Canadian men awarded three spots in Rio 2016 road cycling races
On Monday the UCI announced the number of places for nations in the men’s Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympic Games road cycling races, with three athletes allotted for the hilly road race and one for the time trial. Only Italy and Spain received the maximum numbers: five for the road race and two for the chrono. The United States will have one fewer road racer than its northern neighbours and one more time trialist.
Canadian men’s performances on Pro Continental and Continental teams in the America Tour helped the numbers to improve from London 2012, where Ryder Hesjedal was the sole male road racer.
In a press release from Cycling Canada, High Performance Director Jacques Landry identified another influence that cranked up the numbers: “It is great to claim back those three spots in the men’s road race that we had up until the Beijing 2008 Games. Due to our funding restrictions, we are not in a position to devote significant funding to our men’s road programs, but it is because of the North American trade teams taking on our best road riders and the support of some great organisations like Bridge the Gap and Global Relay that we have been able to secure these three spots.”
One-hundred and forty-five riders will face the 256-km road course on August 6th. Leaving Copacabana Beach, the riders will head out to the Grumari National Park for four tough circuits before heading back towards Copacabana for three grueling laps up to Vista Chinesa in the Tijuca Forest, each with a 8.9% climb. The finish is back at Copacabana after passing Ipanema Beach.
On August 10, the time trialists will leave Pontal to tackle a 59.6-km course that takes in two circuits of the Grumari National Park, each with a steep 1.2-km hill and a more gradual 2.1-km climb.
The UCI will announce the women’s road spots on June 1. In London, Canadian women had three road race places and two time trial places. Joelle Numainville came 12th in the road race and Clara Hughes was fifth fastest in the time trial.
