As soon as cycling fans have managed to absorb the stories from the Tour de France, the first of the Olympics’ highlights is already on the agenda in Tokyo, the men’s road race. The race, which will end under the sacred Mount Fuji after 234 kilometers, is full of world stars. The Czechs will eventually present themselves in a two-member team and will fight the heat and humidity in an unconventional way.
Cycling, specifically the men’s road race, is one of the first disciplines in which precious metals will be handed over at the Tokyo Olympics. From 4:00 Czech time, the competitors will set off from the metropolis on a 234-kilometer-long pilgrimage under the slopes of the highest Japanese mountain, Fuji.
They will overcome an elevation gain of almost five thousand meters with three dominant climbs. All this in considerable heat and humidity, in conditions that cyclists call a “laundry”.
“Some of the passages are really brutal,” said former cyclist Bradley Wiggins, the 2012 London time trial champion and Britain’s most successful Olympian of all time, a Eurosport expert today.
Probably the biggest favorite of Saturday’s race is Tadej Pogačar, the reigning two-time champion of the Tour de France. He arrived in Paris with a yellow jersey on Sunday, and is now ready for another exciting challenge in Japan.
British cyclist Tao Geoghegan Hart said after the Tour that in future races it will always be a duel of the whole world against a 22-year-old Slovenian. And Wiggins is really giving him towards the Olympic race. They will all chase the Slovenian team, in which the star Primož Roglič and the pair of helpers Jan Tratnik and Jan Polanc are with Pogačar.
“I think Roglic is mainly focused on the time trial,” says Wiggins. “It will be very difficult for Tadeje to break away emotionally from the Tour, which ended only a few days ago. However, I had the opportunity to be on board a plane to Tokyo and he looked very fresh,” notes Brit.
He himself knows well what he is talking about, as he also triumphed on the Tour in 2012 and less than a week later stood at the start of the Olympic race in London.
“The teams will work together against Pogachar, but these national groups are very small, so it will be very difficult for them,” said Wiggins, who ranks his compatriot Geraint Thomas among the co-workers of the race.
The Belgian Wout van Aert, who was in great shape on the Tour and mastered three stages, two of them at the very end of the “Old Ladies”, can also go for medals. “He can definitely win. It depends on how he manages to move to Asia in a few days. It can be a shock to someone. But Van Aert with a strong team around him is a clear favorite,” says a Eurosport expert.
Specialists from the Cycling News website then add other racers that are worth watching. They are Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, Danish Jakob Fuglsang, British Adam Yates, Swiss Marc Hirschi and Bauke Mollema from the Netherlands.
The main interest remains the two-member Czech team Zdeněk Štybar and Michael Kukrle, the national champion. Two days before the race, Michal Schlegel dropped out after being tested positive for coronavirus.
“Even the biggest powers will be able to build a maximum of five competitors, the peloton will be smaller and you can go without radios. In such a number, no one is able to create a race over 230 kilometers long. That’s why I expect it very open,” says national team coach Tomáš Konečný.
Thirty-five-year-old Stybar is at his second Olympics. He didn’t finish the race in Brazil five years ago, but he talked about the Tokyo race for months and years ahead. “I want to get the most out of it, I want to get the best possible result. We will have to keep our eyes open and wait for a good opportunity,” he told Sport daily before leaving for Japan.
If he manages to keep up with the best even after the last difficult climb 34 kilometers before the finish, he will have a chance for a good result. He subjected the final preparation to specific Japanese conditions.
He trained for three weeks in Livigno, Italy, and a week in Mallorca. “We tried to overheat the body, with extra clothes to simulate the conditions,” Stybar described.
GALLERY FROM THE BEGINNING
The expected heat between 35 and 40 degrees is not underestimated by Konečný either. “If the body does not cool down, the body can terminate the service. That’s why we put a lot of effort into preparation. We also have special cooling vests and ice makers.
The women’s race with the Czech representative Tereza Neumanová will take place early Sunday morning. Men’s and women’s time trials are scheduled for Wednesday.
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