Armitstead delight at 'special' win

Lizzie Armitstead made her move in the penultimate of eight laps before streaking clear in the final round
23 June 2013

Lizzie Armitstead was thrilled to secure her second National Road Race title after an emphatic victory in Glasgow.

Armitstead followed up her silver medal in the time trial event earlier this week by beating Wiggle Honda pair Laura Trott and Dani King by 63 seconds. The 2011 champion, who has now finished in the top two for five years running, made her move in the penultimate of eight laps before streaking clear in the final round.

Amy Roberts of Wiggle Honda had pulled away in order to break up the group after a slow start but Armitstead was ultimately too strong. And the 24-year-old Boels Dolman rider said: "It's really special. It was one of my main goals of the season."

She added: "I've had an up and down season so far so I needed a bit of a confidence boost and hopefully having the jersey on my back will help."

The circuit, which will be used for next year's Commonwealth Games, started and finished in Glasgow Green and took the cyclists through the heart of Glasgow city centre and to the west end past Glasgow University.

Armitstead added: "With two laps to go I stuck one in just over the university climb. It was the longest and steepest. I managed to drop everybody but Laura was just close enough. I kind of did 80 per cent on that climb and unfortunately I dropped my team-mates so I was alone with two Wiggles.

"It was strange tactics from them in the final, they just rode it out. That was perfect for me. I gave it 100 per cent on the same climb and managed to get the gap. I've got a lot of experience on the road now and it's their first real season on the road so I felt confident."

Trott was delighted with her silver medal after beating team-mate King in a sprint finish and admitted Armitstead was the "stronger and better rider on the day".

King added: "I am really happy. A couple of days ago I didn't feel great after the time trial so if someone said to me you were going to get third today, I would have been over the moon.

"We worked well together, did everything we could and Lizzie was the better rider today. She won a silver in the Olympic games in the road race so I don't think we can complain."

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