Mountains in Essex?
Dateline: 15:08 12-Aug-2012
Not exactly the grandeur of Rio but somehow the organisers provided enough slopes and boulders for a serious mountain bike competition. In the final outcome it was France (at last) and the Czech Republic that took the MTB golds. So this is how the cycle sport medal table finished - but not without a few surprises. Nothing for Belgium and just a bronze in the MTBs for Italy - even though it could have been a gold if Fontana had not lost his saddle on the final lap.

Added 14-Aug-2012 - And this medal table would look even better for GB if it had included the gold & bronze by the Brownlees in the triathlon or if Victoria Pendleton had taken the lead a fraction of a second later in the team sprint. But winning 8 golds after being DQ’ed in two events is still fantastic. So despite “the powers” stopping both the men’s and women’s time trials and the pursuits, Team GB were still just as dominant as back in 2008. These results means that UK funding will continue until 2016 and by then some new names could be added to the record book.

Next it will be the Para-Olympics and then the dismantle / re-jig phase for the venues. Hopefully the legacy cycling facilities will be put to good use in the years to come - not just by future Olympians but also by Joe and Jill Average.

Nothing so large will ever be perfect - but London 2012 was better than many had feared (or hoped!). And for those that missed it then take a look at Olympic preparations as imagined by the BBC comedy show broadcast before the Games - Twenty Twelve. If no longer available online then it is out on DVD.

Bumpy Rides
Dateline: 17:00 10-Aug-2012
Plenty of “excitement” at the Olympic BMX with Colombia and Latvia taking gold. The British hopefuls made the finals but could do no more. The only consolation for the British being that the French had no medals either. Perhaps the French coach will say that the Colombians won more medals because their tyres were filled with coffee beans?

Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total Colombia 1 - 1 2 Latvia 1 - - 1 Australia - 1 - 1 New Zealand - 1 - 1 Netherlands - - 1 1

Now it’s just the mountain bikes to finish off the UCI-controlled elements of the Olympic programme - then calm for another four years?

Any relation to Charlie Holland, the first British rider in the Tour, I wonder? photo: idf-fotos

But then if GB cyclists are not welcome in France then who will lose most? Don’t forget that Britain does not have to pay the French organisers, ASO, millions just to host a future Tour de France start. After all it won’t improve the chances of a British winner. Only hard work, preparation and attention to detail will do that.  But such things cost money - so perhaps Frank Holland (pardon François Hollande) should spend a few million euros getting a better support structure in place. However it may just be easier to say it was all down to Harry Potter!

At the Velodrome
Dateline: 18:30 7-Aug-2012
Plenty of TV channels and cycling websites are covering the racing in detail, so no point in repetition here - but the combined road and track medal table now looks like this. Meanwhile at the triathlon Great Britain and Switzerland took one gold each.

Dateline: 19:08 2-Aug-2012
Two medals decided on the track tonight - and Sir Chris took a team sprint gold to go with his four from before. But in the women’s event neither of the two fastest teams won gold - as excessively strict rule enforcement relegated first GB and then China. Hopefully the UCI official had better video playback with which to judge because the still shots extracted from the TV feed that were shown were so blurry that it was impossible to tell. Not the best way to conclude four years of preparation!

Road Event Medals
Dateline: 16:08 1-Aug-2012
Well the predictions did line-up with the results in the case of Vos winning the road race, Wiggins winning the men’s time trial and Arndt taking second in the women’s time trial - but the much talked of “home advantage” did not materialise. But it was not just the British that were disappointed - since many strong cycling nations - Belgium, France and Italy for example - failed to take any medals.

Now for the track and MTB - and I guess that I will have to include BMX - even though the triathlons are probably more closely related to traditional cycle sport.

Vinokourov takes Gold ... as Bunch Leaves GB on Front All Day
Dateline: 28-Jul-2012
Kazakhstan today took their first Olympic gold in cycling through the rider that gave them their only other cycling medal - Alexandre Vinokourov - silver medalist at Sydney in 2000.

With Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran and Norway’s Alexander Kristoff taking silver and bronze it is clear that the cycling medal table is starting out to be very different to what was predicted.

So none of the favourites got any reward today - and some may have blown their chances for later. Not just because of the hard work by Froome and Wiggins but also a tiring day for Tony Martin and another crash for Fabian Cancellara.

Many in the huge crowds around the circuit will have gone away disappointed - not just for today’s result but also because there is now an element of doubt about the events ahead.

Update 09:00 29-Jul-2012 - Tom Boonen now reported as saying that the [Belgian] team tactics went to plan but that they had relied on Great Britain chasing down breakaways. A strategy followed by most nations; as was obvious to everyone - not just the cycling fans - watching the TV coverage for any length of time.

Favourites for Medals on the Road
Dateline: 27-Jul-2012
The Olympic organisers have put the road cycling events in a different sequence to the world championships. So in London the mens road race is the first race rather than the grand finale - meaning that tomorrow will be the critical day for Mark Cavendish and the host nation. How well the Manx Missile performs will set the tone for the home supporters over the coming days.

Reading the views of many pundits and taking my own wild guesses, these looks like the favourites for medals and the minor placings -

Mens Road Race - 1. Mark Cavendish (GB), 2. Andre Greipel (D), 3. Tom Boonen (B), 4. Peter Sagan (SVK),  5. Fabian Cancellara (SWI), 6. Matt Goss (AUS), 7. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR)
Womens Road Race - 1. Marianne Vos (NL), 2. Giorgia Bronzini (I), 3. Judith Arndt (D), 4. Lizzie Armistead (GB), 5. Shelley Olds (USA)
Mens Time Trial - 1. Bradley Wiggins (GB), 2. Fabian Cancellara (SWI), 3. Tony Martin (D), 4. Taylor Phinney (USA), 5. Chris Froome (GB)
Womens Time Trial - 1. Emma Pooley (GB), 2. Judith Arndt (D), 3. Linda Villumsen (NZ), 4. Kristin Armstrong (USA), 5. Amber Neben (USA)

If these guesses, by some miracle, turn out to be correct then the medal table would be -

So if Team GB get less than three golds will the British public be disappointed? Possibly - but all will be forgiven if Mark can win tomorrow!

However it is hard to imagine strong cycling nations, such as Spain or Australia, coming away from the road events without any medals so I think my predications are going to be wrong in practice come next week.

Watch TV with the Fans - and Stars
Dateline: 17-Jul-2012
For London visitors or residents there is a chance to combine the Olympics with a Belgian Cycling Paradise that is being set-up in the Middle Temple. Getting into the Middle Temple still costs the normal £5 - but this new home-from-home for cycling fans - Belgian or not - is free; with cheap(ish) beer by the Fountain Court. Lunch and dinner are also expected to be available.
Starting on Friday 27 July - when Eddy and friends will arrive by bike - this particular Cycling Paradise runs through out the games and is open from 11am until 2am!

Watch TV
Dateline: 17-Jul-2012
As the Tour de France ends and the Olympics get ready to start ITV is launching a new weekly cycling programme on UK digital terrestial channel ITV4.

The Cycle Show fills a gap that no other mainstream UK channel is covering - despite the fact that outlets such as Cycling.TV have been running online for years. This is quite a gap in the market when you consider that other countries have long had dedicated cycling programmes - for example Cycling Central on SBS Australia.

And what a time to start; with so much cycling news - and this time good news - in the mass media.

In the UK this is not just good news about road racing - with the recent go-ahead for a new indoor velodrome in Derby and the assignment of one of the rounds of this year’s UCI World Cup to Glasgow’s Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome. Scotland’s first indoor track will be in action sooner that I expected!

Watch This Space!
Dateline: 16-Jul-2012
With road, track, mountain bike and BMX there is going to be plenty to interest the cycling fans - but will cycling be just a side show rather than in the main ring of the Olympic circus?

More random, ill-informed comment available here shortly!

ps I’ve not forgotten that the Tour de France is still running - just that my comments are going out via the Tour-Racing web site