But world champion admits hilly road race course is not ideal
Thursday 18 February 2016 13:37, UK
Lizzie Armitstead will relish the pressure of being one of the favourites for victory in the Olympic road race in Rio in August but admits the course doesn’t quite suit her.
The 27-year-old Briton is widely regarded as the best female rider in cycling after winning both the UCI Women's Road World Cup series and World Championship road race in 2015.
She has also proven her pedigree on the Olympic stage by finishing a narrow second in the London 2012 road race and believes being viewed as a contender in Brazil could work in her favour.
"I like being one of the favourites and the pressure it brings," she told Sky Sports.
"I was the favourite going into Richmond [last year's World Championships] and that really played into my hands because everyone was looking at me and it allowed me to dictate the tempo of the race. So it would be absolutely fine by me if people were also looking at me in Rio."
The women's Olympic road race will follow a hilly 141km course ending with an 8.9km climb, a technical descent and then a flat run to the finish.
Armitstead travelled to Rio to reconnoitre the route last August and has mixed feelings about it.
She added: "The course isn't ideal for me. There is a lot of climbing and although I can get over climbs, I'm not one of the best climbers in the peloton.
"But it's a one-day race, it's hard and it's high-pressure, so there are other things going in my favour.
"There are also some tricky cobbled sections that suit me and the final descent plays to my strengths, so if I lose ground on the final climb, I can make it back up."
Armitstead has been working on her climbing over the winter - recently tweeting "Heading home from Gran Canaria with over 20k meters of climbing and a sun tan" - but will now shelve dedicated hill training until after the Classics.
The spring one-day races are a priority for her Dutch team, Boels-Dolmans, and Armitstead is keen to finally win the Tour of Flanders after top-10 finishes in each of the past three years.
She added: "I'll do the spring Classics for Boels-Dolmans and then start thinking about doing more specific climbing training after May.
"I really want to win the Tour of Flanders. It's been a target for a few years but I haven't managed it yet. I just really like it. It's a hard race and really tactical and it would be great to win it.
"But it's important to not set myself too many goals. I'm a consistent rider and my consistency should get me results, but it's an Olympic year and I don't want it to be too goal-heavy."
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