Vos and Anna Henderson were part of a strong group in the final, which also included favourite Lotte Kopecky. With more than 10 kilometres to go, Vos and Vas went on an adventure together. The two seemed to have a comfortable lead on the chasers, but on the final climb of Montmartre, Faulkner and Kopecky managed to virtually repair the gap.

With three kilometres to go, Kopecky and Faulkner joined Vos and Vas. Faulkner saw her chance and immediately attacked. The American took a big gap and did not see her victory threatened. In the sprint for second place, Vos narrowly won. "I have a double feeling about it. Of course I am happy with this medal, but we were going for gold. We didn't succeed", Vos said.

For Vos, it was her third Olympic medal in five Olympic Games participations. In 2008, she won gold in the points race and four years later crowned herself Olympic road champion. "I was in a good situation with Blanka. I felt Lotte and Kristen were getting closer and when they joined and Kristen attacked, I didn't have the legs to react. Kristen is incredibly strong, you can't give her a metre of space."

According to Vos, it was soon clear that silver was the highest possible. "You have to keep on riding, you no other choice. Lotte came out of the last corner first and then it's full sprint as hard as you can. It was very close, but it was just enough for silver."