Anna van der Breggen takes gold as Annemiek van Vleuten suffers horror crash

It was a tale of contrasting fortunes for two Dutch cyclists.

While Anna van der Breggen celebrated clinching gold in the women’s road race, the mood at the finish line was subdued after Annemiek van Vleuten crashed while leading the race with just 11 kilometers to go.

On the same descent that left Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali with two broken collarbones just 24 hours earlier, Van Vleuten flew head-first over her handlebars and saw her hopes of a first Olympic title disappear.

The Dutch cycling federation said in a statement Van Vleuten had been taken to hospital and was being treated for a heavy concussion and three minor fractures in her spine.

“She will stay in intensive care for the next 24 hours,” read the statement. “She is fully conscious and her reactions are adequate.”

The 33 year-old played down her injuries when she took to Twitter later Sunday to reassure her followers she was “fine” and expressed her disappointment at crashing out of the most significant race of her career to date.

Former Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman has since lead the criticism of the Games’ organizers and branded the route as “too dangerous”.

Van Vleuten’s crash left American Mara Abbott in pole position but she couldn’t hold onto it. She was reeled in just 150 meters from the finish line by van der Breggen, Sweden’s Emma Johansson and Italian Emma Longo Borghini as the riders streaked along Copacabana.

It was van der Breggen who pipped Johansson to the gold medal, leaving Borghini in third. Abbott finished fourth.

And although Van der Breggen reveled in her success, Van Vleuten wasn’t far from her thoughts.

Read: Kelmendi wins Kosovo’s first gold medal

“I was really shocked when I saw the crash and it didn’t look good but I had to focus and keep on with the race,” she told reporters.

“I am so happy with the gold. All three of us realized we had to pull because the medals were in play. We saw that Mara Abbott was getting weaker and we gave it our all. It was everything for the win,” added Van der Breggen switching her attention her success.

Abbott was left to ponder what might have been, bemoaning how close, yet how far she was from the biggest win of her career.

Michael Phelps and Caeleb Dressel of United States celebrate their win the men's 4 x 100m freestyle relay on day 2 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Sunday, August 7.

The United States' Katie Ledecky celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's 400m freestyle final.

American gymnast Simone Biles leads the field in the women's individual all-around competition at the end of the second day of the Olympics.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic hangs his head after losing a point during his first round singles tennis match against Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro. The Argentinian beat Djokovic 7-6, 7-6.

Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden celebrates winning gold and setting a new world record in the women's 100m butterfly.

Uzbekistan's Oksana Chusovitina performs on the balance beam during the artistic gymnastics women's qualification round. At 41, she is the oldest gymnast to ever compete in the Olympics.

Daniele Garozzo of Italy celebrates after defeating Alexander Massialas of the United States, winning the gold medal at the men's individual foil fencing event.

Venus Williams talks with her sister Serena after losing a point against Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic. The Americans, defending their title, lost the first-round doubles match 6-3 6-4.

Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands celebrates after winning the women's road race. Her teammate Annemiek van Vleuten was hospitalized after crashing while in the lead.

Majlinda Kelmendi of Kosovo (blue) competes with Odette Giuffrida of Italy during the women's 52 kg judo gold medal final. Kelmendi won Kosovo's first ever Olympic medal.

China's Wu Minxia and Shi Tingmao won the women's synchronized 3m springboard final. Wu became the first diver to win five Olympic golds.

Catherine Skinner, right, celebrates her gold medal victory with fellow Australian Laetisha Scanlan, left, during the women's trap final at the Olympic Shooting Center.

Soares Renan of Brazil competes in the heats of the men's canoe single event at the Whitewater Stadium.

Hsu Shu-Ching of Chinese Taipei won the women's 53 kg Group A weightlifting contest with a total of 212 kg.

China's Tian Alex Hua, riding Don Geniro, competes in the Eventing Individual dressage event. He was 12th ahead of Monday's cross country and Tuesday's jumping.

Brooke Sweat of the United States dives for the ball during the women's beach volleyball preliminary round.

Koki Niwa of Japan is focused on the ball during his men's singles table tennis match match against Segun Toriola of Nigeria.

Nepal's Gaurika Singh, 13, competes in -- and wins -- her women's 100m backstroke heat.

A tear runs down the face of Russia's national all-round champion Angelina Melnikova as she leaves the arena after failing to qualify for the final of the artistic gymnastics women's competition.

Li Hongxia falls after diving to shoot at goal as China loses 4-1 in its women's field hockey match against Germany.

Players reach out to the ball during the women's basketball match between USA and Senegal. The Americans won 121-56, setting a new record for the most points scored in Olympic history.

Dustin Brown of Germany grimaces after hurting his ankle during his match against Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil. Brown would later exit the game.

Competitors warm up prior to a rowing event at the Lagoa Stadium.

A volunteer wearing a temporary tattoo of the Olympic rings waits for the start of competition after the rowing event was delayed. Later the official governing body for world rowing confirmed that all races were canceled Sunday due to high winds and choppy waters at Lagoa.

Pietro Roman of Italy riding Barraduff reacts after competing in the Eventing Team Dressage event.

Belarus' Alexandra Privalova has a nose for the ball in her women's singles qualification-round table tennis match.

Jiaxin Tan of China competes on the uneven bars during the women's qualification for Artistic Gymnastics.

Russia's Evgenia Ukolova dives for the ball during a women's beach volleyball qualifying match against Brazil.

Dutch fans watch the women's field hockey match between New Zealand and South Korea. The Netherlands was to face off against Ireland in the men's division later in the day.

Volunteers cut holes in wraps around the spectator stands due to strong winds. The wind has caused delays and cancellations for some events.

Chi-Chung Tan of Chinese Taipei competes during the men's 53kg Group A weightlifting contest.

Rio Olympics: Day 2

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“The ironic part, you’re in that situation but you don’t actually believe … they’re chasing behind you and you don’t believe it’s ever going to happen,” said the 30-year-old.

“I didn’t believe it until I was passed the 200 meters to go sign and then I thought, ‘oh my God, this going to happen.’ And then they catch me.”

The buildup to the race was dominated by Lizzie Armitstead, who, it was revealed, had missed three drugs test in the last 10 months.

The Briton avoided a ban that would have prevented her competing at the Games by appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the grounds that her first missed test (in August 2015) was the fault of doping authorities.

CAS agreed, freeing Armitstead to climb into the saddle Sunday, when the world champion finished fifth.