Tokyo 2020 Olympics road race women's start list
Confirmed start list of riders set to race on the 137km course in Japan
As expected, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games have attracted the biggest names of the sport to battle it out for the chance to take home the gold medal and wear the golden bands on their sleeves for the next four, or three, in this case, years.
There is a lot to fight for as we only see the Games every four years. This is even more apt as it has been five years since the last one due to the Covid-19 pandemic pushing these games back by a year.
The women's road race takes place on Sunday, July 25 and will take the riders over a 137km course from Musashinonomori Park to the Fuji International Speedway, but, the women's event does not take on the Mount Fuji pass of the Mikuni Pass which will likely decide the men's race, much to the frustration of some pro riders.
While the men have a short turnaround from the Tour de France, the women get an extra week of preparation due to the Giro d'Italia Donne finishing a week prior to the Tour.
However, one of the big favourites for the race in Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) chose to not ride the Giro Donne or the Tour de France-run one-day race of La Course as she did not wish to suffer from any injuries before heading to Japan.
Defending champion and fellow Dutch rider, Anna van der Breggen will also be hoping for a good result, she comes into the Games with some superb form after she dominated the Giro Donne, winning the overall title and taking a stage.
British success will be very much focussed around Lizzie Deignan who managed a very solid fourth place at the Giro Donne behind three SD Worx riders. Deignan did not medal in 2016 but she did win silver at the London Olympics in 2012. She lines up alongside 20-year-old SD Worx rider, Anna Shackley.
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Elisa Longo-Borghini of Italy, Grace Brown of Australia, Lotte Kopecky of Belgium, Kasia Niewiadoma of Poland and a lot more besides will be looking for the gold medal though at the Fuji International Speedway.
Just 67 riders will take part in the women's road race with the biggest teams getting a maximum of four riders.
Those teams are the Netherlands, Australia, USA, Germany and Italy with Belgium, Poland, and Canada the nations allowed three riders on the team.
Great Britain, Denmark, Spain, Japan, Norway, and South Africa have all been allowed two riders with the remaining nations involved only allowed one.
All riders are now confirmed, with Anna van der Breggen wearing the number one bib as defending champion.
TOKYO 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES WOMEN'S ROAD RACE START LIST
Netherlands
1 VAN DER BREGGEN Anna
2 VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek
3 VOS Marianne
4 VOLLERING Demi
Italy
5 BASTIANELLI Marta
6 CAVALLI Marta
7 LONGO-BORGHINI Elisa
8 PALADIN Soraya
Denmark
9 NORSGAARD Emma
10 LUDWIG Cecile Uttrup
Germany
11 BRENNAUER Lisa
12 LIPPERT Liane
13 LUDWIG Hannah
14 WORRACK Trixi
Australia
15 BROWN Grace
16 CROMWELL Tiffany
17 GIGANTE Sarah
18 SPRATT Amanda
Belgium
19 DEMEY Valerie
20 KOPECKY Lotte
21 VAN DE VELDE Julie
Great Britain
22 DEIGNAN Lizzie
23 SHACKLEY Anna
Poland
24 LACH Marta
25 NIEWIADOMA Kasia
26 PLICHTA Anna
United States of America
27 DYGERT Chloe
28 RIVERA Coryn
29 THOMAS Leah
30 WINDER Ruth
South Africa
31 MOOLMAN-PASIO Ashleigh
32 OBERHOLZER Carla
Spain
33 GARCÍA Mavi
34 SANTESTEBAN Ane
Switzerland
35 REUSSER Marlen
France
36 LABOUS Juliette
Norway
37 AALERUD Katrine
38 BØRGLI Stine
Russian Olympic Committee
39 DRONOVA-BALABOLINA Tamara
Slovenia
40 BUJAK Eugenia
Luxembourg
41 MAJERUS Christine
Ukraine
42 KONONENKO Valeriya
Canada
43 CANUEL Karol-Ann
44 JACKSON Alison
45 KIRCHMANN Leah
Thailand
46 MANEEPHAN Jutatip
Lithuania
47 LELEIVYTE Rasa
Austria
48 KIESENHOFER Anna
Colombia
49 PATINO BEDOYA Paula Andrea
Belarus
50 AMIALIUSIK Alena
Namibia
51 LOOSER Vera
Czech Republic
52 NEUMANOVA Tereza
Paraguay
53 ESPINOLA SALINAS Agua Marina
Israel
54 SHAPIRA Omer
Mexico
55 SALAZAR VAZQUEZ Lizbeth Yareli
Cuba
56 SIERRA CANADILLA Arlenis
Uzbekistan
57 ZABELINSKAYA Olga
Ethiopia
58 AMHA Selam
Eritrea
59 DEBESAY Mosana
Costa Rica
60 VARGAS BARRIENTOS Maria Jose
China
61 SUN Jiajun
Cyprus
62 CHRISTOFOROU Antri
Japan
63 KANEKO Hiromi
64 YONAMINE Eri
Chile
65 SOTO CAMPOS Catalina Anais
Trinidad and Tobago
66 CAMPBELL Teniel
South Korea
67 NA Ahreum
Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked with Cycling Weekly since 2020 and has also written for many of the biggest publications in cycling media including Cyclingnews, Rouleur, Cyclist and Velo.