London Olympics: Road Cycling

On the back of annual events such as the Tour de France, Road Cycling has become a huge spectator sport around the world - and this will be no different for London 2012, where four medal events should set the streets of London and Surrey on fire. The men's and the women's Road Race will start and finish on The Mall in central London on 28 and 29 July respectively. The riders will head south-west through the city and across Putney Bridge as they make their way through Richmond Park and past Hampton Court Palace towards Surrey, where they will face a challenging loop around Box Hill (nine for the men and two for the women) before heading back to London for dramatic finish a stone's throw from Buckingham Palace. The races are around 250km and 140km respectively. After his five stage wins on the Tour de France, Team GB's Mark Cavendish will fancy his chances on home soil (especially after winning the test event in August 2011), while in the women's race, another Brit, Nicole Cooke, will hope to defend her gold medal from Beijing 2008 with pride. A few days later, on Wednesday 1 August, the focus will shift to the Cycling Time Trial event at the historic Hampton Court in south-west London, where the riders will be timed individually over a shorter single-lap course (44km for the men, 29km for the women). Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara and Germany's Tony Martin will be amongst the favourites in the men's race - although don't rule out home hope Bradley Wiggins.