ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN, the Dutch cyclist that was victim to the sickening crash at the Rio Olympics, says Britain’s Lizzie Armitstead should not have been allowed to race.
Van Vleuten broke three bones in her back as she went over her handle bars when she was in the lead and set to win the women’s Olympic road race.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the 33-year-old lay motionless and with her head at an angle with many thinking she had broken her neck.
Armistead, now named Deignan after marrying, missed three drugs tests before the Olympics and was only allowed to compete after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport with a two year ban on the verge of being imposed.
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And Vleuten said: “I was angry about it because the rules are for everyone and you cannot make exceptions. It’s part of the job, you have to take it seriously.
“It’s very special to miss three tests in one year, a really big achievement. Maybe because she’s the world champion they made an exception for her but I don’t think that’s fair.”
Vleuten said of her crash: “The corner surprised me and I didn’t take it properly. Next thing I remember I was in a hospital bed and I had my mother on the phone.
"The first week I was really struggling with the idea that I was going for gold and made that stupid, stupid mistake.
"But then I realised that thinking like this was not going to help me feel better.
"I prefer to think about the part when I was going uphill and riding excellently, better than I ever did.
"I’m proud of what I did, that day in Rio was really special."
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