Published: Today at 15:36
LIZZIE ARMITSTEAD won Team GB’s first medal of the Olympics as she took SILVER in the women’s road race.
The cycling star from Leeds produced the goods after Tour de France ace Mark Cavendish fell short in the men’s event yesterday.
On being Great Britiain's opening medal winner at London 2012, she said: "It's something very special and it hasn't sunk in yet.
"I'm really, really happy. Maybe later I'll start thinking about that gold, but I'm happy with silver at the moment."
Holland's sprint specialist Marianne Vos grabbed gold on The Mall as she edged out Armistead on the line in pouring rain.
In a frantic race, with attack after attack, Armitstead was part of the late escape on the final descent after Box Hill in Surrey.
And she said: "I'm so glad I committed to that break.
"We saw the men's race. Once you've got a committed group it's hard to get them back so I went with it.
"I should have just jumped her there. Marianne was the one to watch so I was following her around."
SO CLOSE ... Marianne Vos outsprints Lizzie Armitstead to take the gold on the Mall
She added: "I was thinking about trying to play poker in the final and I sat on with about 3km to go and I thought that was my best chance and it came off.
"In retrospect I should've tried to jump Marianne but she's the fastest and I'm happy enough with silver."
Armitstead, 23, was narrowly beaten at the end of a pulsating 140-kilometre race, which featured two climbs of Box Hill.
With the peloton cast adrift, she was in line for Britain's first medal of the home Games but the question remained: which colour?
Armitstead positioned herself behind the Dutchwoman entering the finishing straight but Vos was strong enough to hold off the Briton, who had to settle for second.
Russia's Olga Zabelinskaya was third.
SILVER LINING ... a soaked Lizzie Armitstead after the race
Nicole Cooke won Britain's first gold medal of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing in the event.
And Armitstead was seeking to emulate the success to ensure the title remained in British hands.
Cooke and Armitstead had a public fall-out after last September's World Championships, when Armitstead was nominated team leader but accused Cooke of riding "for herself" after a disappointing result.
In the lead-up to London 2012, the duo insisted the incident and comments were behind them and that they were united in the goal of Britain retaining the Olympic title.
Cooke has struggled for form since 2008, when she also won the world title, when Armitstead was among those riding in support, but struggled as the pace increased on the first ascent of Surrey's Box Hill.
Treacherous conditions on wet roads led to vigilance, with Britain's Emma Pooley prominent, and the pace was kept high to try to keep attacks to a minimum and to reduce the contenders.
Pooley was positioned to mark every potential move as the bunch arrived at the foot of Box Hill, while riders began to lose contact as the road ramped up and the tempo increased.
Martin lost contact and Cooke fell back too.
On the second climb of Box Hill, Vos made her move, with Armitstead on her wheel.
The main bunch followed the move before Zabelinskaya forged forward alone with 45km to go.
Vos, Armitstead and Shelley Olds of the United States bridged the gap and the quartet forged on.
Olds, though, fell back as the trio established a lead of around 20 seconds.
PODIUM SPOT ... Lizzie Armitstead with gold winner Marianne Vos and Olga Zabelinskaya
Germany, without a presence in the leading group, attempted to chase.
The United States and Sweden also shared the workload in pursuit of Armitstead, Vos and Zabelinskaya.
The trio shared the workload and had an advantage of 40 seconds as they entered Richmond Park in the rain for the second time.
Anxious to maintain the gap, Armitstead urged her companions on.
A tight right-hand turn on wet tarmac troubled the peloton and slowed their pace as the leading trio's advantage increased with 13km to go.
The peloton's deficit narrowed and last-ditch attacks began, while Pooley fell back.
Armitstead was content to sit behind Vos, marking her arch rival ahead of the sprint.
But Vos had too much strength after a gruelling race and Armitstead had to be content with silver.
