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Olympic Games 2021
Jul 25, 2021 - Aug 8, 2021
The 2020 Olympic Games, due to start on July 24 in Tokyo, were forced to be postponed to 2021 by a global pandemic of a new type of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that causes in some people severe pneumonia that has resulted in thousands of deaths worldwide.
Even as Japan fought against the Olympics going forward amid low vaccination rates and increasing infections, the world’s athletes, supporters and media will begin to arrive in the country for the XXXII Olympiad.
The men’s road race takes place on Saturday, July 24 as one of the first events, with superstars like Tadej Pogačar, Primož Roglič, Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert among the favourites.
The women’s road race is next on July 25, where Anna van der Breggen will try to repeat her gold medal performance with the support of a strong Dutch team.
Mountain bike cross country is next with the men on July 26, where Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock will try to take the title from the full time riders. The women’s field compete on July 27 on the Izu course.
The time trials will be held on the Fuji International Speedway on July 28, with Tom Dumoulin returning from a few months’ time-out to try to upgrade his silver in Rio to gold. The women, racing the same day, will see a new champion in the absence of three-time winner Kristin Armstrong. Her compatriot Chloe Dygert is a favourite against the Dutch riders Van der Breggen and Annemiek van Vleuten.
Track cycling closes out the cycling events at the Games, with six events for men and women: Team Pursuit, Team Sprint, Individual Sprint, Keirin, Omnium, and Madison.