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3.58 Representing Italy led by Davide Cassani are Gianni Moscon, Damiano Caruso, Vincenzo Nibali, Alberto Bettiol and Giulio Ciccone.
3.56 The reigning Olympic champion is the Belgian Greg van Avermaet, triumphant in Rio.
3.53 The presentation of the teams has already finished, riders ready on the starting line.
3.50 The race will start at 11.00 Japanese, 4.00 Italian.
3.47 This is probably the most anticipated race of the entire Five-Wheeled program on two wheels, a race full of spectacle, with a startlist full of champions.
3.45 Hello and welcome to our live live of the Olympic road cycling race for men.
The presentation of the Olympic course – The dorsals and the start list of runners at the start – Today’s favorites – The possible outsiders – The possible tactical scenarios of the National Italian
Welcome to our LIVE LIVE of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic race reserved for men’s road cycling. We are finally here, after a very long and exhausting wait, the five-circle flame has rekindled, and as usual, one of the very first races valid for gold is the one reserved for cycling.
What will be staged in a few hours will be an unparalleled competition, which the best of the international movement will face on a really demanding track, perhaps the hardest ever with his own 4865 meters in altitude divided in 234 kilometers with departure from Musashinonomori Park and arrival at Fuji International Speedway, and including five really tough GPMs.
Going into the details of the route, the first 40 kilometers will be flat, and it will not be easy to take away a highly coveted escape. After that it will start to get serious. A long and constant ascent of about 35 kilometers will lead to the first GPM of the day, that of Doushi Road with his 4.3 kilometers at 6.1%. Scollinati there will be a stretch on a slight slope and immediately after climbing a Kagosaka Pass, a ramp of 2.2 kilometers at 4.6%. Then a long descent towards Gotemba will lead to the spectacular ascent of the Monte Fuji, as well as the key point of the race with its hard fifteen kilometers 6% average gradient and peaks that go beyond 10%.
Still downhill, crossing the finish line and last lap. Thirty kilometers from the finish, the insidious approach will be approached Mikuni Pass with his 6.5 kilometers at 10.6% average gradient, and peaks of 22%: exhausting. Here it will make a clear difference. After a few flat kilometers to catch your breath it will be tackled once again the Kagosaka Pass for a possible final hit. From there on it will be all descent followed by a short stretch on a slight slope which will lead to the arrival of the Fuji International Speedway.
Speaking of the favorites of the day, two national teams stand out above all: Slovenia and Belgium. The first, in fact, will be able to rely on the winner of the Tour de France Tadej Pogacar, who, at the moment, is the best climber present in the group. The latter, on the other hand, have a leader of the caliber of Wout Van Aert, a simply complete runner that no one can afford to carry in the sprint; otherwise no one will have a chance here.
In addition, Slovenia and Belgium will both have two second-tier second-tiers such as Primoz Roglic e Remco Evenepoel. The winner of the 2020 Vuelta has returned from a bad forced retirement from the Tour de France, so his current form is unknown; but should he ever find himself in the right condition, all rivals will have much to fear. Evenepoel, on the other hand, has perfectly prepared this appointment, and with one of his attacks from a distance he could outwit everyone. Do not forget the presence of the Rio 2016 outgoing Olympic champion Greg van Avermaet.
We can therefore mention, obligatorily, the Italian national team of Gianni Moscon, Damiano Caruso, Vincenzo Nibali, Alberto Bettiol and Giulio Ciccone. Surely Moscon is one of the greatest runners who have the perfect qualities to surprise everyone with a solitary attack; like Bettiol, who could make a big difference even downhill. At the same time Caruso, Nibali and Ciccone are among the strongest climbers of the group who will do everything to complicate the life of Belgium and Slovenia. In short, our five blues will be able to defend themselves in every single situation, and the ambition of the podium is totally on our side.
The other national teams have several interesting men. We mention, for example, Richard Carapaz, who after having conquered the second final place in the Tour, wants to give a historic medal to his Ecuador. Speaking of riders who will show up in excellent shape at the five-circle event, the French must certainly be mentioned David Gaudu, returns from a Grande Boucle in growing step by step, the Irish Daniel Martin, the Colombian Sergio Higuita, and the Canadian Michael Woods, retired early in order to recover better.
Nor should the Spanish couple formed from the eternal be underestimated Alejandro Valverde e Omar friar. Furthermore, among the great protagonists of the Tour that we will see again in Tokyo, there are also the Dutch Bauke Mollema and the Austrian Patrick Konrad, two born attackers who are not afraid of slopes. Also at the start the silver of Rio 2016, the Danish Jakob Fuglsang, and the bronze medal, the Pole Rafal Majka, supported by his compatriot Michal Kwiatkowski.
Among the possible loose mines we have the Swiss Marc Hirschi and the Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko. To mention the English battleship with Tao Geoghegan Hart, Geraint Thomas and brothers Adam e Simon Yates. Participants also include Portuguese João Almeida, the Russian Aleksandr Vlasov and German Maximilian Schachmann.
OA Sport offers you LIVE LIVE Olympic race for men’s cycling from 4.00 on Saturday 24 July. Have fun and happy Olympics to everyone!
Photo: Federciclismo
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