On so many tear-stained occasions Lizzie Armitstead has been cycling’s lady in waiting, collecting silvers and second places but consistently finding one rider too strong. Not this time. Queen Liz’s smile as she stepped onto the highest podium spot, where she was presented with her Commonwealth Games road race gold medal by the Earl of Wessex, was of the purest joy – and deepest relief.“This means I can call myself a champion and not a runner-up,” admitted Armitstead, a silver medallist at Delhi in 2010 and the London 2012 Olympics. “I’m always on the podium, but I don’t win that many races. It’s just a confidence thing. Once you’ve got a big title, you can call yourself a champion finally.“The psychologists tell you it should never be a relief when you win a race, but to tell you the truth it is.”The race, seven laps of a 14.2km circuit around Glasgow’s West End and city centre, was short but choppy. There was barely a metre of flat, or a moment to rest. But Armitstead’s England team-mates policed the breaks while ratcheting up the tempo, and she appeared regally relaxed.
By the fifth lap, just seven women remained in the leading group to scrap for the medals. Among them was Armitstead’s colleague, Emma Pooley – riding in her last international race – and the key element of England’s master plan.
It was Pooley who attacked on the sixth lap, pulling about 100m clear of the field, asking what they had left. The answer for most of them was not a lot. As the drenching rain came down, Armitstead waited until the short climb up Great George Street with 8km remaining, and then went: away from the chasers, away from Pooley, away into history.
“It was pretty textbook really,” admitted Armitstead. “I was a little bit nervous at the thought it would be a bit of an easy race. There was a couple of times when I asked the girls to put in a little dig, to see what it would do the peloton and it split them to pieces. I thought ‘what’s up with everyone?’ I was definitely on a good day. That gave me confidence to do what I did on the last lap.”
As she made her decisive break, she was thinking of her family. “When the rain started, I knew they’d all be thinking ‘yes, this is good for Lizzie’.
A little smile appeared on my face and I just thought ‘yes, this is perfect’.”
Beforehand Armitstead had promised to buy a bottle of champagne for the 33-year-old Pooley as a thank you for all her efforts over the years. She should upgrade it to a magnum. Pooley had her own reward, though, finishing 25 seconds back to win silver, with Ashleigh Pasio of South Africa taking bronze.
“Emma rode a fantastic race,” said Armitstead. “She was so strong the whole race and I’m really grateful to her for sacrificing like she did. She really deserves her medal. She’s obviously famous for her time-trialling ability. She has had quite a lot of stick over the years for some of her road-racing tactics but she really got it right. We rode a perfect race together.”
Afterwards Pooley was in the early stages of shock. She had been expected to finish at the back after flogging herself on behalf on Armitstead, instead she had a partner for her time-trial silver medal earlier in the Games.
“I expected to be worked into the dust and finish last so it’s pretty special,” she said. ”We were working for Lizzie, so I wanted to give everything. I didn’t want to do a half-job. So don’t ask me if I’m disappointed with silver – I’m not!”
Then came the tears. “It’s been a long nine years so I am really pleased that we got it right and it’s a lovely way to finish the sport,” said Pooley, who is not opting for the easy life. Next up for her will be triathlons and marathons.
Sources:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/aug/03/lizzie-armitstead-emma-pooley-england-glasgow-2014-commonwealth-games-cycling
