Preview: Olympic Games in Beijing
By Greg Johnson, Cyclingnews.com
Wednesday 06 August 06:08
All set for the 29th Olympic Games
A neon sign promoting the Olympic rings is illuminated near Beijing's Capital International Airport (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)
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The Olympic Games in Beijing,
China will mark the dawn of a new era for the sport of cycling, in addition to
the close of another. Bicycling Motor Cross (BMX) will join its fellow cycling
disciplines - road, mountain bike and track - on the Olympic schedule for the
first time.
While BMX will be brought into the Olympic Games for the
first time since its inception in 776 BC, it comes at a cost of two track
events. The men's one kilometre time trial and women's 500 metre time trial
were controversially dropped from the games in order to pave way for the
discipline with a younger, mass audience.
Controversy hasn't only been limited to the make up of this
year's Games, with China's
human rights policy prompting some nations to announce that parts or all of
their team will boycott the opening ceremony.
Politically-motivated actions, like Cadel Evans' 'Free
Tibet' tee-shirt seen throughout the season, had also prompted the
International Olympic Committee to put out a release earlier this year warning
athletes off making such gestures at the games. The IOC however backed down the
following day, clarifying that its note only related to ceremonies, such as
podium presentations, and that competitors wouldn't be punished for expressing
their opinions outside of the competition area.
Image:Cadel evans (silence lotto/bel), wearing a tee-shirt reading 'free tibet', rides, on july 20, 2008, during the 183 km fifteenth stage of the 2008 tour de france cycling race run between embrun and prato nevoso (italy): cadel evans (silence lotto/bel), wearing a tee-shirt reading 'free tibet', rides, on july 20, 2008, during the 183 km fifteenth stage of the 2008 tour de france cycling race run between embrun and prato nevoso (italy)
Cadel Evans (Silence Lotto/Bel), wearing a tee-shirt reading 'Free
Tibet', rides, on July 20, 2008, during the 183km 15th stage of
the 2008 Tour de France cycling race run between Embrun and Prato
Nevoso (Italy)
One thing that hasn't changed however is the competitors'
desire to claim gold. The drive towards Olympic glory is as strong as ever and
with the addition of BMX will be open to more cycling disciplines than ever.
All eyes are on the skies in Beijing this month. With the fluctuating air
quality like a lucky dip, it's anyone's guess as to what impact it will have on
the endurance events, such as the road cycling races. When push comes to shove
the International Olympic Committee can force the postponement of events, but
some commentators have said it will never happen - no matter the risk to
athlete's health - due to the embarrassment it would bring to the proud host
nation.
While the weather is a case of 'watch this space', Paolo Bettini
(Italy) stands a good chance of defending his road race title from Athens, but
Alejandro Valverde (Spain) will pose a big threat to the World Champion's
Olympic-double. Fresh off his Clásica San Sebastián win, Valverde will ride
with the support of a strong Spanish squad.
Squads like Australia,
Russia and the United States of America
will likely be animated in the race, but will struggle to match the Italian and
Spanish squads over the final kilometres. Germany
and Belgium are also
fielding strong rosters, and with two Tour de France yellow jersey wears and
this year's white jersey (Kim Kirchen and Andy and Frank Schleck) making its entire line-up, one could expect Luxembourg
to put in a good showing too.
British hope
While Great
Britain's Nicole Cooke is targeting the
Olympic Games women's road race this year, she will have her work cut out.
Cooke will face strong opponents in Holland's
Marianne Vos, Italy's Noemi
Cantele, Australia's
defending Olympic champion Sarah Carrigan and German Judith Arndt, who has been
in spectacular form leading up to this weekend's event.
We can expect the Union Jack to fly high above the track
podiums at this year's Games, but for a change it won't be the one shoved in
the corner on the Australian flag. British Cycling has turned out a team that
will rival its far-away colony, and any other nation for that matter.
Image:World and olympic cycling champion chris hoy continues his preparation for the beijing olympic games with a training session at the manchester velodrome: world and olympic cycling champion chris hoy continues his preparation for the beijing olympic games with a training session at the manchester velodrome
Chris Hoy (Great Britain)
won the sprint event at the world championships at the Manchester velodrome earlier this year
Great Britain
showed off its rise to prominence at this year's Track World Championship in Manchester, England.
With a boost in funding from the national lottery and the chance to enter its
home Games in Manchester in 2012 as defending
Olympic champions, the squad is expected to perform this month in China
and looks ready to deliver.
While Britain's
squad will headline this year's Games, it won't be unrivaled with France
likely to be its main opponent. Unlike the Olympic Games road races, the gold
medals laid down in the track events are the discipline's pinnacle. It's the
Holy Grail of track racing, and the likes of Anna Meares (Australia) and Marianne Vos (Netherlands) will be hoping to rise
from the smog with gold around their necks.
Swiss world TT champion Fabian Cancellara will be strong in
the men's time trial. While Cancellara didn't win either of last month's Tour
de France time trials, he proved a valuable engine in the overall winner's
line-up and will be targeting a strong result in Beijing. Having overcome Cancellara twice at
the Tour, Stefan Schumacher is hard to discount as a gold medal contender.
Michael Rogers (Australia)
will be an unknown quantity, having been out due to illness, however he's the
highest placed rider from Athens
to contest this year's Games.
After taking bronze in Athens
four years ago Karin Thürig could take gold for Swizterland in China. Thürig
won the time trial at the recent Thüringen-Rundfahrt in Germany, where current world champion Hanka
Kupfernagel (Germany)
finished over a minute down in sixth. Other contenders include Thürig's Cervelo-Lifeforce
team-mates Kristin Armstrong (United States of
America) and Christiane Soeder (Austria). The
Cervelo-Lifeforce team, which included Thürig and Soeder, showed their strength
by winning the Open de Suède Vargarda Team Time Trial Women's World Cup event
last weekend.
Cross Country
Off the back of two World Cup victories in Canada Julien
Absalon (France) is in unstoppable form, something that's unlikely to change
between now and the Olympic Games cross country race. The muddy conditions last
weekend in Canada should be
similar to what's expected in China,
but the former world champion doesn't mind what the weather's like. "If it
rains, it's good. If it doesn't rain, it's good," smiled Absalon in Canada.
Image:Julien absalon wins men's elite cross country at the mtb world cup in bromont, canada: julien absalon wins men's elite cross country at the mtb world cup in bromont, canada
Absalon wins at the MTB World cup in Bromont, Canada
The Chinese women have pulled some surprisingly strong cross
country results in the past 12 months, but the biggest question mark is over
Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa. After a bad year last year Dahle Flesjaa has taken a
different approach to racing this year and while she didn't start last
weekend's World Cup race, she's widely tipped as the rider to watch in the
expected difficult conditions.
BMX
BMX will take the cross country mountain biking title as the
baby of cycling's Olympic Games disciplines when it makes its debut later this
month. BMX has, in part, been added to the Olympic schedule as an attempt to
broaden the Games' appeal to younger global markets.
Image:Competitors leave the starting gate during a moto heat during the usa olympic trials for bmx: competitors leave the starting gate during a moto heat during the usa olympic trials for bmx
Competitors leave the starting gate during a Moto Heat during the USA Olympic Trials for BMX
The Americans will be strong with World Cup leader Donny
Robinson leading its charge in the men's event. The women's race will likely be
fought out between Great Britain's
multi-talented Shanaze Reade, who has made a name for herself in track racing,
and New Zealand's
World Cup leader Sarah Walker.
Throughout this year's games Cyclingnews.com will have live
coverage of all road cycling events as well as the men's and women's cross
country mountain bike events.
