Swiss cyclist Fabian Cancellara is confident of bursting from the shadow of fellow countryman Roger Federer by winning a second Olympic medal in the men's individual time trial race today.
"The course fits me," Cancellara, bronze medalist in Saturday's road race, said positively. "What I need to do now is just concentrate on the race. I believe I could add another medal to the list, hopefully that can be a golden one."
Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland and riding for Team CSC, races to victory in the Prologue of the AMGEN Tour of California on Feb 17, 2008 in Palo Alto, California. [Getty Images] |
Dubbed "Spartacus", the two-time defending world champion showed his steel on the hilly Beijing course last weekend. Having overcome Cancellara twice in the Tour de France, the 2008 winner Stefan Schumacher of Germany is hard to discount as a gold medal contender, but even he pulled out of the men's road race two days ago.
As the highest placed rider from Athens to contest this year's Games, Michael Rogers of Australia and Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans will also pose a major challenge for the Swiss.
But the opportunity to outshine Switzerland's recently foundering tennis legend must be a tantalizing prospect for Cancellara, whose confidence is soaring after coming home with a wet sail on Saturday.
"Bronze is definitely a nice and unexpected surprise," he said. "It really takes a lot of pressure off me before the time trial since now I already have a medal to take home from here."
In the women's, Cancellara's compatriot Karin Thurig, bronze medalist in Athens four years ago, is one of the hot tips after wining the individual time trial at the recent Thuringen-Rundfahrt race in Germany.
Her main threats come from reigning time trial World Champion Hanka Kupfernagel of Germany, who is focused on repeating the World Championship performance in Beijing.
At the same time, Kristin Armstrong of the United States and Christiane Soeder of Austria will pose some challenges to Thurig on the hilly course.
The decision, even four years later, remains a touchy subject for Armstrong.
There were three American women in consideration for two time trial starting positions at the Athens Olympics in 2004, and Armstrong wound up as the odd one out. She appealed, was unsuccessful, and with that Armstrong's medal chances in her best event were ruined.
Fueled in part by that disappointment, she's arguably been the world's best time trial racer since.
Armstrong was bronze medalist at the Worlds in the race-against-the-clock event in 2005, the world champion in 2006, and a silver medalist in 2007. Today, at long last, comes her Olympic shot in the time trial road course that ends at the Great Wall - and the moment, her husband said, she's been waiting for more than any other.
"This race," Joe Savola said, "is what she came here to win."
And what a belated 35th birthday present it would be for Armstrong, who found a course near her Boise, Idaho, home that almost perfectly matches the layout of the Beijing time trial venue - giving her more than ample opportunity to get used to the challenges that await on Wednesday.
She spent her birthday on Monday pedaling her time trial bike over the Beijing course, ready to put a disappointing, crash-marred 25th-place showing in Sunday's road race behind her.