Elisa Longo Borghini took part in her third Olympic road race in Paris on Sunday, but was unable to improve on her bronze medals from Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.

The Italian finished just 3:05 behind Kristen Faulkner, who finished in the top 10 in the 157.6-km race. [The 32-year-old, who finished eighth in the Olympic time trial last week, told Bici.Pro that she did not have the legs to medal on Sunday.

"I'm really sorry. It wasn't the result I wanted. 'I don't have any excuses, and I'm not looking for one. I simply couldn't get my legs moving. I had imagined it at the first half, but I tried anyway. And at some point, I shut down in an instant."

"I want to apologize to everyone - to the fans who followed me from home and to the many Italians who were on the course. I saw them, heard them, felt their encouragement. All in all, it was a great race with a great atmosphere. But now it's all behind me.

Longo Borghini said he could have finished "fourth or twentieth. Longo Borghini said he could have finished "fourth or twentieth."

"It's not the result that matters, it could have been 4th or 20th. I could have been fourth or 20th, because that would have meant I didn't respect the jersey I was wearing. Overall, I think we did the race right and everyone moved well."

"I'm actually grateful to my teammates. We each gave what we had today, but unfortunately it wasn't enough. I don't know what to say and I don't think I need to explain it. One meter before I was there and one meter after I was gone."

Longo Borghini has already had great success this season, winning the Italian road race championships and the Giro d'Italia women's title this summer after winning the Tour de Flanders and Brabantspaille in the spring.

Longo Borghini will use her Olympic disappointment to set her sights on the Tour de France women, where she will lead Lidl-Trek. She finished sixth in the race two years ago and will be looking for another top GC finish.

"I'm going to go home now and start thinking about the Tour de France. I don't have time to rest and maybe it's better that way."

"This is a painful blow and it will continue to hurt, but there are still a lot of races to go and I can't let the rest of the season depend on this blow.

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