Because the clock ticks down on Grace Brown’s last months as an expert bike owner, she is hoping to ship the last word swan track – a gold for Australia, or a minimum of a first-ever medal for the nation within the ladies’s time trial on the Paris Olympic Video games.
The 32-year-old from Melbourne, who was a fourth-placed finisher within the Tokyo Video games ITT, has lifted her recreation significantly since. She claimed silver at each the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, on the primary event being 12 seconds behind Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) after which six seconds again from Chloe Dygert (United States).
“I believe it might be laborious to have actually excessive targets if I hadn’t come that shut earlier than: twice now on the World Championships. I can see that profitable is feasible,” stated Brown in a information launch from AusCycling earlier this week. “You continue to carry a little bit little bit of damage that you simply weren’t in a position to do it in these alternatives.
“All kinds of ideas undergo your head if you end up hurting in the midst of a race, however to know that twice I’ve been so shut, simply to have that additional incentive and say to myself, ‘OK, you’ll want to make up that additional 5 seconds,’ each second counts.”
The three riders who claimed the medals forward of Brown on the COVID-19-delayed Video games aren’t on the beginning line, with the primary and third-placed Dutch riders Annemiek van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen having since retired, and sickness sidelining the second-placed Swiss rider Marlen Reusser. Nevertheless, there might be no scarcity of competitors.
“The purpose is to win it,” stated Brown. “There’s possibly 4 time triallists together with myself which are able to profitable the race. It’s going to be a little bit of a shock who really comes out on high and who misses the rostrum. It’s laborious to place a particular guess on who.
“I’m aiming for that gold medal, and if I fall quick and land on the rostrum, I’m nonetheless going to be actually pleased with that, however hopefully not fourth,” laughed Brown.
With Reusser out, the clear favourites together with Brown are the 2 most up-to-date World Champions within the self-discipline, Dygert and Van Dijk, the latter who has rapidly returned to spectacular type following the start of her first little one however has needed to rebound from a damaged ankle.
Then there may be additionally Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy), who most lately made a mark within the self-discipline by beating Brown to the win the opening Giro d’Italia time trial. Demi Vollering’s power has been evident as a GC rider however there could be little question the Tour de France Femmes winner is aware of how one can ship on the largest of levels plus the Dutch rider additionally claimed victory within the particular person time trial on the Tour de Suisse final month.
Add in highway World Champion Lotte Kopecky (Belgium), Christina Schweinberger (Switzerland), who got here third at World Championships final 12 months, and European Championships runner-up Anna Henderson (Nice Britain) as amongst these in competition for a high 5 spot within the flat 32.4-kilometre time trial.
Nonetheless regardless of the hefty lineup of rivals as Brown heads into her second Olympic Video games, she goes in with the reassurance of a season the place she has already swept up a sought-after victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, has had the good thing about a easy lead-in to arrange and carries far more expertise than in her first Video games.
“There are such a lot of issues about time trialling that I’ve realized since then and I’ve actually fine-tuned the race course of,” stated Brown.
However will it’s sufficient to ship a magical swan track for the rider who plans to retire on the finish of 2024?
There might be a lot watching to search out out as Brown rolls from the beginning line because the second-to-last rider, earlier than Dygert, at 15:19:30 (23:19:30 AEST) on Saturday July 28.
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