Portugal Colonial - Van Vleuten defies pain 'hell' to win world road race title

The 39-year-old Tour de France champion held off a challenge by Belgium's Lotte Kopecky by one second after a gruelling 164.3 kilometre (102 mile) slog in the rain around Wollongong, south of Sydney.

Italy's Silvia Persico took the bronze.

"I still can't believe it. I'm waiting for someone to tell me it's not true," said Van Vleuten, who fractured her elbow in the mixed relay on Wednesday after crashing heavily.

Medics only gave her the green light to start on Friday evening.

"It was hell today," she added of the pain. "My legs were exploding on the climbs."

Van Vleuten was pessimistic before the race about being able to attack on the short, sharp climbs because her injury made it too painful to get out of the saddle.

But she hung on during a series of attacks in the final city circuit lap that split the peloton before soaring away in the final kilometre to take a memorable win to add to her 2019 title.

The Movistar rider won the Tour de France, Giro and Vuelta to sweep the women's major tours in 2022, as well as winning the Liege-Bastogne-Liege to cement her status as an all-time great.

L.Mesquita--PC