Jodie is the current Victorian Vets Criterium and Road champion in her age group. She has been racing for several years now and likes any event that involves sprinting and not too many hills. She initially used cycling as an important part of her rehabilitation from a mountaineering accident in New Zealand. She then got into racing as a replacement for martial arts in which she represented Australia and won Gold, Silver & Bronze medals in the Martial Arts World Games in 2000. 29th Olympic Games - Men's Road Race, 245km
Location: Dhina
Date: 9 August, 2008
Starting field: 143 riders
This was a tough race. The humidity was above 90% and the climbs were steep. Only 90 riders finished.
Tactically, the Australians rode a great race. Simon Gerrans stayed with the main break-away to ensure they were covered. On the final lap, Cadel pushed the peleton hard to split it up to give Michael Rogers the best chance. Rogers was with the finishing group, but wasn't able to beat the others up the final steep climb to the finish line. Rogers finished in 6th place. The gold medal went to Spanish rider Samuel Sá. A full report is here.
The Chinese, in their infinite wisdom, didn't allow any spectators through. Chiara climbed over a fence to wave an Australian flag near the finish. Read the article Fans, family upset with lack of access here.
Cadel has decided to do the time trial, taking up the second position provided to Australia by the UCI. Woo hoo! is what I reckon.
Main results:
1 Samuel Sánchez (Spain) 6.23.49 (38.362 km/h)
2 Davide Rebellin (Italy)
3 Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)
...
6 Michael Rogers (Australia)
...
15 Cadel Evans (Australia) 0.22
...
(143 riders started, 90 finished)
Next Race
Olympics Time Trial: Wednesday 13 August 2008. Starts 13:30 (Chinese time: GMT+8). The start list and times are state secrets, so no idea when Cadel is riding.
Reproduced with permission from Geoff Schmidt who is unashamedly biased towards following Cadel Evans.