

[choke]

The Italian sacrificed herself like a domestique. She was supposed to be the best sprinter?No, ELB was easily the worst sprinter of the three. Her only real option to get a medal was to catch Mara.

[e-RICHIE]

The three of them are team mates the other 364 days of the year.
They knew what they were doing.
Great day of racing.

[choke]

.

[cadence90]

^
Best news of the day!

[ptourkin]

Well-written piece about the race: http://www.wsj.com/articles/mara-abbotts-beautiful-ride-in-rio-1470615782?tesla=y

[guido]

Well-written piece about the race: http://www.wsj.com/articles/mara-abbotts-beautiful-ride-in-rio-1470615782?tesla=y

Thanks for posting that. Beautiful ride indeed.

[54ny77]

that was a brutal looking crash. was glad to see her teammate win for her, given that it was going to be among those 3 in the end. that was solid.

bummer for mara, victory snatched within spitting distance. that's gotta be one for the memory books.

let's say if those 3 didn't come close to catching mara at the end, and she'd have won, would you have felt it an earned win (i.e., the other woman crashed, and that's racing) or a bit less inspired?

[Onno]

Amazing that Johannson told van der Breggen to "win it for Annemiek." It's a very cool to see people both competing fiercely and being selfless, a mix of supreme individualism and altruism, across and within teams. I'm inclined to suggest that this is a difference between men and women in sport, but perhaps it's also a part of cycling too?

[Bwana]

Here's a video from the guy that ran up to Van Vleuten immediately after she crashed. Pretty scary. Start it at 1:30.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyxgToqzKR0

[54ny77]

scary. just plain scary.



Here's a video from the guy that ran up to Van Vleuten immediately after she crashed. Pretty scary. Start it at 1:30.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyxgToqzKR0

[oldpotatoe]

scary. just plain scary.

They all did the right thing tho, not try to move her..and the medical guy trying to stabilize her head/neck...scary tho.

[nooneline]

I can't think of many more positions in which it's harder to stabilize somebody's c-spine.

[weiwentg]

I know this is post hoc, but there's some very humorous commentary from Leslie Jones, the comedian:

https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762362768125288448
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762363829305028608
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762364065364664320 (best of the lot IMO)
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762364778505392129
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762365135591645184
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762365343083868164
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762380871362088964

Sorry, Mara. Get well soon, Annemieke. Congrats, Anna!

[deechee]

Awesome commentary.

This one (https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762360812337963008) sums up how my wife probably feels about my biking.

[Lewis Moon]

V-News has a nice article:
http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/08/feature/abbott-agonizingly-close-to-olympics-medal_417527

I loved the race. Some of the best racing I have seen. My heart goes out for Annameik and Mara.

[crankles]

The three of them are team mates the other 364 days of the year.
They knew what they were doing.
Great day of racing.

This.

[cadence90]

I know this is post hoc, but there's some very humorous commentary from Leslie Jones, the comedian:

https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762362768125288448
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762363829305028608
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762364065364664320 (best of the lot IMO)
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762364778505392129
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762365135591645184
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762365343083868164
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/762380871362088964

Sorry, Mara. Get well soon, Annemieke. Congrats, Anna!

Those are great.
I had no idea Jones is such an avid cycling fan.

[nooneline]

Those are great.
I had no idea Jones is such an avid cycling fan.

Those are great!

I had a bunch of people in my twitter feed who suddenly became cycling fans. It was AWESOME - and I reached out to them to see if they wanted more super-exciting races to watch. A bunch of them took me up on it and I shared some good classics with them. Maybe that's how new fans are made...

[weiwentg]

Those are great.
I had no idea Jones is such an avid cycling fan.

I don't believe she is a cycling fan at all. She was commentating the entire olympics, and every event appears to get a similar level of enthusiasm.

I am pretty sure that she's just an ordinary woman on the street in many respects, and she saw Mara Abbott away solo and 3 women in hot pursuit. She knew it was down to the line, and I bet she knew that the odds were against Abbott. And she yelled her heart out. Heartening to see! Does Abbott have a Twitter account, I wonder...

Side note: My favorite commentary from Jones, paraphrased: "ride like you're delivering WEEEEEEEED!!!!!"

