There is trouble in paradise as British curse strikes again
Froome’s challenge failed to materialise in a race of crushing intensity and downhill crashes
Start the Games with your most sumptuous backdrop – a travelogue of golden sand, curling surf and tropical hills. Use an Olympic race as a tourist brochure. But be sure to wrap inside a beautiful journey a contest of crushing intensity and downhill crashes.
There was trouble in paradise at the first marquee event of these Rio Olympics, with the British road race curse extending from London 2012 to Brazil. Four years ago, a tactical meltdown scuppered the plan to deliver Mark Cavendish with a winning blast up the Mall. This time the hope was that Froome could emulate Sir Bradley Wiggins by adding an Olympic gold to his three Tour de France victories.
So much for romantic forecasts. Froome’s challenge never fully materialised and Geraint Thomas, his team-mate, smashed into a curb on a descent when still in contention for a medal. Even crueller, Vincenzo Nibali’s apparent surge to victory eight miles from home ended when he slid across the tarmac on another downhill stretch – a crash exploited, ultimately, by Greg van Avermaet of Belgium, who won gold in a time of 6hrs 10.05.
So, Froome now moves on to Wednesday’s time trial while Thomas is left to rue a moment that was all about concrete rather than shiny metal. A course said by some to be one of the most challenging in road race history proved too perilous for many of those who gambled and too strenuous for those, like Froome, who lacked the legs to return to the Copacabana in triumph.
“They woke me up,” said a local woman who lives opposite the Forte de Copacabana, “so I thought I’d come out and watch.”
This languid outlook summed up the mood in Rio, where people ambled out to watch the Games, rather than rushing there with eyes ablaze. Shots of the rugby sevens and tennis arenas showed swathes of empty seats: a clear sign of ambivalence about this corporate spaceship coming down.
You could spend the next three weeks discussing how tainted Olympic sport is, but there is still an undeniable magic when the shmoozing of the opening ceremony ceases and dawn brings the athletes on to the proving grounds.
For 144 cyclists facing a 237.5km journey with 4,000 metres of climbs, this meant lining up for battle on a beachfront where the normal human impulse is to kick off the shoes, order a cold beer and watch the waves roll in while impromptu samba bands wander by.
Further along the beach, with its banana curve, the beach volleyball was commencing with a ‘Skyball’ by Italy’s Adrian Carambula – a high serve that passes for a Machiavellian tactic in the most laid-back of Olympic sports.
The idea is to send the ball so high the opponent loses it in the sun. The venue DJ rammed the theme song to James Bond’s Skyfall on to the PA system. You would hardly call it the war on the shore.
The Olympics are no holiday. And nor are these Games free of the kind of fear and agitation we witnessed in France at Euro 2016. A controlled explosion of a bag left near the finish line was a reminder that far from Europe does not mean far-from-risk. The loud crack was mentioned on the BBC by Chris Boardman and set people here wondering whether it was precautionary or indicative of something more sinister.
Down on the start line before the field set off, Murillo Fischer, a Brazilian rider, said: “It’s like a dream. This is my first Olympics, but it feels like the first race of my life. I have goosebumps. I feel like I’m flying.” Froome said: “It’s a one-day event. We don’t have 21 chances, like we do at the Tour de France.
“The legs are feeling good, we’ve got a great team here, and we hope to be in the thick of things. The time trial [Wednesday] is a lot less of a lottery and depends more on the strength you have on the day.”
At the hinge of Copacabana and Ipanema, two Russians – one an official – tied the country’s flag to a metal barrier in honour of the three Russian riders in the field. They were joined by a third – a woman dressed like an amateur general, with red star blazer badge.
To expect Russians to creep around embarrassed is hardly realistic, given that two-thirds of them have been waved through to compete, despite compelling evidence of a doping programme originating at the highest level of government.
But still those colours jar on the eye, and remind us that asterisks could fall like tickertape on Russian wins at these Games.
By the time Froome arrived (and had to be reminded by the BBC to sign in), 99 British athletes were limbering up across 12 sports.
Soon 19-year-old Virginia Thresher (USA) would become the first gold medal winner of Rio 2016, in the women’s 10m air rifle, an exercise in stationary precision.
The cyclists, on the other hand, were in for a brutal test.
The British team of Froome, Steve Cummings, Geraint Thomas, Adam Yates and Ian Stannard rolled over the start line in front – an honour rightly accorded to the Tour de France champion – as they began their surge into the first of four laps of the 24.7km Grumari Circuit, followed by two laps and a loop of the 25.5km Vista Chinesa Circuit, with its major climb of 8.9km at 6.2 per cent, with ramps as steep as 19 per cent.
In a nine-rider team at the Tour, Froome, as the best rider, can exert more tactical control than an Olympic road race allows, with its five-rider teams.
With a smaller peloton, the race takes on a kaleidoscopic quality. There is danger, too. When Australia’s Richie Porte smashed into a high curb on a descent, only a green screen stopped him tipping over a drop into jungle foliage.
Lovely event, the Olympic road race. Looks stunning on TV. But a devil to win. Ask Thomas (11th), or Froome (12th), who must regroup fast for Wednesday.