Some have an innate ability to read a cycling road race and some don’t. Lizzie Deignan does, it’s almost like a sixth sense.
She has this knack of being in the right place at the right time and, if she has good legs on the day, she usually gets the result. It’s very rare to say that she’s messed up, and a race like Sunday’s Olympic road race could play into her hands.
It’s not like a typical race with 100 to 150 riders, there’s just 67 riders on the start line, most teams have one or two riders and just five have the maximum four riders. So even a team as strong as the Dutch can’t control it.
I think that’s actually good for Lizzie, and eyes won’t be on her in a two-woman team so she can be under the radar in terms of team size, although not in talent terms.
In men’s cycling in particular, you get the specialists: time triallists, climbers, sprinters. In women’s road cycling, you tend to get more all-rounders and Lizzie’s the epitome of that – she’s a really good all-rounder.
She has that ability to climb really well – and the Tokyo hills look challenging on the course – plus she can sprint really well.
Added to that, she’s got really good skills. You lose so much time if you’re bad at cornering or descending or even riding in the bunch, all of which Lizzie does really well which makes her such a hard rider to get rid of in a race.
I’m not a mum so it’s hard for me to fully appreciate how hard it is for someone like Lizzie to juggle being a mother and a professional cyclist. All I can say is it’s incredible to watch her do that. It frankly leaves me in awe.
These Olympics are a world away from her last two experiences. Her first was a home Olympics and everyone knew she was in with a chance of a medal, the first for Team GB. You can say as a rider there’s no pressure but it’s there all the same.
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And then in Rio five years ago, there was all sorts of stuff going on in the build-up. This time there doesn’t seem to be any major dramas and that’s a nice situation for her to be in.
She’s climbing well, she’s had a win at the Tour de Suisse and an impressive fourth at the Giro when she didn’t even go into that race as team leader. She seems like she’s in a good headspace.
And it’s worth mentioning the other British rider in the race, Anna Shackley, who’s only 20 years old and has impressed incredibly in only a handful of races.
As for the British team in the men’s race, what I like about their line-up is you look at the start list and there’s not one clear leader – they’re all riders who can win bike races. So, you look at that and think you don’t know their team tactic and other teams will be thinking the same thing.
I’d love to see the Yates brothers do well and they’re both really good climbers, and the men’s route has some tougher hills than the women’s. Both will be looking to do something in the race.
