The first cycling events in the Olympic Games are this weekend’s road races for men and women, taking place on courses of 250 kilometres and 140 kilometres respectively.
They will travel out from the start/finish area at the Mall in London to a 15.5 kilometre circuit in Surrey, which will be covered nine times by the men and, tomorrow, twice by the women.
This includes the Box Hill climb, a 2.6 kilometre hairpinned ramp which averages five percent and which will be seen as the biggest opportunity to prevent a bunch sprint.
Back by Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins and runner-up Chris Froome, Mark Cavendish is regarded as the biggest favourite. However the Briton can triumph only if it is a big gallop at the end, and his rivals will do their utmost to prevent this happening.
Competitors such as Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland), Tom Boonen, Philippe Gilbert (both Belgium), Vincenzo Nibali (Italy), Alejandro Valverde (Spain), Simon Gerrans (Australia), Taylor Phinney and Tejay van Garderen (USA), Ryder Hesjedal (Canada), Lars Boom (Netherlands), Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia), Alexandr Kolobnev (Russia), Matti Breschel (Denmark), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway), Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin (Ireland) will hope that the race plays out more like a Classic, with a small group using this climb to push clear.
The move will have to gain sufficient ground to hold off the chase behind on the long run-in to the finish, and so it is unlikely that the big guns will wait until the last time up the climb to fire.
In fact, with pressure needing to be exerted on Cavendish as early as possible to create sufficient distance, the action will be aggressive from early on.
Even if the British team is able to control things and ensure a large group scraps it out at the finish, a Cavendish win is not certain. Peter Sagan (Slovakia) showed excellent form in the Tour de France and went closest to beating Cavendish on the Champs Elysees. He started his sprint from a long way back, yet closed on his rival all the way to the line.
Andre Greipel also took three stages in the Tour and will fancy his chances, although his German team will also prefer if Cavendish isn’t there at the finish.
The women’s race will begin tomorrow at noon and comprises just 66 riders. Nicole Cooke and Liz Armitstead are the main British hopes and will try to land a home soil victory, while Marianne Vos (Netherlands) is one of the biggest favourites. Judith Arndt, Ina Yoko Teutenberg (both Germany), Kristin Armstrong, Evelyn Stevens (USA), Giorgia Bronzini, Tatiana Guderzo (Italy) and Emma Johansson (Sweden) are just some of those who are tipped for success.
Men’s road race, 250km:
SPAIN
1, CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS Jonathan
2, ROJAS GIL Jose Joaquin
3, SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon
4, VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro
5, VENTOSO ALBERDI Francisco José
ITALY
6, MODOLO Sacha
7, NIBALI Vincenzo
8, PAOLINI Luca
9, PINOTTI Marco
10, VIVIANI Elia
GREAT BRITAIN
11, CAVENDISH Mark
12, FROOME Christopher
13, MILLAR David
14, STANNARD Ian
15, WIGGINS Bradley
BELGIUM
16, BOONEN Tom
17, GILBERT Philippe
18, ROELANDTS Jurgen
19, VAN AVERMAET Greg
20, VANDENBERGH Stijn
AUSTRALIA
21, EVANS Cadel
22, GERRANS Simon
23, GOSS Matthew Harley
24, O'GRADY Stuart
25, ROGERS Michael
UNITED STATES
26, DUGGAN Timothy, United States,
27, FARRAR Tyler
28, HORNER Christopher
29, PHINNEY Taylor
30, VAN GARDEREN Tejay
NETHERLANDS
31, BOOM Lars
32, GESINK Robert
33, LANGEVELD Sebastian
34, TERPSTRA Niki
35, WESTRA Lieuwe
SLOVAKIA
36, SAGAN Peter
SWITZERLAND
37, ALBASINI Michael
38, CANCELLARA Fabian
39, ELMIGER Martin
40, RAST Grégory
41, SCHÄR Michael
PORTUGAL
42, CARDOSO Manuel Antonio Leal
43, FARIA DA COSTA Rui Alberto
44, SANTOS SIMOES OLIVEIRA Nelson Filipe
GERMANY
45, DEGENKOLB John
46, GRABSCH Bert
47, GREIPEL André
48, MARTIN Tony
49, SIEBERG Marcel
COLOMBIA
50, DUARTE AREVALO Fabio Andres
51, HENAO MONTOYA Sergio
52, URAN Rigoberto
