The Women's Individual Road Race opened the 1984 Summer Olympics and marked the first inclusion of a women's cycling event in the Olympic program. Held at 9:00 am on Sunday, July 29th 1984, the race began with Jeannis Longo-Ciprelli of France as the favorite and Connie Carpenter-Phinney and Rebecca Twigg of the United States as close competition. Midway through, the decisive breakaway included Longo, Carpenter-Phinney, and Twigg. Although Twigg was favored in a sprint finish because of her sprinting ability on the race course, with less than a kilometer remaining Longo collided with another participant and her bike chain came off, eliminating her from contention. Twigg then led the sprint, but Carpenter-Phinney caught her and used a bike-pumping technique she had learned from her husband, who was competing in the Men's Olympic Individual Road Race, to win by inches.
