Tour de France winner Chris Froome is a likely favorite heading into Saturday’s men’s road race in Rio, but even he is a bit intimidated by the course in Rio.
Froome told Sky Sports News HQ after his ride on Thursday, “I’m definitely a bit nervous as we get closer to race day now. This is a pretty savage course. I’m looking forward to it, though. I think we have got a great team and, hopefully, we are in with a good shot.”
This is a pretty savage course
Froome noted specifically the 8.9km climb to Vista Chinesa the riders must take on three times.
That climb caught the eye of Froome’s teammate Steve Cummings. Cummings said, “”This climb is really hard. It’s a real climbers’ climb. The favorites are probably the climbers, but having said that, everyone knows that and not everyone is a climber, so it is going make the race interesting.”
Froome looks to be the second rider in history to win the Tour de France and an Olympic gold medal in the same year. Sir Bradley Wiggins, also of Great Britain, was the first to accomplish that feat in London at the 2012 games.