FRANCE
53, BOURGAIN Mickaël
54, CHAVANEL Sylvain
55, DEMARE Arnaud
56, GALLOPIN Tony
SLOVENIA
57, BOLE Grega
58, BOZIC Borut
59, BRAJKOVIC Janez
CANADA
60, HESJEDAL Ryder
RUSSIA
61, ISAYCHEV Vladimir
62, KOLOBNEV Alexandr
63, MENCHOV Denis
MOROCCO
64, HADDI Soufiane
65, JELLOUL Adil
66, LAHSAINI Mouhcine
POLAND
67, BODNAR Maciek
68, GOLAS Michal
69, KWIATKOWSKI Michal
SOUTH AFRICA
70, IMPEY Daryl
ARGENTINA
71, RICHEZE Ariel Maximiliano
VENEZUELA
72, GIL MARTINEZ Tomas Aurelio
73, RODRIGUEZ Jackson
74, UBETO APONTE Miguel
JAPAN
75, ARASHIRO Yukiya
76, BEPPU Fumiyuki
ERITREA
77, TEKLEHAYMANOT Daniel
BRAZIL
78, FISCHER Murilo Antonio
79, NAZARET Magno Prado
80, PANIZO Gregory
ALGERIA
81, LAGAB Azzadine
NEW ZEALAND
82, BAUER Jack
83, HENDERSON Gregory
CZECH REPUBLIC
84, BARTA Jan
85, KREUZIGER Roman
KAZAKHSTAN
86, BAZAYEV Assan
87, VINOKOUROV Alexandre
UKRAINE
88, GRIVKO Andriy
89, KRIVTSOV Dmytro
AUSTRIA
90, EISEL Bernhard
91, SCHORN Daniel
MALAYSIA
92, OTHMAN Muhamad Adiq Husainie
93, RUSLI Amir
DENMARK
94, BAK Lars Ytting
95, BRESCHEL Matti
96, FUGLSANG Jakob
97, SØRENSEN Nicki
IRAN
98, HAGHI Alireza
99, SOHRABI Mehdi
100, ZARGARI Amir
HONG KONG
101, WONG Kam-Po
ESTONIA
102, MANDRI Rene
LATVIA
103, SARAMOTINS Aleksejs
BULGARIA
104, ANDONOV PETROV Danail
105, GYUROV Spas
CROATIA
106, DURASEK Kristijan
107, ROGINA Radoslav
SWEDEN
108, LARSSON Gustav Erik
SERBIA
109, KASA Gabor
110, STEVIC Ivan
LITHUANIA
111, BAGDONAS Gediminas
112, NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas
GREECE
113, TAMOURIDIS Ioannis
LUXEMBOURG
114, DIDIER Laurent
COSTA RICA
115, AMADOR BIKKAZAKOVA Andrey
CHILE
116, GARRIDO Gonzalo
HUNGARY
117, LOVASSY Krisztian
URUGUAY
118, SOTO PEREIRA Jorge Adelbio
UZBEKISTAN
119, KHALMURATOV Muradjan
120, LAGUTIN Sergey
NORWAY
121, BOASSON HAGEN Edvald
122, KRISTOFF Alexander
123, LAENGEN Vegard Stake
124, NORDHAUG Lars Petter
TURKEY
125, AKDÝLEK Ahmet
126, KAL Mirac
127, KUCUKBAY Kemal
MOLDAVIA
128, BERDOS Oleg
ROMANIA
129, NECHITA Andrei
KOREA
130, PARK Sung Baek
BELARUS
131, HUTAROVICH Yauheni
132, KIRYIENKA Vasil
133, SAMOILAU Branislau
CUBA
134, ALCOLEA Arnold
GEORGIA
135, NADIRADZE Giorgi
ECUADOR
136, GUAMA DE LA CRUZ Byron
IRELAND
137, MARTIN Daniel
138, MCCANN David
139, ROCHE Nicholas
MEXICO
140, RANGEL ZAMARRON Hector Hugo
GUATEMALA
141, RODAS OCHOA Manuel
NAMIBIA
142, CRAVEN Dan
SYRIA
143, HASSANIN Omar
FINLAND
144, VEIKKANEN Jussi
Women’s road race, 140km:
GREAT BRITAIN
1, COOKE Nicole
2, ARMITSTEAD Elisabeth
3, MARTIN Lucy
4, POOLEY Emma
NETHERLANDS
5, GUNNEWIJK Loes
6, VAN DIJK Ellen
7, VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek
8, VOS Marianne
GERMANY
9, ARNDT Judith
10, HÄUSLER Claudia
11, TEUTENBERG Ina-Yoko
12, WORRACK Trixi
UNITED STATES
13, ARMSTRONG Kristin
14, NEBEN Amber
15, OLDS - EVANS Shelley
16, STEVENS Evelyn
ITALY
17, BACCAILLE Monia
18, BRONZINI Giorgia
19, CANTELE Noemi
20, GUDERZO Tatiana
AUSTRALIA
21, GILLOW Shara
22, HOSKING Chloe
23, SPRATT Amanda
SWEDEN
24, FAHLIN Emilia
25, JOHANSSON Emma
26, SÖDERBERG Isabelle
RUSSIA
27, ANTOSHINA Tatiana
28, PANKOVA Larisa
29, ZABELINSKAYA Olga
CANADA
30, HUGHES Clara
31, NUMAINVILLE Joëlle
32, RAMSDEN Denise
BELGIUM
33, DE VOCHT Liesbeth
34, HENRION Ludivine
35, POLSPOEL Maaike
FRANCE
36, BIANNIC Aude
37, CORDON Audrey
38, FERRAND PREVOT Pauline
NEW ZEALAND
39, VILLUMSEN Linda Melanie
BRASIL
40, SOUZA Fernanda da Silva
41, FERNANDEZ SILVA Clemilda
42, FERNANDES SILVA Janildes
SOUTH AFRICA
43, DE GROOT Robyn
44, MOOLMAN Ashleigh
45, VAN DE WINKEL Joanna
CUBA
46, GONZALEZ VALDINIESO Yumari
VENEZUELA
47, GARCIA BUITRAGO Danielys Del Valle
UKRAINE
48, ANDRUK Olena
BELARUS
49, AMIALIUSIK Alena
CHINA
50, LIU Xin
EL SALVADOR
51, GARCIA Evelyn
NORWAY
52, MOBERG Emilie
LUXEMBOURG
53, MAJERUS Christine
SOUTH KOREA
54, NA Ah Reum
MEXICO
55, DREXEL Ingrid
ESTONIA
56, TREIER Grete
THAILAND
57, MANEEPHAN Jutatip
TAIPEI
58, HSIAO Mei Yu
POLAND
59, PAWLOWSKA Katarzyna
AZERBAIJAN
60, TCHALYKH Elena
FINLAND
61, SUNDSTEDT Pia
HONG KONG
62, WONG WAN Yiu
JAPAN
63, HAGIWARA Mayuko
SLOVENIA
64, BATAGELJ Polona
MAURITIUS
65, HALBWACHS Aurelie
CHILE
66, MUNOZ GRANDON Paola