London - Ashleigh Moolman was buried in a large chase group and settled for 16th place in the women's cycling road race at the Olympic Games on Sunday.
Moolman was prominent in the lead peloton for most of the 140km race, but could not respond to a break away by Marianne Vos of the Netherlands, Elizabeth Armitstead of Great Britain and Olga Zabelinskaya of Russia.
Vos won a sprint finish to clinch gold in three hours, 35 minutes, 29 seconds (3:35.29) ahead of Armitstead, who finished second in the same time, and third-placed Zabelinskaya, who was two seconds behind.
Moolman formed part of a 25-strong chasing pack which trailed home 25 seconds further back.
The 2011 African champion successfully countered attacks up front, but was caught out by the final Box Hill descent where the medallists broke away with 45km to go.
"I did my best to cover everything, but a miscalculation on the road left me in the bunch," Moolman said after the race.
Joanna van de Winkel finished at the back of the same group, taking 28th position.
The other South African in the race, Robyn de Groot, finished over the time limit.
Results for the cycling event held Sunday from the Summer Olympics:
Women's Road Race
1. Marianne Vos, Netherlands, 3:35:29, 39.065.
2. Elizabeth Armitstead, Britain, 3:35:29, 0:00.
3. Olga Zabelinskaya, Russia, 3:35:31, +0:02.
4. Ina Teutenberg, Germany, 3:35:56, +0:27.
5. Giorgia Bronzini, Italy, 3:35:56, +0:27.
6. Emma Johansson, Sweden, 3:35:56, +0:27.
7. Shelley Olds, United States, 3:35:56, +0:27.
8. Pauline Ferrand Prevot, France, 3:35:56, +0:27.
9. Liesbet de Vocht, Belgium, 3:35:56, +0:27.
10. Aude Biannic, France, 3:35:56, +0:27.
11. Katarzyna Pawlowska, Poland, 3:35:56, +0:27.
12. Joelle Numainville, Canada, 3:35:56, +0:27.
13. Na Ahreum, South Korea, 3:35:56, +0:27.
14. Annemiek van Vleuten, Netherlands, 3:35:56, +0:27.
15. Alena Amialiusik, Belarus, 3:35:56, +0:27.
16. Ashleigh Moolman, South Africa, 3:35:56, +0:27.
17. Grete Treier, Estonia, 3:35:56, +0:27.
18. Linda Melanie Villumsen, New Zealand, 3:35:56, +0:27.
19. Emilia Fahlin, Sweden, 3:35:56, +0:27.
20. Pia Sundstedt, Finland, 3:35:56, +0:27.
21. Christine Majerus, Luxembourg, 3:35:56, +0:27.
22. Polona Batagelj, Slovenia, 3:35:56, +0:27.
23. Clemilda Fernandes Silva, Brazil, 3:35:56, +0:27.
24. Evelyn Stevens, United States, 3:35:56, +0:27.
25. Tatiana Antoshina, Russia, 3:35:56, +0:27.
26. Evelyn Yesenia Garcia Marroquin, El Salvador, 3:35:56, +0:27.
27. Denise Ramsden, Canada, 3:35:56, +0:27.
28. Joanna van de Winkel, South Africa, 3:35:56, +0:27.
29. Maaike Polspoel, Belgium, 3:36:01, +0:32.
30. Tatiana Guderzo, Italy, 3:36:01, +0:32.
31. Nicole Cooke, Britain, 3:36:01, +0:32.
32. Clara Hughes, Canada, 3:36:01, +0:32.
33. Trixi Worrack, Germany, 3:36:04, +0:35.
34. Noemi Cantele, Italy, 3:36:04, +0:35.
35. Kristin Armstrong, United States, 3:36:16, +0:47.
36. Amber Neben, United States, 3:36:20, +0:51.
37. Judith Arndt, Germany, 3:36:28, +0:59.
38. Larisa Pankova, Russia, 3:37:22, +1:53.
39. Shara Gillow, Australia, 3:37:22, +1:53.
40. Emma Pooley, Britain, 3:37:26, +1:57.
NR. Ingrid Drexel, Mexico, OTL.
NR. Loes Gunnewijk, Netherlands, OTL.
NR. Charlotte Becker, Germany, OTL.
NR. Liu Xin, China, OTL.
NR. Monia Baccaille, Italy, OTL.
NR. Fernanda da Silva Souza, Brazil, OTL.
NR. Ellen van Dijk, Netherlands, OTL.
NR. Lucy Martin, Britain, OTL.
NR. Hsiao Mei Yu, Taiwan, OTL.
NR. Alona Andruk, Ukraine, OTL.
NR. Audrey Cordon, France, OTL.
NR. Ludivine Henrion, Belgium, OTL.
NR. Robyn de Groot, South Africa, OTL.
NR. Amanda Spratt, Australia, OTL.
NR. Chloe Hosking, Australia, OTL.
NR. Yumari Gonzalez Valdivieso, Cuba, OTL.
NR. Emilie Moberg, Norway, OTL.
NR. Isabelle Soderberg, Sweden, OTL.
NR. Wan Yiu Jamie Wong, Hong Kong, OTL.
NR. Mayuko Hagiwara, Japan, DNF.
NR. Danielys Garcia, Venezuela, DNF.
NR. Paola Andrea Munoz Grandon, Chile, DNF.
NR. Aurelie Halbwachs, Mauritius, DNF.
NR. Elena Tchalykh, Azerbaijan, DNF.
NR. Juthatip Maneephan, Thailand, DNF.
NR. Janildes Fernandes Silva, Brazil, DNF.