Cycling Australia have announced that Rohan Dennis will skip Saturday’s Tokyo Olympics road race in order to help prepare for the men’s individual time trial.
Dennis is one of the main favourites for a medal in the individual time trial that takes place next week but his move to skip the road race leaves his team with just three riders, Richie Porte, Luke Durbridge and Olympic debutant Lucas Hamilton.
The news of Dennis’ decision was posted online by the Australian team.
“Hamilton will be joined on the start line by Luke Durbridge and their team leader Richie Porte while Rohan Dennis will sit out the road race to prepare for next week's individual time trial,” read the press release on the Australian Olympic site.
Five years ago in Rio, at the last Olympic Games, Dennis pulled out of the road race at the feed zone before turning his attention to the time trial.
Dennis was on course for a medal at the Rio time trial but a mechanical issue with his bars inside the final 15km of the race saw him slip down the leaderboard to fifth, with Fabian Cancellara taking gold, Tom Dumoulin silver, and Chris Froome bronze.
The two-time time trial world champion has made the Olympic Games the centerpiece of his 2021 season and he's in Tokyo after surprisingly missing out of Tour de France selection at Ineos Grenadiers, having initially been on the long-list.
Dennis is set to leave the team at the end of the current campaign, having agreed a two-year deal with Tour rivals Jumbo-Visma. The deal is set to be announced after the transfer window opens on August 1.
Cyclingnews will have complete live text coverage from the men’s and women’s road races this weekend, followed by the two elite time trials next week.
