In a few days, or rather, a few hours, the Olympic road race title will be awarded. Some favorites and many outsiders: Tokyo It's ready. The Japanese route promises to be very tough: 234 kilometers and 4.800 meters of elevation gain.
Put like that, you could say: “climbers ahead.” But then we saw how often routes that seem so challenging tend to block the race and actually reshuffle the cards. This is to say that in a one-day race, anything can happen, and yes, there may be a list of favorites, but it can be extensive. So let's take a look at who these "favorites" are. Let's start with the teams that, in addition to Italy, can field five athletes. We're talking about Spain, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Van Aert King of Belgium
Belgium especially really has five strikers. evenepoel, Van Aert, Van Avermaet (reigning champion), Benoot e Vansevenant.
The little jewel of the Deceuninck-Quick Step He placed a lot of emphasis on this event. He worked meticulously on it, he went to high altitude in Livigno and He was the first to leave from the Brussels contingent. And Wout... well, we left him hurtling down the Champs-Élysées. He's coming off a formidable Tour. If he can manage the same form again... it'll be painful. Also because we've seen that he can handle the elevation gain very well, given his size, if distributed in a certain way, that is, without the final climb. He knows how to be competitive. Or rather, a winner. The Ventoux stage teaches. Perhaps Waut is the number one danger.
Holland, that Mollema…
The Tulips aren't doing badly either. They're not at the same level as Remco and his teammates, but there's a rider like Build Mollema who knows how to attack, knows how to suffer and knows how to seize opportunities. Of course, running away from a Laigueglia or in a stage of a major Giro is not like doing it in such an important race, but we are still talking about an athlete who won the Giro di Lombardia. And looking at the altimetry it really seems like a Mollema race.
His companions? Kelderman, Hawk, Van Baarle e From the mill…Tom is still Tom, but he seemed much more focused on the time trial and should pay for his slow pace. Wilco, on the other hand, is a long-distance rider, but has never shown any great brilliance.
France, what an own goal!
Here we could write a piece just on why they didn't bring Alaphilippe? And indeed we did! Tokyo 2020 was for the world champion. The perfect identikit for this track. But Voekler, the Galletti's city, reluctantly took the fall from Julian. And his national team lost a lot.
In Japan he brought Gaudu, Elissonde, Martin, Cavagna e cosnefroyWith the exception of Cavagna, all of them competed in the Tour and honestly didn't seem to come out of it very well. But the rule of surprise also applies to their "cousins."
Spain for Valverde
Let's launch a provocation: If Valverde doesn't win the Games, it's Alaphilippe's "fault"! You understood correctly. If the Murcian had known months before, and not right before the Tour, that Julian wouldn't be there, he probably would have approached the Olympics differently, prepared differently. Okay, Alejandro is a phenomenon, but at 41, leaving the Tour and going to the other side of the world might weigh more heavily than on others. On the other hand, having raced so much can help him, especially since he's 41. And then, never say never. Valverde is one of the favorites: he holds his own on climbs, sprints fast, and knows how to push.
One thing is certain: the Spain is all his. Though Omar friar, national champion, has shown himself to be a good rider and could be the perfect outsider.
Loose Cannons
Denmark, Switzerland, and Slovenia: among the teams that can bring four athletes, they are the strongest national teams. Slovenia is scary. As Belgium boasts (almost) all strikers: Roglic, pogacar, Polish e TratnikThey are winners and know how to handle the pressure. Roglic and Pogacar need no introduction, if anything. we'll have to see how the blows and post-Tour concentration go respectively. Last year at the World Championships after the Tour Tadej was not flawless in this regard, even if he was the author of an attack. Tratnik came close to victory on Zoncolan.
And it is not clear why Denmark did not bring vingegaard. Birdsong e Asgreen They know what they're doing, but perhaps the altitude difference is a bit too much for the King of Flanders. They complete the team. Valgren e Juul-Jensen.
Switzerland is definitely better equipped: Hirsch, Kung, Schar e Mader... Hirschi, working for Pogacar in France, has been hiding a bit, but we know he has great talent. Kung will focus heavily on the time trial but has been a bit of a downer since the Tour. We'll almost certainly see the other two in the breakaway, but from there to victory... Okay, the surprise effect, but that's going too far! With all due respect to these athletes, let's be clear.
The rest of the world
Poland, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States… there are plenty of good names, but will they be able to compete at certain levels on their own or almost alone? McNulty (USA) for example did not come out of the Tour very well. Doors (Australia) also struggled a lot. Perhaps his compatriots, the twins Yachts, they could try to do something more, if only because they go fast uphill and are fast.
Among these "loose cannons" we must not forget Kwiatkowski the most "mine" of them all. The Pole knows how to interpret certain races well. And following the example of the former world champion, we also include the German bookman and the Austrian Konrad, but with much less chance of podium. While Colombia without Bernal loses a lot.
Other names? George Bennett for New Zealand. Lutsenko for Kazakhstan (on the right in the opening photo with Van Aert, ed.). Almeida for Portugal a little off the radar, but very dangerous for the time trial. carapaz for Ecuador, who may even be able to complete their escape. Stybar for the Czech Republic. Finally, a curiosity. Norway (be careful Foss) also includes among its four athletes Tobias Johannessen, second at the U23 Giro. Now we understand why he was not present at the Tour of the Aosta Valley. Now that would be a super surprise!
