Olympic and World Champions ready for Beijing

Sanchez, seen here winning a stage in this year's Tour de France, starts in Beijing with lucky #8 ©Graham Watson

Oct 5th, 11. Olympic Champion Samuel Sanchez begins today's Tour of Beijing with the lucky #8 bib while newly crowned World Time Time Champion Tony Martin wears his rainbow rings for the first time.

Today is the first stage of the new World Tour event, the Tour of Beijing.

As the Beijing Olympic Champion, Sanchez, the Euskaltel-Euskadi leader, was offered the honour of wearing the Tour of Beijing's number one race bib. He politely declined, preferring to take the number eight instead.

"The Chinese fans will be looking for me to wear number 8 and in any case I would prefer to have it," Sanchez said.

Race organisers quickly agreed to his request and the switch was made.

Sanchez is ready for the challenge ahead but is philosophical about his chances of another Beijing victory.

"It will be a very difficult race for me. It is a race for the sprinters, not the climbers. Of course I prefer stage three and I hope I will have a chance to win it.

"For me personally I have a lot of thoughts about Beijing and the Olympics. It is very special for me. To show it, I have a gold Olympic rings ear-stud and a tattoo on my right shoulder.

"But it is also a good idea for global cycling. China is a grand place with great potential in its economy. It is very important for the future of cycling to come here."

World TT Champion Tony Martin ©Graham Watson

Rainbow Rings on display

New time trial world champion Tony Martin (HTC Highroad) is set to make his debut in the prestigious rainbow jersey today when he leads the HTC-Highroad team. While he prefers longer time trials, he is still one of the favourites for the opening stage time trial.

"Winning the world title was a dream come true for me," Martin said. "I'm really excited to be able to wear the jersey for the first time in competition and I'm excited about racing in Beijing. There is a certain pressure that goes with wearing the world champion stripes but it also gives you confidence."

Tour of Beijing

Opinion is divided about where the race will be won. Some are convinced it will be determined on day one following the 11.3km individual time trial in the grounds of Beijing's Olympic Park.

Others believe it will be the hilly stage on day three from Men Tou Gou to Yong Ning Town that will be crucial. Whichever view prevails, it is sure that the UCI WorldTour's first foray into Asia will be hard fought.

With considerable UCI points on offer, the top team ranking for the year still in dispute between Omega-Pharma Lotto and Leopard-Trek and the final stage-race opportunity for riders to stake their claims for trade team berths in 2012, there is much at stake.

As indeed there is for the globalisation of cycling as the organisers demonstrate their capacity to deliver a first class and appealing event in the most significant of new markets.

The 18 UCI teams will be joined by a Chinese national squad, with riders hailing from 26 countries and representing five continents. NZ's Road Champion Hayden Roulston is ready for his last race with HTC HIghroad.

The short opening TT stage will feature many familiar features of the 2008 Olympics, with the start house in the Plaza of the Bird's Nest Stadium and the finish adjacent to the Water Cube, both of which continue to attract tens of thousands of visitors every day.

It provides the opportunity for newly crowned world time trial champion not only to debut his rainbow jersey but to impose himself on the race from the outset. But the relative shortness of the stage and the time-trialling strength of a number of other teams may negate the extent of the impact.

Stages two (137km - from the Bird's Nest to Men Tou Gou), four (189.5km – from Yanqing Gui Chuan Square to Shunyi Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre) and five (118km from Tian An Men Square to the Water Cube) are essentially flat and look ripe for the sprinters to dominate, as Sanchez says. He believes the tour will be won by a sprinter.

This leaves Friday's 162km journey with its 24.5km of climbing over a single category two and three category one ascents, as the best chance for those with general classification aspirations to make the mark.

There, of course, remains the possibility that whichever team prevails in the time trial may succeed in controlling the situation sufficiently to protect whatever lead they have, but with a fast descent also included after 60km, the chances are day three will be decisive.

Just who might prevail on General Classification remains an open question but those regularly mentioned in addition to Sanchez and Martin include Team RadioShack's Janez Brajkovic and Haimar Zubeldia; Stef Clement from Rabobank and the versatile Peter Sagan of Liquigas.

Tour of Beijing startlist...