For the third time in her career, Emma Johansson finished on the podium at the World Championships when she finished third in today’s road race. After doing what she described as a tactically perfect race, she was left with mixed emotions with another near-miss.

For almost a decade, Emma Johansson has been one of the best riders in the world and a perennial contender at the World Championships. With Marianne Vos having dominated the scene, however, the Swede has had less success than her talents may have earned.

After a third place in 2010 and second plane in 2013, she finally had a great shot at the rainbow jersey in today’s Worlds road race in Ponferrada. The seemingly unbeatable Vos looked weaker than usual and ended the race in a disappointing 10th.

However, Johansson failed to capitalize on what could be a unique chance to win the Worlds title. After a strong acceleration on the final climb, she found herself in a four-rider group with Vos, Lizzie Armitstead and Elisa Longo Borghini. She launched a perfectly timed attack in the  fast run-in to the line but after having been reeled in, it all came back together for a sprint from a bigger group.

Surprisingly, Vos could only manage 10th while Johansson took another bronze medal, leaving her with mixed emotions.

“I did a tactically perfect race and everything went to plan,” she said at the post-race press conference. “The only thing that didn’t go to plan was that I didn’t get that striped jersey which is a big disappointment. The fact that I dared to do what I did makes me proud to bring back a bronze medal. It’s a bonus.”

The race was marred by several bad crashes that forced lots of riders to abandon. In the finale, it even briefly started to rain, making the treacherous descents slippery.

“I think the race was dangerous already from the start,” Johansson said. “There were a lot of crashes. There were so many people going down. I think that almost every descent we did on every single lap, there was something happening with crashes and all the girls coming back from crashes.

“When it started to rain, everybody was very careful. I think we rode really well in the rain. We didn’t take any risks. Maybe the outcome would have been changed if it had kept raining but I am pretty happy it stopped.”

Vos had gone into the race as the big favourite but her defeat didn’t come completely unexpected. All year she has been less dominant than usual and Johansson was relieved to see her stranglehold having been broken.

“Marianne is a really strong and awesome rider,” she said. “She can do everything. But I don’t think it is bad for women’s cycling to move around a bit and have new, strong riders coming up. It’s nice to have someone else in that world champion’s jersey.

“I am a bit surprised but she was still up there and super strong. I have also seen that Marianne have been beatable. That shows today. It’s good for us to see. She is an amazing rider and to see that is very nice.”

Many were surprised to see Ferrand-Prevot take over from Vos. However, Johansson had already picked her out as a strong contender before the race.

“Pauline has really stepped up as a top rider this year,” she said. “She has achieved some really amazing results. I was actually surprised that she wasn’t with us over the top of the climb but I saw her sprinting in Plouay and she did a good sprint there. I also saw that Bronzini was in that group when they came back so I expected her to be there.

“I think the fact that they came back from behind meant that they had some extra energy left by not spending it like we did on the descent. I am both surprised and not because she has been really strong this year. I had her as one of the favourites for today.”