2008 Summer Olympic Games feature, August 6, 2008

Spanish champion leads team's Olympic charge

Five top riders means that one squad stands out as favourite for the Olympic road race. Cyclingnews' Shane Stokes looks at the powerful Spanish men's road race team, where Alejandro Valverde will likely be the go-to man for the medals.

Alejandro Valverde smiles
Photo ©: AFP

Undoubtedly one of the strongest teams – arguably the strongest – in next Saturday's Olympic road race will be that of Spain. Tour de France winners Carlos Sastre and Alberto Contador will be there, and will be joined by triple world champion Oscar Freire, Samuel Sanchez and Alejandro Valverde.

All are proven winners and have – with the exception of Sanchez – shown world-beating form this season. Sastre won the Alpe d'Huez stage of the Tour de France and went on to land the overall title. Contador and his Astana team were prevented from riding the race, but the Spaniard has nonetheless racked up several important wins; he took the Giro d'Italia in June, and also triumphed in the Vuelta a Castilla y Le�n and the Vuelta a Pa�s Vasco. He took two stage victories in both.

Freire took his sole victory on stage 14 of the Tour de France and won the green jersey classification. Earlier successes this year include two stages and the points competition in Tirreno Adriatico, the Gent-Wevelgem Classic and stage one of the Tour de Suisse. And while Sanchez hasn't hit the same level of form yet, he took a solid seventh overall in the Tour.

Of those on the team, a strong argument can be made for Valverde having the best chance of success. He's an explosive climber, a good tactician and a strong sprinter. As his victories in this year's Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the recent Cl�sica San Sebasti�n showed, he has the characteristics necessary to win on tougher courses.

Sastre and Contador are better climbers on the highest cols. That much is clear. Freire is a better sprinter, and Sanchez is a red-hot descender. But looking at the Olympic course, it seems likely that – on paper at least – the Caisse d'Epargne rider is the strongest bet for gold.

"This course suits my characteristics very well," Valverde stated in recent days. "The first part consists of 80 completely flat kilometres, followed by seven laps on a very hard circuit with twelve kilometres uphill and twelve kilometres downhill. I believe that after the Tour de France, I will have the necessary endurance for such a difficult race.

"After the Tour, it is normal to be tired but the chance to take part in the Olympic Games is a dream for me. That gives me the courage I need to approach this event. It is true that this race is a lottery, but I will head to the start very motivated and am very grateful to be selected."