The road race for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo will feature a 15.7km lap and two climbs. According to a report by Dutch broadcaster NOS, the men will race the circuit 16 times while the women will complete seven laps.
Technical director of the Dutch squad Thorwald Veneberg also posted a picture of the proposed route on this twitter account. The route, which is yet to be agreed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), will see the riders travel southwest from Tokyo before entering the circuit. Once finished with the circuit, they will head back out the way they came to finish 12km from the top of the final climb.
Neither of the ascents contained within the circuit are too bruising, unlike the circuit in Rio last year, and are likely to favour riders who shine in the hilly classics. NOS reports that the first of the two climbs is just 1.7km long, with an average gradient of 3.2 per cent. The second climb, which NOS likens to Sibbergrubbe and Eperheide ascents from the Amstel Gold race, is 2.3km with an average gradient of 3.7 per cent.
Current Olympic champions Greg Van Avermaet and Anna van der Breggen could be well suited to the course, although it would be less selective than the route they won over.
Cyclingnews contacted the UCI for comment and is awaiting a response.
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