Update: Aug. 13 — “Cancellara wins gold; Leipheimer bronze”
Aug. 12 —“US cyclist Kristin Armstrong wins gold in Olympic time trial”
Is Swiss time trial specialist Fabian Cancellara on his way to two Olympic medals?
Already the surprise bronze medal winner in Saturday's road race, the 27-year-old is the current World Time Trial Champion. He's a favorite for the gold in the event scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, Beijing time.
Among those who might unwind the plans of this precision Swiss-time-trial piece are Team USA cyclists Levi Leipheimer and David Zabriskie. Tour de France double time-trial-winner Stefan Schumacher of Germany is certainly a contender, as is Australia's Michael Rogers and Spain's Alberto Contador.
NBC Olympics.com is video streaming the men's time trial beginning at 10:30 p.m. (PT) on Tuesday. To find video, go to NBC Olympic's video stream web page and look for cycling under “Live Now” or scroll down to Search Video by sport for previous competitions.
Men's ITT
The cyclists will compete individually on two laps of the 14.7-mile loop — 29.4 miles — that ran between the Badaling and Juyongguan sections of the Great Wall in Saturday's road race. They're intimately familiar with the course, having ridden it 7 times if they finished the road race.
Among those who did not finish the race was Zabriskie, which is just as well. The Salt Lake City cyclist broke his back while racing at the Giro d'Italia in May and amazingly is back in the saddle again. He rode hard in defense of US teammates in the early hilly laps, which may have served as training for the upcoming time trial.
Rivals
Zabriskie admitted that he doesn't yet have his endurance, but believes he'll be competitive in the time trial event.
The other US rider competing in the time trial is Leipheimer, who finished Saturday's road race in 11th place. He also missed the Tour de France this year because his team was not invited.
One of Cancellara's chief rivals, Schumacher, pulled out of the Saturday road race on the fifth lap. He complained of a headache caused by the pollution.
Being there
In case you're keeping score at home, Australia's Cadel Evans will compete in the individual time trial. His participation was uncertain after he injured his knee at a post-Tour party.
The defending Olympic time trial champion is Tyler Hamilton of the US, and he will not be competing. He won event at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, but had questionable blood test results. He was soon after busted for blood doping at the Vuelta a Espana and served a two-year suspension.
One of my favorites, Bobby Julich, won the Olympic bronze that year.
Women's time trial
The women compete on one Badaling and Juyongguan lap — 14.7 miles. Their time trial starts at 8:30 p.m. (PT) Tuesday, which is 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in Beijing. It also will be carried live on NBC Olympics.com.
DeDe Barry scored a silver medal for the US in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. This year, it's up to Kristin Armstrong and Christine Thorburn to win medals.
Hopefuls
Armstrong certainly has a good shot, having medaled in the world championships in the past three years: 2nd in 2007, 1st in 2006, and 3rd in 2005.
Thorburn has done well too, finishing 5th in 2007 and 3rd in 2006. She just missed the podium in Athens in 2004, finishing in 4th place.
However, it's another Swiss, Karin Thürig, who's being touted for the gold in Beijing.
Start lists
The start lists are posted at the Beijing website.
The 39 men are ranked in three groups and depart every 90 seconds. According to the schedule, Zabriskie (18) will start at 11:42 p.m.(PT) Tuesday and Leipheimer (6) at 12:40 a.m. (PT) Wednesday. Evans is starting 3rd from last, and Cancellara (1) is last at 12:48 a.m.
There are 25 women competing. They leave every two minutes with Armstrong departing at 9:08 p.m. (PT) and Thorburn at 9:16 p.m. The last racer to start is Hanka Kupfernagel of Germany.
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