Rob Hayles

“Rows of riders stood either side of the road trying frantically to put their chains back on — the word ‘hectic’ doesn’t do it justice”

What an opening weekend for the Olympic cycling programme with some great racing and a spectacular road circuit! Let’s start with that section of cobbles — not those pretend ones, but the real Paris-roubaix sort that kept the race radio and team mechanics so busy. It meant rows of riders stood either side of the road trying frantically to get chains back on, and fearless guys hanging out the back window of cars desperately trying to set the correct saddle height for the riders whose seatpins had dropped, due to the pounding of the most important of the three contact points. With all the bottles flying out of those cages at once, the word ‘hectic’ just doesn’t do it justice.

If that section alone wasn’t enough to raise a few eyebrows, then that descent on the run-in towards the finish will surely have been enough to beg the question of the route’s suitability for an Olympic race. Not only was it decisive to the result of the men’s race but it too became a huge deciding factor for the women.

Double Dutch

In the women’s race, it came very close to putting the result into insignificance. When Annemiek van Vleuten catapulted into the kerb so tantalisingly close to that gold medal, we feared the worst. Luckily, news came through quickly that her injuries were not as life-threatening as they might have been and we could concentrate on the bittersweet victory for Van Vleuten’s team-mate, Van der Breggen.

So, that’s two races done with no medal yet for GB. By the time you guys get to read this, we will have had the time trials, and hopefully a Union Flag or two raised above the podium. After which, we await the turn of our track riders. Now they are sure to deliver some medals. But for a while it looked in doubt that the velodrome would be finished in time. After the action on the road I have an idea to save time and a lot of money. Future host cities could just double up the athletics stadium. Imagine that. Just leave the steeplechase jumps in place. Put a few hurdles down the back straight, and why not run the javelin and hammer events at the same time. Just to add to the drama!

Former double world track champion, Rob Hayles is a pundit for TV and radio. He’s also a coffee connoisseur and garden shed inventor