REDGRAVE: REGATTA
AMID the sun, sea, sand and surf of idyllic Rio, carnage had the final say.
And as Chris Froome’s bid for Olympic gold to go with his three Yellow Jerseys fell short, the final descent of the Vista Chinesa took its brutal toll.
Belgium’s Greg van Avermaet picked his way through the wreckage to steal a surprise win.
On the Tour de France, Froome looked invincible when surrounded by his Team Sky minders.
But as the treacherous Chinesa picked off the leading contenders – Vincenzo Nibali, Sergio Henao, Richie Porte and, calamitously, Britain’s Geraint Thomas all hit the deck when they were well-placed to make the podium – the Brits trailed home in no man’s land between the medals and the peloton.
Froome sportingly waited for Thomas to pick himself up from the gutter before they rolled across the line in 11th and 12th places, with team-mate Adam Yates just behind them in 15th.
In truth, Froome left it too late to have a dart off the front of the peloton, and now his Olympic dreams are all invested in Wednesday’s time trial – where he is the favourite.
Poor Thomas, the Commonwealth road race champion, was right in the hunt for a medal after six hours of honest graft until he came a cropper on that final downhill stretch.
That left Van Avermaet and Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang to chase down Poland’s Rafal Majka, and they crossed the line in that order. But Froome left it too late to launch his attack. He nearly missed the race altogether after forgetting to sign in.
And then the only explosive aspect of his performance was the cont rol l ed detonation of a suspect package near the finish line a couple of hours before the race was over.
Froome set out amid high security and in glorious, beach party weather. He made an inauspicious start, almost missing his cue when the 144 riders were taking their places at the start and he was too busy chatting to US Secretary of State John Kerry to notice he had yet to register.
Only when he was reminded to sign in by a TV reporter did he complete pre-race formalities in the nick of time.
But at least Va Va Froome’s shock absorbers were in good order as the peloton rattled over cobbled sections, which shook bikes so violently that several riders lost their water bidons from their cages.
No such problem for Britain’s blazing saddles, though.
Coach Rod Ellingworth spotted the potential for flying furniture on the team’s practice runs and adjusted their bikes accordingly.
From cobbles to spectacular coastline and lung-bursting climbs, the course was only for genuine all-rounders.
Sadly, from a Team GB perspective, the best all-rounder on the day proved to be Van Avermaet – although he was gracious enough to admit he was the beneficiary of his rivals’ misfortune.
The tearful Belgian said: “It was not a great course for me, but the last 15km was perfect – a lot of riders crashed, so I just kept it safe.” SIR STEVE REDGRAVE branded the Olympic regatta “close to unrowable” after a boat capsized amid a storm of protests on a dramatic opening day.
High winds at the Lagoa played havoc with Katherine Grainger’s bid to become Britain’s most successful female Olympian of all time. It left legend Redgrave and a string of competitors complaining about a venue beautiful to the eye, but beastly to row on when the weather cuts up rough.
“It isn’t unfair, but it is getting close to unrowable,” the five-time champion said.
“This isn’t showing our sport in its best light.
“People are raving about how lovely the course looks, but we’re seeing people barely staying in the boat and looking like they’re on day one of their rowing careers.”
Grainger admitted it was “probably the worst Olympic conditions I’ve ever raced in” after qualifying second from her heat in the women’s double sculls.
But her beef was nothing