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Kristin Armstrong aims to make it three gold medals in a row when the women’s individual time trial gets underway at the Rio Olympic Games. Join The Roar for live coverage from 9:30pm (AEST).
While Armstrong might be aiming for the Olympic three-peat, after she took home gold in both 2008 at Beijing and 2012 at London, the course is a challenging one and the field is stronger than ever.
That field of contenders is headlined by Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands, who won the road race ahead of Emma Johansson of Sweeden and Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy.
While a road race and a time trial are completely different, this is being ridden on the same circuit as the finish of the road race, so those results must be given some weight.
Of course, Van der Breggen is also a fantastic time trialist, and being able to ride up and down climbs is key on this challenging course.
Armstrong’s climbing ability is sound, but not fantastic for the most part, so she may lose time heading uphill. The rest of the course is fairly lumpy as well, meaning she may struggle to bridge a gap depending how much time is lost.
Linda Villumsen of New Zealand can’t be counted out either. The reigning world time trial champion beat Van der Breggen for the rainbow stripes last September, but the climbing will probably bring her unstuck.
The one to watch may be Emma Pooley of Great Britain, who had retired but decided to get back on the bike because she liked the Rio course so much.
The women’s race is only one lap of the circuit, meaning it comes in at just under 30 kilometres, but what a challenge that will be. The climbs of the Grumari and Grota Funda are both on course, and while they are short, they are both steep.
The Grumari comes in at an average of 9.4 per cent, while the Funda is almost seven per cent, with the maximum on either climb exceeding 17 per cent.
Australia’s chances look minimal, with only one rider, Katrin Garfoot – she is certainly strong, but not up with the best of them.
There is a chance of rain, which could make things scary given the amount of descending and tight corners, which saw plenty of crashes during the road races.
The women’s race only awards 25 places, with a maximum of two per country.
Prediction
While Armstrong has won the past two Olympic time trials, it’s hard to go past Van der Breggen – her great form during the road race should see her go well here.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the women’s individual time trial from 9:30pm (AEST) and get involved by leaving a comment below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde