Olympic cycling course leaves riders bloodied, broken

(Photo: The Associated Press)RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — After a series of spills in the men's Olympic road race left cyclists with broken bones and bloody road rash, it seemed as if the women's race Sunday was going to escape serious injury.

That all changed in a fraction of a second.

Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten, barreling down the final descent of Vista Chinesa in the lead, hit the deck in a spectacular fall. Her bike catapulted into the air, and van Vleuten lay motionless on the side of the road while the rest of the field cautiously swept past her.

She was transported to a Rio de Janeiro hospital and diagnosed with a concussion and three small fractures of her spine, and was to remain in…