Lizzie Armitstead wins Commonwealth Games gold in the Women's Road Race with Emma Pooley claiming silver

• Lizzie Armitstead is the Commonwealth Games Women's Road champion
• Armitstead finished ahead Emma Pooley for an England one-two
• South Africa's Ashleigh Pasio won bronze in a photo finish ahead of Australia's Tiffany Cromwell
  

By Nick Harris

Published: 04:57 EST, 3 August 2014 | Updated: 03:37 EST, 4 August 2014

Lizzie Armitstead and Emma Pooley combined for an English one-two in a gripping women’s road race on Sunday when Glasgow threw the worst of its weather at the men’s race, an event so drenched it became semi-aquatic — and utterly extraordinary.

Just 12 of 140 men finished their 168km (105-mile) course. For more than two-thirds of it, the field was headed by the Isle of Man’s Peter Kennaugh.

His gutsy (or borderline insane, delete as applicable) breakaway with 160km of the race remaining was always likely to be sunk. Indeed it was, drowned even, but Kennaugh was one of the dozen good men and true to cross the finish line.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch Lizzie Armitstead win gold with Emma Pooley claiming silver

Champion: Lizzie Armitstead won Commonwealth gold for England in the Women's Road Race

Golden smile: Armitstead celebrates winning her gold medal on the podium in Glasgow

Instead, seven days after riding down the Champs-Elysees in Paris bathed in  sunshine at the conclusion of the Tour de France, Wales’s Geraint Thomas triumphed. 

Not that he concluded simply. The 28-year-old suffered a puncture with just 6km left that brought him to a halt. For the first few moments of that delay it seemed feasible New Zealand’s Jack Bauer or England’s Scott Thwaites might catch him. 

That pair and Thomas had reeled in Kennaugh’s one-man breakaway with 49km left, then the Welshman made his own break from the other two on the final lap of 12 around the city.

But Thomas had enough time to change his wheel before being caught and powered away in spray that characterised  the entirety of his 4hr 13min 5sec ride. 

Bauer and Thwaites summoned energy from somewhere to sprint against each other down the home straight, Bauer crossing millimetres ahead for silver in the same time of 4hr 14min 26sec as Thwaites, who took bronze.

In a race as epically sodden as yesterday’s it is worth name-checking all those who finished. England’s Russell Downing was fourth, ahead of Mark Renshaw of Australia, a nation that had won this event for four straight Games and never missed the podium before Sunday. Thomas’s Welsh team-mate Luke Rowe was sixth, then Kiwi Gregory Henderson and Kennaugh, supported throughout by injured Manx team-mate Mark Cavendish, looking demented at times as he yelled encouragement from a car window.

At long last: Armitstead finished silver in Delhi four years ago as well as in the 2012 London Olympics

Dan Craven (Namibia) and Scott Davies (Wales) were ninth and 10th ahead of Scotland’s David Millar in his swansong ride of a long, turbulent and ultimately inspirational career. Ewan Caleb of Australia was 12th and that was it.

‘That was such a grim day,’ said Thomas. ‘I felt terrible at the start. I was thinking of just stopping I felt that bad.  Everyone else seemed to come down to my level then. I was surprised how easily I went away (on the final lap). When I had the puncture I thought “What have I got to do?” But fortunately I had a decent enough gap to stay in front.’

Third-placed Thwaites said: ‘Geraint was just so strong. You could tell he had so much more energy left in the tank.’

This was the first Welsh male road cycling gold ever, and the second Welsh road gold after Nicole Cooke’s road-race win in Manchester in 2002.

Lizzie Armitstead wins gold with Emma Pooley claiming silver

Tears of joy: Emma Pooley won silver for England in what was her final race in the sport

Swansong: Pooley finished 25 seconds behind Armitstead and is retiring to compete in endurance triathlons

The women’s race took in seven laps of the 14km course, and Pooley played a critical  support role as her England team leader Armitstead triumphed.

Armitstead, 25, from Otley in Yorkshire, had spoken before the race about wanting to put a succession of big-race silvers behind her, including in the Commonwealth Games four years ago and at London 2012.

‘I feel like I deserve this,’ said Armitstead. ‘I’ve trained so hard. I’m always on the podium, 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.

‘I want to say a massive thank you to Emma. Cycling is a beautiful sport and a team sport, which often gets overlooked. So I’m pleased Emma got a silver medal as well.’

Survival of the fittest: Armistead came out on top of the 98-kilometres event in just over 2 hours and 38 minutes

VIDEO Glasgow see out 'outstanding' Commonwealth Games  

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