As the Olympic road race approaches this coming Saturday, it is largely believed that the race will be contested by two teams, the Spanish and French. Alejandro Valverde is a huge favorite, while his teammate Oscar Freire and Italian Paolo Bettini are an par with the "Green Bullet." Each squad brings a strong contingent for support, and early on it seems as though the other entrants in the race are largely being discounted in favor of the two powerhouse teams entered.
But there are many other excellent riders taking the line in Beijing, and due to each team only having five representatives, tactics could see a select group escape early, never to be caught again. This factor gives many riders a chance, and there are several who could surprise once all is decided on Saturday.
Australia's Simon Gerrans is coming out of the Tour with good form, and will be used to the hot weather predicted in Beijing. Columbia's Santi Botero is always dangerous when it is hot, as is Germany's Fabian Weggmann. "Weggy" took top honors in San Francisco in heat-wave conditions a few years back, and may find the hot weather to his liking again.
Bettini's teammate Davide Rebellin is always a dangerous one day rider, as is the Luxembourger Kim Kirchin. George Hincapie, the best one day rider on the American squad may have one last great result under his wing, and Russia's Vlad Gusev will be keen to take a win and release his anger at having been kicked off of the Astana team for irregular blood values.
Increasingly, it is looking as though a lesser-known rider will take the gold medal in Beijing. Air pollution, changing team tactics and course difficulty will all factor into the outcome of the race, and it will be difficult for the Spanish or Italian squads to control attacks throughout the race. Of course if they worked together until the end they would have an easier time of shutting down dangerous attaks, but it is unlikely that Bettini would want to go to the line with Valverde to decide the gold medal.
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