Great Britain’s Lizzie Armitstead wins road world title in Richmond

The 26-year-old becomes the fourth British woman to be crowned road world champion, joining Nicole Cooke, Mandy Jones and Beryl Burton.

She was eventually caught, and a cat-and-mouse game ensued among the leaders as they prepared for the sprint finish.”It was a complicated race, I had to make sure I kept to my plan and went for it on the climbs as hard as I could at the end”.

She has also won the past two World Cup crowns, but she will not be pushing for a third, her focus squarely upon the Olympics. But the 26 year-old from Otley, whose sensational victory in Richmond, Virginia, on Saturday cemented her status as one of the finest riders this country has ever produced, said she was already thinking straight and had her sights set on next year’s Olympic road race. Van der Breggen added another silver medal to the one she captured in the time trial, while Megan Guarnier of the USA won the sprint for bronze. “I think every cyclist dreams of the rainbow jersey and this morning, I’ve never been so nervous in my life”.

Elizabeth Armitstead, left, of Britain, crosses the start-finish…

Armitstead quickly clasped her hand over her mouth and burst into tears. I thought maybe people would come across with me but they didn’t. “The rest of women’s cycling has made some incredible strides”.

Armitstead is still struggling to come to terms with her achievement after an hour’s sleep – due to celebrations and restlessness.

Her hopes of making up for last year’s disappointment appeared doomed when she failed to join a nine-rider break that had opened up a minute advantage on the peloton with under 20km to go.

“It was such a unusual sprint for me because I was on the front leading it out”. Armitstead, increasingly active in the front on the last two climbs, kept the pace high on the final ascent of Governor Street in a driving move that all but ensured there were no late attacks by her rivals and which, equally importantly, further selected the leading group to the point where it was in single figures.

“The last 5 kilometers was quite demanding and it was all about positioning”, said Armitstead, who went to the right and surged into the lead awaiting a charge. Anna came and that was it. It was all about the line.

Defending champion Michal Kwiatkowski, confirmed this weekend as a Team Sky signing for 2016, came home in eighth place while his new team-mate Ben Swift, from Rotherham, was the highest British finisher in 22nd.