Women's Olympic road race favourite Lorena Wiebes admits to "have found the local circuit tougher than expected"

Lorena Wiebes has been to able to achieve unthinkable in getting the full leadership within the star-filled Dutch national team. She'll still have to deal with her in-season teammate Lotte Kopecky, but with the support of stars such Demi Vollering and Marianne Vos, the odds play in the 25-year-old Dutchwomen's favor.

"The Paris Olympics have been on my mind since 2020. When I heard that it would be in Paris this year, with not too high mountains, I thought: that could be something," Wiebes begins the story at the KNWU website.

"It starts as a long-term goal, something you want to work towards in terms of performance, but now it is getting closer. I also had my goals besides the Games, but that Olympic road race was always a good motivation throughout this entire season."

Wiebes already had a closer look at the course: "I found the local circuit tougher than expected. The last climb at Montmartre ten kilometres from the finish can be tough, especially if it's stretched there and that is to be expected. In fact, the entire local circuit is only up and down. I think this circuit is a bit comparable to the course of the Super World Championship in Glasgow last year, only the climbs in Paris are less steep."