Sadly, no, I wasn’t in Rio this week to watch the Olympic cycling events. But as a London resident I was lucky enough to be able to watch the men’s road race and both the men’s and women’s time trials live when my city hosted the Games in 2012. Watching the races this year (on TV this time) has brought back happy memories of the wonderful, upbeat atmosphere that pervaded London this time four years ago, when union flags represented Team GB rather than Team Brexit. Even Nelson’s column got into the spirit of things.
Can’t believe Nelson voted Leave
The road race
Like about 20 million other people, I’d failed to get tickets for the vastly oversubscribed track events at the velodrome or anything else for that matter, but took some consolation from the fact that my favourite sport was free to view from the side of the road. Many other people had the same idea; the 250km route was lined with spectators from end to end and lots of riders said afterwards that they’d never seen such big crowds before and that they struggled to find anywhere to go for a pee in peace!
Given road cycling’s reputation for accessibility and the fact that these events would be the only opportunity most locals would get to see any live Olympic action, there was a bit of a hoo-ha when it was announced that entry to Box Hill, the centrepiece of the race that would be climbed nine times by the men and twice by the women, would be ticketed and limited to 3 500 people due to concerns over potential damage to local wildlife. Thankfully in the end concessions were made and capacity increased to 15 000.
Even better, my friend Lisa managed to get tickets for the men’s race, meaning we would be lucky enough to see the racers pass several times on the most crucial part of the course. The race started on The Mall outside Buckingham Palace in central London before heading towards the Box Hill circuit in Surrey via the London boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Wandsworth, Richmond upon Thames and Kingston upon Thames.
The Olympic rings grace Box Hill
Pre-Games, the organisers tried to talk up the difficulty of the repeated ascents of Box Hill, but in reality it’s a pleasant and not very difficult climb (I’ve done it several times, meaning most cyclists can!). The approach used in the Olympics and by hundreds of leisure cyclists every weekend takes the pleasing Zig Zag road up through a couple of kilometres of leafy countryside to reward you with great views over the county of Surrey and perhaps a cup of tea and a cake from the café at the top.
The view from Box Hill
If you fancy trying the climb for yourself but don’t want to cycle through six London boroughs to get there, you can take your bike on the train to Dorking instead – the station is about half a mile from Box Hill.
Back to the Olympics and one of the downsides to watching racing live is that sometimes you wait by the road for hours only for the race to flash by in an instant and leave you with no clue as to what is going on. That’s where courses based on circuits come into their own, and from our roadside position at the top of Box Hill we got a really good feel for how events were unfolding. With each passing of the race, we saw the number of riders in the breakaway swell, followed by the riders of the British team leading the chase for Mark Cavendish in a stubborn reprisal of the tactics that worked so well for them in the World Championships the year before, but not today.
Wiggins and Froome lead Team GB’s doomed chase up Box Hill
When the nine circuits were complete, we retired to the big screen to see the end of the race and a rather unpopular victory for cycling’s premier panto villain, Alexander Vinokourov. At least we had a nice day for it, unlike the women who competed in pouring rain the next day.
A fine day to see Britain not win their first medal of the Games
In the run up to London 2012 there had been much discussion and philosophising about the legacy of the Games for London and the UK. While this discussion is still ongoing, the legacy of the road race at least is evident in the form of the London-Surrey Classic, a professional one-day race based on the Olympic course now held annually shortly after the Tour de France and attracting a decent field (Tom Boonen won this year’s edition). Promotion of the race to World Tour level next year suggests it is here to stay, as does the popularity of the associated sportive, the RideLondon – Surrey 100, held the same day and contested by 27 000 people this year.
You don’t have to do battle with the thousands of people who enter the sportive ballot each year to enjoy cycling these same roads of course. Surrey is a lovely place to cycle at any time of year, offering leafy scenery, some challenging climbs and a considerate sprinkling of country pubs. If you enjoy the camaraderie and organisation of a sportive, there are many, many alternatives to the Ride100 in the area, even if they lack the cache of the finishing stretch on The Mall. Action Medical Research, for example, organise 100km/100 mile sportives throughout the country; we took part in their 100-mile event around Surrey a few years before the Olympics, climbing Box Hill, Leith hill and others, not to mention enjoying the cakes put on at rest stops by the local WI!
The time trial
Time trials are often tedious to watch on TV, but when watching from the roadside they provide longer-lasting action than a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it road race and a better opportunity to recognise the riders as they pass one by one. As the Olympics attracts such a stellar field, it’s practically a catwalk of your favourite riders.
Philippe Gilbert grits his teeth
The men’s and women’s time trials were held on the same day over a 44km and 29km course that started and ended in Hampton Court. The roads round Hampton Court are usually choked with traffic, so it was rather surreal to see them closed for the event, even though the area was very busy with large crowds who’d once again been drawn by one of the few chances to see some free Olympic action. Another big draw was that Bradley Wiggins was pretty much nailed-on to win gold following his win in the Tour de France a few weeks earlier, where he’d been utterly dominant in the time trials.
Wiggo mania hits Hampton Court
And win it he did, but not before we’d seen a succession of star riders do their best to challenge him. Kristin Armstrong took the women’s title.
One of the few events Marianne Vos didn’t win this year (although she won the road race)
We also got to see the man himself up close when he and Chris Froome, having completed their podium and post-race press duties, wandered across the road from Hampton Court to the King’s Arms where we were enjoying a drink (the only photo I have is of the back of Froome’s head, so you’ll have to take my word for it).
If you’re visiting London then a trip to Hampton Court is highly recommended, although a more scenic and less stressful way to cycle there is along the traffic-free cycle path along the river from Kingston upon Thames.
I feel very lucky to have been able to see the Olympics in my home town, as I don’t know if I’ll ever get the opportunity again (the next Games will be in Tokyo, which is hardly just down the road). The huge, enthusiastic crowds that turned out for the cycle events were emblematic of the way London embraced the Olympics as a whole, which was something of a relief given the usual negativity that was rife before the event kicked off. If you’re lucky enough to live in or near a city that is awarded the Games in the future, I urge you to ignore the cynics and enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime celebration, I’ve never known a better time to be in London.
London’s finest hour
Bex on Wheels 