Armitstead becomes only the fourth British women to win the title, following Beryl Burton, Mandy Jones and Nicole Cooke.
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Elizabeth Armitstead, left, of Britain, crosses the start-finish line in first place to win the Women’s Elite road circuit cycling race at the UCI Road World Championships in Richmond, Va., Saturday, September 26, 2015.
Shane Sutton says Lizzie Armitstead’s increased self-belief was the key to her historic win in the women’s World Championship road race in the United States on Saturday.
In part, it came because Armitstead developed the plan of attack over a course that offered cobblestone climbs, a rise before the finish line and a host of top rivals.
France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, the 2014 victor as well as reigning world cyclo-cross and mountain bike champion, was knocked over in an early crash but recovered to finish sixth.
Dutchwoman Anna Van der Breggen was second and American Megan Guarnier was third.
“The way she went on the attack in that last 1km and then led it into the home straight, in cycling terms, to do that took something very special”.
“I took the decision to lead it on and wait for the rush to come, but it never came”.
“The peloton was going slower and slower each lap so I think the course was quite demanding and then last five kilometers were challenging and it was all about positioning”.
Describing the final sprint Armitstead said, “I got on the front, I was leading and waiting for them to go for it, but it didn’t happen”.
“When you are so close, it’s normal to feel disappointed”, added Van der Breggen.
“It’s really unusual, I can’t believe I have won, I’m still in shock”.
Lizzie Armitstead had an idea of how she wanted the world championships to play out, the field whittling down to a select bunch and the fastest few eventually sprinting for gold. There’s been a lot of champions before me and I’m sure there will be ahead of me. Rasmus Pederson of Denmark was third.
But the man synonymous with the Tour’s green jersey, which he has won four years in a row, will now don the rainbow stripes after a thrilling display.
Lacking team-mates around her when the racing toughened up in the final laps, the 26-year-old had no option but to bide her time, aware that as the race favourite – she has just won the season-long World Cup for the second time in two years – she would be closely marked.
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Not until after the penultimate climb did the peloton catch the breakaway leaders, setting up a daunting climb and sprint to the finish.
