slowly dropped off.With stretches approaching a gradient of

Ex-Formula One driver and two-time CART champion Alex Zanardi is set to return to motorsport after more than a year, following his Paralympic success in Rio.Having focused this year on the Paralympics, in which Zanardi matched his achievements from the London 2012 games by claiming two hand-cycling gold medals and one silver, the Italian will return to the cockpit in a modified BMW M6 GT3 run by ROAL Motorsport for the final round of the Italian GT Championship at Mugello on October 14-16.Zanardi turns 50 a week after the event and last raced at the Spa 24 Hours in July 2015, driving a BMW Z4 GT3 alongside Bruno Spengler and former Toyota F1 driver Timo Glock.I always say that my life is a never ending privilege of being able to do so many things, and this season is a classic example, Zanardi said. Preparing for Rio de Janeiro, approaching my 50th birthday, not only being able to run competitively, but winning what I won is exceptional.Zanardi lost both legs in a horrific CART crash at the Lausitzring in 2001 but made a remarkable return to racing just two years later, competing with prosthetic legs in the World Touring Car Championship for BMW between 2005 and 2009, before switching sports to take up hand-cycling.I will once more enjoy the privilege of indulging in my primary passion, being behind the wheel of a great race car, he added. Since I saw the beautiful BMW M6 GT3 in the workshop in Munich I have dreamt about driving it.And now BMW is granting me the possibility to do so on one of my favourite circuits, Mugello. I am very, very happy and I cant wait to grab the steering wheel and drive to the best of my abilities. Nail Yakupov Jersey .C. -- Rodney Hood connected from all over the court while freshman Jabari Parker was busy swatting shots and scoring in transition. 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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Sailing past her crumpled teammate, Anna van der Breggen suddenly realized she was the only hope the Netherlands had of defending its gold medal in the womens Olympic road race.She did so in the most dramatic of fashions.Working with Swedens Emma Johansson and Italys Elisa Longo Borghini to track down American rival Mara Abbott in sight of the finish, van der Breggen swept to the lead and won the dash to the line along Copacabana Beach on Sunday in the biggest victory of her career.Van der Breggen was soon embraced by Dutch teammate Marianne Vos, who won gold at the 2012 London Games, and turned her thoughts to Annemiek van Vleuten, whose spectacular crash gave her a chance.We passed Annemiek on the road. It didnt look good, van der Breggen said. So after, Emma just said, `Do it for Annemiek, and I said `Yeah, thats right.Van der Breggen thrust her arms in the air as thousands of fans lining the course roared approval, and a light mist that had been threatening for hours finally began to fall.It would have taken a downpour to dampen her spirits.I would have put money on Anna to win this race, said world champion Lizzie Armitstead, who was fifth for Britain. Shes a phenomenal athlete and this course was designed for her.Abbott coasted across in fourth in another shattering disappointment for the United States, one of the strongest teams in the race. Shelley Olds was in a similar position to medal four years ago when a puncture on the run-in to the finish cost her.In Abbotts case, it was simply a matter of tired legs.I saw the 300-meters to go sign and I thought ... `Oh my goodness. I could actually win this, Abbott said. Then I looked under my shoulder and they were right there.The climbing specialist obliterated most of the field on the hard climb of Vista Chinesa, then stayed upright when van Vleuten crashed on the same ruthless downhill that claimed the leaders Vincenzo Nibali and Sergio Henao and allowed Greg van Avermaet to win the mens race.Van Vleuten was taken to the hospital for tests that revealed three small fractures in her spine, the Dutch team said. She will remain in intensive care for at least 24 hours.It was a horrendous crash, said Johansson, who added a second silver to the one she won in Beijing in 2008. The peloton is so small and we all know each other veery well.dddddddddddd. We just hope shes OK.Borghini matched Imelda Chiappas performance at the 1996 Atlanta Games for the best finish by an Italian woman, while Vos finished ninth -- a strong performance after her 10-month injury hiatus.Unlike the mens race on Saturday, the women stuck together for the first 100 kilometers, each attack quickly shut down by the powerhouse teams trying to set up their leaders.Lotte Kopecky of Belgium spent time in front early, and Britains Emma Pooley tried in vain to animate the proceedings. But the field was together after two trips of the Grumari Circuit, where jarring cobblestones caused so much trouble for the men.Seven riders sprung away in sight of Vista Chinesa, the hard climb and descent that would decide the race. Among them was Vos, Trixi Worrack and former world champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot.The Americans missed the break and were forced to work hard to bring it back.Abbott accomplished it almost single-handedly, the worlds top climber quickly catching them as the race tilted uphill. She also succeeded in splintering the peloton, pushing a tempo so strong that Vos and Armitstead -- the silver medalist at the London Games -- slowly dropped off.With stretches approaching a gradient of 20 percent, Abbott and van Vleuten shook loose of the survivors of the first part of the climb and turned it into a two-woman race on the slick downhill.On the last tight curve, van Vleuten locked up her wheels and crashed hard through the bend.I wasnt comfortable holding her wheel and the pace she was holding on the descent, Abbott said, and unfortunately she crashed. Hopefully it wasnt as bad as it looked.Abbott cautiously navigated the corner, then realized 10 kilometers of flats to Fort Copacabana stood in her way of gold. She got into her handlebar drops, sucked down one last energy gel and began to accelerate through streets lined with fans.Three riders, working together behind her, caught Abbott just before she got to the line.I cant imagine being in her shoes right now. Shes going to have a lot of sleepless nights, American teammate Kristin Armstrong said. Fourth is a wonderful position in the Olympics but also the hardest position. ' ' '