Richard Carapaz?

It wasn't on the list.

He wasn't the first to see himself.

But after 233 kilometers of 234, he suspected it.

A look back at the automobile race track at the foot of Mount Fuji.

Nobody comes there!

One more thing for reassurance.

And then with his fist he punched a huge air hole in the sky above him and another.

Yesterday still on the Tour de France, beaten in third and already on Olympus today.

Anno Hecker

Responsible editor for sports.

  • Follow I follow

At the finish, the Ecuadorian had the time to see the value of this coup: 40 seconds later, the defeated sprinted to the finish in the hunt for silver.

World class.

The Belgian Wout Van Aert in front of the tour winner Tadej Pogacar from Slovenia.

And in tenth, a little beaten, Maximilian Schachmann, whose Olympic project did not work out from his point of view.

No tour of France to win the Olympic laurel freshly strengthened, a medal.

"Yesterday Corona put a stop to our preparation, which made it difficult," said the German, referring to the positive test of his teammate Simon Geschke: "We started with motivation and made the best of it.

In the beginning it was difficult for me, but in the end I went with all the attacks. "

Perhaps the result of the Olympic race is not proof, but at least an interesting clue.

Apparently, the world's best professionals manage to cope with the ordeal of the three-week tour within six days, plus a time zone and climate change.

There's something incredible about that.

Especially with a view to the competition on Saturday.

He offered some stories that also explained the result and the mines of the first three: Carapaz shining gold, Pogacar smiling, depressed by Aert.

It's about the honor for a day

The race was difficult to read. This is typical for the tour at Olympia. First-class staff, but with national teams, put together from the drivers of the multinational professional teams. A maximum of only five per country, which affects the strategy. Are the drivers coordinated with each other? Do you dare. It's about the honor for a day. In the background, the team boss is not in charge of extending the contract or - in the case of insubordination - not either.

The future depends on it in everyday life, hardly on Olympic merits.

In such a constellation on such a difficult course over 234 kilometers and almost 5000 meters in altitude, care is required, helpers are not worn out.

And the captain has to be careful, watch out as hell when he intervenes and whether he does not have an internal opponent during the race who doesn't need to think about tomorrow.

Exciting.

The peloton first let a breakaway group pull away and drive away for 17, 18 minutes.

100 kilometers before the finish line, the first started with bared teeth, three kilometers before the summit of the highest point (1500 meters), an eleven percent gradient.

Then they stamped, mouths open, through the woods and meadows, far from gray Tokyo.

The large group was already clearing.

The people behind got out of the saddle again to be able to stay on the last few meters before a 14-kilometer descent, before the longed-for recovery in the slipstream. Some in vain. One by one fell out, gasping for air in the hot, humid atmosphere. Merciless cycling. Merciless Olympic organizers. Japanese say it is crazy to do top-class sports in your summer.