British squad will move to Surrey base for 2012 London Olympics training
Team Great Britain is all set to welcome the home Olympics for the 2012 season, it will train in Surrey before the mega event. A total number of 19 cyclists will form the strong British line-up, including Bradley Wiggins, Mark Cavendish, Lizzie Armitstead
and Nicole Cooke.
Moving to Surrey is a good move by the British team as the riders will familiarise themselves with the Olympic road race track, which will be held on the roads of Surrey.
The event will start on July 28 with the men’s road race, which is a 250 kilometre event, while a 140 kilometre women’s event will be held on July 29, 2012.
Welsh professional cyclist Geraint Thomas is content to skip the Tour de France in order to assure his best form for the home Olympics.
He mentioned that Olympics are once in a life time opportunity, whereas the Tour de France comes every year.
He told cycling news, “My best opportunity to win a gold medal in London is if I don’t ride the Tour because there would be quite a short turn around to get back up to speed on the track”.
Thomas was of the view that the team pursuit at the Olympics is designed to suit his capabilities and he would prefer to ride the Giro d’ Italia as a preparing event for Olympics 2012.
Current Road World Champion Mark Cavendish is the ultimate favourite for the London 2012 event. His victory at the Olympics test event on August will certainly boost his confidence for the occasion.
Denise Saliagopoulos, Surrey’s cabinet member, said, "These athletes demand world class training facilities and superb accommodation to ensure they are at their physical and mental peak for the 2012 Games".
He also shared that a number of teams have already selected Surrey as their base and more and more teams are expected, especially after the date has been extended until February 2012.
Denise briefed, “We'd be delighted to speak to Olympic and Paralympic nations and show them the superb facilities Surrey has to offer to help prepare their athletes for London 2012".
It is believed that Bradley Wiggins will skip the 2012 Olympics track races as he will focus on the road race events. He is certainly another favourite to win the gold medal in front of the home crowd.
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