PARIS, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Women's road race gold medal winner Kristen Faulkner was the smartest of the field on Sunday as she outsmarted road-race veteran Marianne Vos and world champion Lotte Kopecky to win the 158-kilometer race.
The decisive moment came around 3.5 kilometers from the end of the race when Faulkner and Kopecky (Belgium) managed to catch Vos (Netherlands) and Hungary's Kata Blanka Vas after they had threatened to contest gold between them by opening a half-a-minute lead.
Kopecky and Faulkner got within touching distance on the final leg-sapping ascent of Montmartre and hung on during a nerve-shredding descent through the narrow, twisty cobbled streets from the highest point in Paris and down to the finish line in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
"I knew Kopecky wanted to catch the front two, so I knew she'd ride with me," explained Faulkner.
Then instead of taking a moment to pause for breath ahead of a likely sprint, Faulkner went for glory, immediately opening up a gap as her rivals looked at each other, and by the time they reacted, she had gone.
Speaking after the race, the American, who is also her country's road race champion, explained she felt she had no option of beating Vos and Kopecky in a sprint.
"When we were gaining, I knew I had to go solo to the finish. I knew I couldn't beat Lotte or Vos on the line."
"I knew I had to attack them as soon as we caught them. I knew they were sprinters," she explained, adding that the fact Vos is Dutch, Kopecky from Belgium and Vas, Hungarian would work in her favor.
"I knew they didn't want to work together - they were three different countries. I knew if I got a small gap they would have to race for second," she said.
She put her head down and went for glory, without looking back. "I just counted to 10 about 10 times until I hit the finish line," commented the rider.
Indeed, Faulkner was so focused on the line, that despite winning by 58 seconds as the three behind focused on a sprint for the remaining medals, she kept her head down and didn't stop pedaling until well over the finish, meaning there was no repeat of Remco Evenepoel's iconic celebration after winning Saturday's men's race.
"I was pretty sure I'd won but it was like 'what in the world just happened?' I couldn't process it. It took me a few minutes. I had to double and triple check that I won gold. I knew it but I didn't know it," admitted a jubilant Faulkner.
Vos eventually claimed silver, to add to the gold she won in London 2012, while Kopecky had to settle for bronze, although she was philosophical about the result.
"It's a move you can expect," she said of the winner's attack: "You know she's (Faulkner) going to do it. Then the three of us looked at each other, so we are just stupid."
