Men’s Olympic Time Trial

The men’s Olympic time trial is under way right now with Bradley Wiggins currently waiting to set off on what could be one of the most important bike rides of his career so far.  A medal of any colour will leave Wiggins with more Olympic medals than any other British Olympian – another record that he could and almost certainly will break in 2012 that’s been an unbelievable year for the Tour De France champion.

Sanchez, one of the main competitors to Wiggins and favoured by many for a place on the podium had a mechanical failure going down the starting ramp.  This caught the team off guard and lost him 25 seconds, possibly leaving him out of contention for the rest of the race!  Tony Martin is also a big favourite for a podium finish, he’s the world champion time trialist and most experienced cyclists favour Tony for Gold, even considering Bradley’s fantastic form, especially when he’s riding on his home turf!

Bradley’s Team Sky and British team mate Chris Froome is also in with a chance in the time trial event, after coming second to the main man in both the Tour De France TT events.  The only problem with Chris is the fact that he prefers the mountains to this mainly flat course.  However, with the support of the home crowd, it could give the two British boys a lift that will help take them ahead of the German, French and Italian competitors.

Last but not least, we have Fabian Cancellara, who of course won that amazing time trial at the Beijing Olympics 4 years ago.  Fabian had a nasty crash in the road race on Saturday that makes him a little bit of unknown for a course that definitely suits his riding style.  There’s no doubt though that the TT specialist will be giving it his all and will fancy himself for the Gold.
In my opinion, I don’t think that any one in today’s race can take on a Bradley Wiggins in top form.  He’ll of course have the advantage of the crowd that most of his main competitors won’t have.  Bradley has also changed his riding style by reducing the pedal speed, but at a higher gear – this allows him to make each and every pedal as efficient as possible, getting the maximum power from each pedal – which will hopefully help him to the gold.

At the first split though, Tony Martin, the world champion is 5 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.  This could be a strategic move though, preserving some energy, allowing them to push more towards the end of the course.