It’s almost time

Hello from Rio. The mood here is impossible to describe. It is simply fantastic to be a part of the Olympics and to have such a great time with many other athletes. Meeting athletes from so many different sports is really special. For cyclists, of course we see a lot of athletes at big events like the Tour, but that is just us and of course our rivals. So it is great to meet other athletes,who aren’t your rial’s at all. From the two-meter tall men to the little gymnasts, everyone is here. Basically, you can pretty much tell the sport from their stature. That makes a fun game :-)

Fortunately I am not having any pain in my knee. In the last few days I haven’t had a problem. I was on the bike for about two hours, didn’t really need to do more for my preparations. In the road race Saturday I will play a helper’s role, because of the profile, and hope that I can support the other two as well as I can. The favourites for this race are pretty obviously those who were also in the top 15 at the Tour de France. It will be a very hard race. But I am looking forward to it: the atmosphere is great, we have been made very welcome and somehow above us all floats the Olympic feeling.