[carpediemracing]

The three of them are team mates the other 364 days of the year.
They knew what they were doing.
Great day of racing.

Do you mean that in a spiritual way?

Emma Johansson - Orica
Anna van der Breggen - Rabo-Liv
Elisa Longo Borghini - Wiggle-Honda

I don't know if they race cross for other teams, etc.

[choke]

Do you mean that in a spiritual way?

Emma Johansson - Orica
Anna van der Breggen - Rabo-Liv
Elisa Longo Borghini - Wiggle-Honda

I don't know if they race cross for other teams, etc.Mara, Emma and Elisa all ride for Wiggle-High 5.

[e-RICHIE]

Do you mean that in a spiritual way?

Emma Johansson - Orica
Anna van der Breggen - Rabo-Liv
Elisa Longo Borghini - Wiggle-Honda

I don't know if they race cross for other teams, etc.

This - http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/olympic-games-wiggle-high5-celebrate-johansson-and-longo-borghini-medals/

[bcroslin]

I don't believe she is a cycling fan at all. She was commentating the entire olympics, and every event appears to get a similar level of enthusiasm.

I am pretty sure that she's just an ordinary woman on the street in many respects, and she saw Mara Abbott away solo and 3 women in hot pursuit. She knew it was down to the line, and I bet she knew that the odds were against Abbott. And she yelled her heart out. Heartening to see! Does Abbott have a Twitter account, I wonder...

Side note: My favorite commentary from Jones, paraphrased: "ride like you're delivering WEEEEEEEED!!!!!"

That's the awesome thing about the Olympics. Jones probably doesn't know the first thing about cycling and she was in her living room screaming at the TV for a woman she doesn't know participating in an activity that she likely hasn't done since she was a kid. And there were likely thousands more world wide just like her who now when they see one of us dorks in lycra will think a little better of us.

[cadence90]

Those are great!

SNIP

I don't believe she is a cycling fan at all. She was commentating the entire olympics, and every event appears to get a similar level of enthusiasm.

SNIP

Side note: My favorite commentary from Jones, paraphrased: "ride like you're delivering WEEEEEEEED!!!!!"

That's the awesome thing about the Olympics. Jones probably doesn't know the first thing about cycling and she was in her living room screaming at the TV for a woman she doesn't know participating in an activity that she likely hasn't done since she was a
kid.

SNIP

Admit it guys; you all just want her number. :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghl19lJJ_mA (http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-leslie-jones-on-her-perfect-man/2985368)

[bcroslin]

Admit guys; you all just want her number. :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghl19lJJ_mA (http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-leslie-jones-on-her-perfect-man/2985368)

There's plenty of tight asses around here for sure

[enr1co]

Interesting article on Abbott. I didn't know much about her except her climbing prowess.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jul/01/mara-abbott-womens-cycling-still-faces-an-uphill-struggle-giro-rosa

Wow, sad reminder on the disparity of womens sports pay versus men's.

I'm even more bummed that she got caught. A medal placing for Mara could have helped out a little with recognition and any related financial rewards. :(

[cadence90]

I don't believe she is a cycling fan at all. She was commentating the entire olympics, and every event appears to get a similar level of enthusiasm.

I am pretty sure that she's just an ordinary woman on the street in many respects, and she saw Mara Abbott away solo and 3 women in hot pursuit. She knew it was down to the line, and I bet she knew that the odds were against Abbott. And she yelled her heart out. Heartening to see! Does Abbott have a Twitter account, I wonder...

Side note: My favorite commentary from Jones, paraphrased: "ride like you're delivering WEEEEEEEED!!!!!"

Wow, you are so right.
She has even been invited to Rio because of her tweets.
It seems that she has been watching (and constantly tweeting) every single event.
Funny stuff!

"Breaking three: the challenge of boogaloo."
"Three kids a medal for each kid better watch out Kerry you will get that fourth one/"
"Please tell me more of this. Sword fighting"

:D

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/read-the-hilarious-tweets-that-got-ghostbusters-star-leslie-jones-invited-to-rio-010605586.html?nhp=1

[54ny77]

Wow indeed.

This is unbelievable.

