Team Raleigh’s Liam Holohan was one of three British riders to shine in the Olympic road race test event when he was part of a four up race long break that nearly made it to the finish before the British and English teams rode together to chase the break down and set up Mark Cavendish for the race win.
Here is Liams report in his own words of how the race unfolded;
Some riders may have been daunted by the amount of Ex-World Champions and Tour De France stars that were eating with us in the hotel before the Olympic Test event, but as I said in the meeting, these guys are no better than us we’re fit lets take it too them.
When I lined up on the start line on the Mall by Buckingham Palace I was determined that I would give everything I had, and try to animate the race. It’s not often that the race goes exactly to the team plan, with 20 or so other teams all with their own tactics, but today was one of those days. After only a few minutes I was part of the all day 4 man break, that would last until 9 km to go. What an experience! The crowds along the route were phenomenal, there wasn’t a single piece of road that wasn’t littered with spectators. When we hit Box Hill, the amount of fans there gave me goose bumps. Kristian House who was also in the move, turned to me and summed it up nicely, “This is awesome!”
The pace in the break was brisk but sustainable. Our advantage grew to over 6 minutes on the peloton led by Great Britain and Belgium. It was the last time up Box Hill that we really started motoring. With still a few minutes advantage we knew we would have to give everything to try and reach the finishing line in front. The pace was a bit too much for the Brazilian and my good friend Tom Murray who were dropped. It was now down to just me and Kristian to try and hold off the peloton of world class riders. Sadly it was not to be, we were swallowed up with just 9 km remaining and predictably Mark Cavendish took the win from a bunch kick. I was still very pleased with the result as it shows that myself and the team can compete against the “big boys” and, it’s a great confidence boost before the Tour of Britain in a few weeks time.
British Cycling Report; http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20110814-Cavendish-Wins-Olympic-Test-Event-0
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