After pedalling hard for 94.9 gruelling kilometres, it all boiled down to the frantic dash to the finishing line in the SEA Games women's road race event at Marina Bay South.
In the final turn, 2014 Asian Games cycling champion Jutatip Maneephan, who also clinched the women's criterium race gold for Thailand on Friday, sped ahead of the pack alongside criterium silver medallist Nguyen Thi That of Vietnam in an attempt to best her once again for the gold medal.
Both cyclists posted a finish time of 2:49:42, the photo finish in Jutatip's favour. However, the results were protested by the Vietnam team which presented a video recording of the final sprint to the race officials.
"After investigation, we have decided to relegate the Thai cyclist to the last place in her group. This is according to regulations as she failed to keep in line in the last sprint, affecting the Vietnam's representative." said Walter Yue, a commissaire from the Asian Cycling Confederation.
Singapore's Dinah Chan crossed the finish line with a time of 2:49:43 to place seventh of 15 cyclists this morning. She trailed three other cyclists in her group, including Nurul Suhada Zainal from Malaysia, who won the bronze medal by split seconds.
Singapore's Serene Lee crashed out with three other cyclists, suffering minor abrasions before cycling to a 2:52:06 finish in 13th place.
