The conclusion to the Tour de France last Sunday in Nice has sent some of the world’s best cyclists into the road race at the Paris Olympics in the best possible shape.
For others, the race is on to recover from three grueling weeks in time for Saturday’s time trial.
The cycling schedule was altered for the Olympics, and the traditional road race that starts the program was pushed back to give riders competing in it a longer break. But to make the revised schedule work, the time trial was pushed ahead to the day after the opening ceremony, which means many riders from the Tour will still have wobbly legs.
The biggest among them is Remco Evenepoel who won the first of the Tour’s two time trials and went on to finish third in the overall.
“I spent most of Monday in bed, Tuesday I rode a bit, but that didn’t feel great. Just like Wednesday and Thursday”, Evenepoel said. “I have to wait and see how Saturday goes. It has been a demanding final week at the Tour. Recovering is not easy, but I still have 2 days. We’ll see if it will be enough. In any case, I came out of the Tour full of confidence and that already gives me a mental advantage.”
“I always aim for the highest, but I know I might not be 100 percent. If I’m beaten purely on my performance, then I won’t complain.”
The time trial world champion was asked about the roads and the route in Paris.
“Shitty roads. It’s not pleasant. The road surface is bad. That can be a problem if you have black spots in front of your eyes in the final. For the rest it’s mainly straight and fast. Also nice for sightseeing.”
“On paper it looks super flat, but it’s constantly a false flat. It’s going to hurt. Cadence, big plate and keeping my position: that’s going to be important for me.”
