Van Vleuten breaks pubic bone as Deignan wins Paris-Roubaix Femmes

By Reuters October 3, 2021 â€" 11.14am

Olympic champion Annemiek van Vleuten suffered a broken pubic bone after crashing in an incident-packed inaugural Paris-Roubaix Femmes on Saturday.

The Dutch rider was one of many to hit the deck as rain produced treacherous conditions on the fabled cobbles.

Annemiek van Vleuten said she broke her public bone in two places.Credit:AP

“Not a 2021 happy end for me. Stupid crash. Just wanted to go to the finish safe,” the 38-year-old posted on Twitter.

“Result is broken pubic bone in two places and a long recovery staying in bed coming up. Bye bye holiday. Bye bye recharging. I have done this more often but energy is running out.”

Three-time world champion van Vleuten has enjoyed an impressive season with wins at the Tour of Flanders and Challenge by La Vuelta as well as finishing second in the Olympic road race, though she inititally thought she won gold, and winning gold in the time trial.

Britain’s Lizzie Deignan won the Paris-Roubaix race in its first edition for women riders with van Vleuten’s compatriot Marianne Vos coming second.

Elisabeth Deignan and Marianne Vos celebrate their one-two finish.Credit:AP

The former world champion produced a dominant ride over the 115.6-kilometre course and held off a powerful late surge by Dutch great Vos to win by one minute and 17 seconds.

After three circuits around Denain, Trek Segafredo rider Deignan established a small lead over the pack just before the first of 17 cobbled sections.

With riders struggling to organise a concerted chase, many of them slithering over on the greasy cobbles, former world champion Deignan powered into a commanding lead.

Deignan, handling the bone-shaking “pave” cobblestones with aplomb, maintained her advantage as several fancied riders including European champion Ellen van Dijk crashed heavily.

With 30 kilometres remaining, the Trek-Segafredo rider held a lead of two minutes 30 seconds.

Vos finally put the hammer down to try and catch Deignan, slicing into the lead as she powered through the Carrefour de L’Arbre cobbled section.

Vos closed the gap to 1:18 as Deignan began the final 10 kilometres, but Deignan proved unshakeable out front as the famed Roubaix velodrome finish approached.

Deignan was so far ahead that the finale inside the Roubaix velodrome resembled a lap of honour as the Yorkshire rider wrote her name into the cycling history books.

Vos finished more than a minute behind, with Deignan’s teammate Elisa Longo Borghini in third place.

Organisers ASO, who also own the Tour de France, added a women’s version of the 125-year-old Paris Roubaix last year, but the COVID-19 pandemic meant they had to wait another year to ride the so-called Hell of the North.

The debut for the Paris Roubaix Femmes race and for a women’s Tour de France next year are seen as steps forward in the long battle for gender equality in professional cycling, although there remains a long way to go.

While the men’s race over a longer distance boasts a total prize pot of €91,000, the women’s race has only €7505 with Deignan receiving €1535 â€" about 1/20th of what the winner of the men’s race will take home.

Reuters

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