British road race champion Adam Blythe shrugged off suggestions that he’s the favourite for today’s Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic, predicting that this year’s race will not come down to a sprint.
Blythe won the second edition of the UCI Category 1.HC event in 2014 when he out-lunged his boyhood friend Ben Swift in The Mall, and the race has been won with sprint finishes ever since it joined the professional calendar in 2013.
But Blythe believes the high-quality one-day specialists among this year’s top-ranked WorldTour teams will make a sprint finish unlikely in 2016.
“I don't think it will be a sprint,” said Blythe. “Etixx Quick-Step look like they have brought their whole Paris-Roubaix team. They could wait for a sprint for Tom [Boonen] but I think they will ride hard. BMC are also really strong, as are Team Sky.”
Blythe was tipped for the title by Sir Chris Hoy earlier this week after he out-sprinted Mark Cavendish at the national road race in Stockton-on-Tees a few weeks ago, his last competitive appearance before the RideLondon-Surrey Classic.
“It’s good for morale and it’s nice for Chris Hoy to say that I’m the one to beat,” said Blythe. “I think if I’ve got some form like I had at the nationals, then without sounding big-headed, yeah I’ll be in with a good shout.
“But I have not raced since the nationals, so I’m not exactly sure of my form. I think it's good. It’s going to be a hard race but I think I have a good chance.
“To be racing in a home event with a great field, with people like the Tour de France winner Chris Froome involved, it will be special.”
Blythe will ride for Team GB tomorrow, the first time he has worn the British jersey for seven years, and would love to seal victory on home soil with the red, white and blue on his back.
“I feel I'm in good shape and would like to think I will be up there,” he said. “We have a really good team with good options. We will have to see how Dan McLay’s legs are after the Tour de France and Alex Dowsett is as strong as an ox and he will be hoping to get away towards the end of the race, so it’s exciting.
“From when it started, this event has just got bigger and bigger,” he added. “Now look at it. You have Boonen and basically the classics team from Etixx coming over, so it’s not long before it’s a WorldTour event, with eight-man teams coming in really wanting to do something here.
“The event is fantastic. I won it two years ago and that was brilliant. It's crazy that they shut down the whole of London for a weekend for cycling.
“When I raced it last time, coming back into London there’s one little kick where Philippe Gilbert attacked and it was where he got away. I was with him and Ben Swift, who I’ve grown up with, so it was us going flat out chasing, like old days. Looking back on that, it was brilliant.”
As a past winner, and with the nationals victory fresh in his legs, Blythe will carry extra confidence into the race, but he was keen to play down his chances less than 24 hours before tomorrow’s roll out.
“Knowing I’ve won before does give me confidence, but after 50km, I could feel absolutely rubbish and think, ‘Oh no this is awful’,” he said. “On the other hand, it could be different.
“I want to do really well but I’ve got more events coming up which I need to win and win big. But I will give tomorrow a big go.
“At the nationals it wasn’t a ‘sprinty’ sprint, just a case of who had the best form on the day. It wasn’t as if we were coming in at 60kmph where Mark [Cavendish] excels so much in the Tour.
“I have got confidence, but you have to be realistic. Cavendish is Cavendish and he’s won 30 Tour stages. I can’t think that I’m faster than Cav, because I’m not, but I do know I’m kicking around him.”
As for the presence of three-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome on the Start Line, Blythe said: “For the general public, it’s considered a huge thing to line-up next to him, but I’ve known him for ages and been on holiday with him and he’s just like a normal bloke to me. It’ll be a good laugh rolling up to the Start Line with him and we’ll have some banter.
“It’s fantastic for him to be here. I think with Chris wanting to come before Rio, this is his last deep push. For him to want to come here shows the quality of the event.”