Brutal beginning
FROOME AND THOMAS IN THE WARS AS TEAM GB TASTE DISAPPOINTMENT IN DRAMATIC ROAD RACE
Chris Froome’s attempt to become the first rider in history to win the Tour de France and the Olympic road race in the same season ultimately came to nought on a spectacular but utterly brutal afternoon which ended with Geraint Thomas crashing on the very last descent, a medal tantalisingly within his grasp.
In truth, it was always a long shot for the pair of them, despite all the preamble. Olympic road races are notoriously difficult to win – you need form, guts and no little luck – and this one was no exception.
Froome left it fractionally too late to try to bridge across to the lead group on the last climb, while Thomas went even closer, the two-time Olympic team pursuit champion crashing on the final descent just as it looked as if he might get himself into the selection from which Greg van Avermaet (Belgium) outsprinted Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark) and Rafal Majka (Poland).
Hard lines. But there will be other opportunities. Just as there was no need to panic in 2012, when the British team were unable to deliver Mark Cavendish to the sprint and the country was thrown into a sudden fit of depression, there is no need to panic now.
Froome’s chances of victory at the start of the day were already significantly lower than Cavendish’s four years ago – he had never won a one-day race, remember – but the 31-year-old remains an excellent bet for gold in the time trial on Wednesday. And GB’s riders, with the embattled Lizzie Armitstead in action in the women’s road race today, are certain to grab plenty of medals over the coming two weeks.
It was frustrating for them, though, particularly Thomas, who was report- edly whisked off to hospital for a checkup after crashing into a storm drain.
“He’s all right. He’s got plenty of skin off, but he’s OK, I think,” said Rod Ellingworth, the British coach. “But he was proper, proper disappointed. He knew that was a gold medal chance.” Van Avermaet, a classics specialist who briefly wore yellow at this year’s Tour after his stage win into Le Lioran, was a deserving winner, hanging with the best climbers in the world and still retaining the strength to sprint to victory. But even he was fortunate that Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) and Sergio Henao (Colombia) crashed after they had escaped with Majka over the top of the final climb. It was that sort of a day, one the Irishman Dan Martin called “the hardest of my life”.
The race had begun a good six hours earlier beneath bright blue skies on Copacabana Beach and it was nearly over before it started for Froome. The public address announcer was calling the Tour de France champion’s name and a BBC reporter had to prompt him to sign in. That scare aside, it was a measured first half of the race for the Britons. While Tom Dumoulin, the Dutch time trial specialist who fractured his wrist at the Tour de France two weeks ago, abandoned immediately presumably to save his strength (and his wrist) for next Wednesday, Froome and his team-mates pressed on, Ian Stannard to the fore.
They were chasing a breakaway of six riders, 2014 world champion Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) having been joined early on by Michael Albasini (Switzerland), Sven Erik Bystrom (Norway), Simon Geschke (Germany), Pavel Kochetkov (Russia) and Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia).
That group had put around eight minutes into the bunch by the time the race reached the Grumari circuit with its short cobbled sector.
This was an area that Ellingworth said he and his fellow coaches had thought about in the build-up, modifying the British bikes to mitigate against punctures and lost bidons. The wisdom of that was soon apparent as riders dropped chains and water bottles all over the place, clattering over the uneven stones. Richie Porte dropped his chain twice. It was a disastrous day for the Australian who would later crash out on a descent himself. By the time they reached the last of the four laps of the Grumari circuit, with its short sharp 1km climb, Steve Cummings had taken over from Ian Stannard on the front. It later emerged that his bike had broken.
Cummings ploughed on, stringing out the peloton, while Froome stopped for a quick bike change. By the time he and Thomas had got back on – thanks to some judicious, some might say illegal use, of a support vehicle – Cummings was spent, swinging over with 74km remaining.
The last remnants of the break were caught with 45km remaining and Thomas, showing great spirit, managed to get himself into a new lead group, although it was difficult to tell the allimportant time splits by this point, with the international feed not offering much in the way of regular updates and the riders probably similarly in the dark with race radio banned.
The nightmare of 2012 – when commentators, fans and pundits were all left hugely frustrated by the lack of race information – was back with a vengeance. It added to the excitement in its own way. Froome went missing for a while, but suddenly he was attacking off the front of the bunch, catching up to Adam Yates who had also made it into the lead group only to drop off the back. They were not able to bridge.
Then Nibali, Henao and Majka escaped over the top of the final climb with 12km remaining. It looked all over. Then suddenly it was back on again; Nibali and Henao crashing not long into the descent. Thomas, suddenly back in contention just a few seconds behind lone leader Majka, then crashed too, Van Avermaet later suggesting the Welshman – who got back up to 11th, one place ahead of Froome – had been taking too many risks.
“Crazy day out there today!” tweeted Froome an hour or so later.
As for Froome’s chances on Wednesday, it was left to Ellingworth to give hope to British fans: “[Froome] rode well today. He climbed the last mountain, left a lot of world-class bike riders, Alejandro Valverde, the French riders, they couldn’t stay with him. In general his condition’s good. It’s about recovery now, looking after him and giving him the best chance.”