"In 2014, the men’s Giro d’Italia held a prize fund purse totalling €1,378,000. Each stage win was worth €11,000 and a day in the pink jersey was worth €1,000. The final overall winner received €200,000. In comparison, the Giro Rosa held a purse of €17,666 with the eventual winner, Abbott’s Wiggle High5 team-mate, Giorgia Bronzini, taking home just over €500. This year there has been a moderate improvement: the overall women’s race winner will earn €1,050, compared to the €115,000 for the overall winner of the men’s Giro d’Italia.

Abbott, thoughtful and articulate, does not want to criticise the salary paid to her by Wiggle High5. She singles out Gilmore, a Commonwealth gold medallist, as one of the key people trying to improve women’s cycling. But she admits that in order to make ends meet over the winter she worked three days a week on an organic farm and two days selling vegetables at Boulder farmers’ market. She also taught yoga classes and was an intern at her local paper, the Daily Camera (she hopes to become an investigative environmental journalist after her retirement)."

Perhaps Evie Stevens should have stayed on Wall St. and raced Cat 1/2.

Kidding....but not really....

Wow, sad reminder on the disparity of womens sports pay versus men's.

I'm even more bummed that she got caught. A medal placing for Mara could have helped out a little with recognition and any related financial rewards. :(

[Mark McM]

I don't believe she is a cycling fan at all. She was commentating the entire olympics, and every event appears to get a similar level of enthusiasm.

I am pretty sure that she's just an ordinary woman on the street in many respects, and she saw Mara Abbott away solo and 3 women in hot pursuit. She knew it was down to the line, and I bet she knew that the odds were against Abbott. And she yelled her heart out. Heartening to see! Does Abbott have a Twitter account, I wonder...

Or, more likely, she is acting as a shill for her employer, the NBC television network.

[choke]

Wow indeed.

This is unbelievable.

"In 2014, the men’s Giro d’Italia held a prize fund purse totalling €1,378,000. Each stage win was worth €11,000 and a day in the pink jersey was worth €1,000. The final overall winner received €200,000. In comparison, the Giro Rosa held a purse of €17,666 with the eventual winner, Abbott’s Wiggle High5 team-mate, Giorgia Bronzini, taking home just over €500. This year there has been a moderate improvement: the overall women’s race winner will earn €1,050, compared to the €115,000 for the overall winner of the men’s Giro d’Italia.I don't doubt those numbers, the prize money in women's cycling is terrible, but given that Bronzini has never won the Giro Rosa they might not be totally accurate. The 2014 winner was Marianne Vos, with PFP and Anna VdB rounding out the podium.

[choke]

Annemiek has released an update on her website. If you scroll down there's an English version.

http://www.annemiekvanvleuten.nl/nieuws/uit-het-ziekenhuis-en-bedankt-voor-alle-reacties/

[Satellite]

Annemiek has released an update on her website. If you scroll down there's an English version.

http://www.annemiekvanvleuten.nl/nieuws/uit-het-ziekenhuis-en-bedankt-voor-alle-reacties/

Relatively speaking I am so glad she is alright. I was terrified this could have been so much worse for her so tragic when she was riding so strong. Some redemption her teammate took the Gold home.

[Fivethumbs]

Could you imagine crashing like that without the helmet?

[Satellite]

I wonder if she had a MIPS helmet? Great advertising for the helmet she was wearing.

[choke]

Bringing this back for a small update....

Annemiek van Vleuten returned to racing today at the Lotto Belgium Tour....and won the Prologue.

[chengher87]

Bringing this back for a small update....

Annemiek van Vleuten returned to racing today at the Lotto Belgium Tour....and won the Prologue.

Saw that on my newsfeed. Chapeau!

[Hawker]

That is great news, boy it looked horrific.

[regularguy412]

WOW! Good for her!

Mike in AR:beer:

[weisan]

Bringing this back for a small update....

Annemiek van Vleuten returned to racing today at the Lotto Belgium Tour....and won the Prologue.

That's incredible!

[roguedog]

oh my gosh. i can't believe you can come back from that so soon, recover, and then win. truly amazing.

[Satellite]

Bringing this back for a small update....

Annemiek van Vleuten returned to racing today at the Lotto Belgium Tour....and won the Prologue.

Truely increadable I atleast thought her season was over. That photo makes me laugh! Shouldn't she have podium dudes? Some super buff firemen??? Or dancing bananas :banana: