Tokyo over-riding priority for Kiwi time triallist
Giving the Tour de France a swerve was an easy decision in the end for cyclist Patrick Bevin.
New Zealand’s leading time trial exponent was on Thursday selected to represent his country at his first Olympic Games and will now have a full month to prepare for his specialist event, giving Bevin the best chance of winning a medal in Tokyo.
‘‘Look, you don’t get a lot of chances to go to an Olympics,’’ he said.
‘‘The Tour de France is there every year and I’ve been fortunate to line up in a couple and get the t-shirt, but it’s a pretty horrible experience.
‘‘It’s hard, it’s three weeks and I think people forget how hard a Grand Tour is so to juggle that straight into the Olympics this year was a no-go.’’
The versatile Israel Start-Up Nation rider will play a key support role for George Bennett in the road race before turning his attention to the time trial where he loomed as an outside shot at winning a medal on a favourable course.
Bevin said it was a privilege to be named in New Zealand’s 19-strong cycling team for the Olympics.
‘‘It’s my first Olympics and I’m really excited. It’s been a cornerstone of my season this year and it’s something that has been building over the past few years.’’
The Taupo¯ rider was initially considered for selection for the Tour de
France but strong form at the Tour de Romandie, registering two podium finishes, saw him picked to ride Giro d’Italia instead.
He suffered mechanical issues on both the time trial stages at the Giro and did not achieve the results he would have liked at his sixth Grand Tour.
But the silver lining for Bevin is that he was now free to concentrate on training exclusively for the Olympics, giving him the best chance of success in Tokyo.
‘‘Both time trials I had mechanicals so didn’t get to put any runs on the board there, but it’s just one of those things.
‘‘Until not long before the Giro it was all about the Tour and I came into some really good form through the Tour of the Basque Country and Tour de Romandie. The option to go to the Giro and not the Tour came up, and for me, it was a better option.’’
The Tour de France runs from June 26 to July 18, meaning riders backing up at the Olympics will have less than a week in between races. Bevin felt it was too ‘‘risky’’ for him to juggle both events.
‘‘Depending on how you ride the Tour you very well could come out of the Tour with great form for the time trial,’’ he said, ‘‘but it was risky, and once I was given the option to juggle my season it opened up this block to prepare for Tokyo, and I took that option with the blessing of the team. It’s given me a real shot to prepare in the best possible way.’’
The time trial at the Olympics will be staged on an undulating 44.2km course that starts and finishes at the Fuji International Speedway.
Bevin finished fourth at the World Championship in 2019 and 12th place last year.
‘‘It is hilly but nothing crazy, quite similar to the Innsbruck worlds a couple of years ago and not a world away from Yorkshire in 2019.
‘‘It’s more or less adjusting the training to suit the course and not going to the Tour was a big win for me to prepare for the time trial.’’
‘‘You don’t get a lot of chances to go to an Olympics.’’
Patrick Bevin