Day 1 BBC One: 12.10-18.00

:00:54. > :01:03.For the very first time, South America welcomes the world for the

:01:04. > :01:10.28th summer Olympic Games. The film director for and no -- Fernando

:01:11. > :01:18.Meirelles has said that London was smart, this is going to be cool. Now

:01:19. > :01:29.we go to the beginning, to the birth of life itself. Just add water!

:01:30. > :01:38.These are very clever projections. I can assure you that the stadium

:01:39. > :01:54.floor remains totally flat, despite what you are seeing!

:01:55. > :02:04.We've taken a few liberties here. Only flying for 60 metres but who

:02:05. > :02:17.cares, just admire the view. The girl from it is Giselle. -- the girl

:02:18. > :02:25.from Ipanema. The stadium floor resembles a lava lamp. And here they

:02:26. > :02:33.are, here he is. Holding with his left arm, which is sensible, Andy

:02:34. > :02:37.Murray leading out Great Britain. These athletes represent the 65

:02:38. > :02:45.million displaced people around the world from war-torn areas. They are

:02:46. > :02:58.very welcome indeed. The stadium now erupts because into the Maracana,

:02:59. > :03:06.please welcome Brazil. And the mirrors are opened to reveal lush

:03:07. > :03:13.vegetation. Underlying the ceremony's core theme, the future is

:03:14. > :03:20.bright if it's green. So, the Olympics are underway again. The

:03:21. > :03:25.torch, good luck Rio and good luck to the youth of the world. A fitting

:03:26. > :03:35.welcome to the Games of Rio de Janeiro. The stunning finale to last

:03:36. > :03:43.night's classy and elegant and rather cool opening ceremony. Framed

:03:44. > :03:46.in breathtaking style by that sculpture. The flame left the

:03:47. > :03:52.Maracana Erbil it in another cauldron on the Olympic Boulevard in

:03:53. > :04:01.the centre of the City for the carrier gas. This is wind powered

:04:02. > :04:10.for the duration of the Games. But we are fuelled by the sunshine. Good

:04:11. > :04:15.morning. It is only 0810 here, it has been a long night, but the smile

:04:16. > :04:22.is shining on us, as it normally does on Copacabana beach, the most

:04:23. > :04:26.famous beach in the world. This is the backdrop for us for the next 16

:04:27. > :04:33.days as we started they one in earnest of these 28th Olympic Games.

:04:34. > :04:42.We are ready, I hope you are too. 12 gold medals to be won today. Let's

:04:43. > :04:47.do this! From the Boulevard to the beach, the Tour de France winner

:04:48. > :04:54.Chris Froome leads the field in the men's road race, but it is a tough

:04:55. > :04:58.race around Rio's mountain. And after almost a century after the 11

:04:59. > :05:04.man game featured at the Olympics, it will be sevens making its debut

:05:05. > :05:08.with some of Great Britain's women. And one of the most picturesque

:05:09. > :05:11.women's for our most successful sport in recent years, Katherine

:05:12. > :05:20.Grainger is in her fifth Games and the like colour, with a new partner,

:05:21. > :05:26.Vicky Thornley. Katherine Grainger is the defending champion. This is

:05:27. > :05:30.our schedule over the next six hours. We have roaring shortly, we

:05:31. > :05:34.will see Alan Campbell in the single sculls. From Northern Ireland, he

:05:35. > :05:39.will become the most decorated athlete in terms of appearances, his

:05:40. > :05:45.fourth Games. The road race, the start of it and then we are

:05:46. > :05:56.concentrating on even more from like our -- from Lagoa. As the rugby

:05:57. > :06:01.sevens, Great Britain's women have Brazil this morning and later denied

:06:02. > :06:05.against Japan. The key moments of the day, there were 12 gold medals

:06:06. > :06:14.on offer and some of them are on this board here. The defending

:06:15. > :06:18.champion, the first winner of a medal in the London Games, could be

:06:19. > :06:24.doing the same in Rio. In terms of swimming we have James Guy looking

:06:25. > :06:30.to add an Olympic medal to his burgeoning collection in the men's

:06:31. > :06:33.400 metres final. The final is at 2am, UK time, tomorrow. It is

:06:34. > :06:38.confusing but we'll get to grips with it. Adam Peaty of course the

:06:39. > :06:42.three-time world champion, in the heats for the 100 metre Bristow,

:06:43. > :06:50.trying to do what Adrian Moorhouse lasted for Britain 20 years ago --

:06:51. > :06:57.breaststroke. Sarah Menzies in the women's judo title, in the running

:06:58. > :07:01.for a second gold medal. We've already started the Olympic action

:07:02. > :07:04.an officially on Wednesday and Thursday with some of the football

:07:05. > :07:11.matches but this is really day one when the events start in earnest.

:07:12. > :07:16.One of the key races in the road race, the road race, the road

:07:17. > :07:20.cycling start this morning. Four years ago we had so Bradley Wiggins

:07:21. > :07:25.who was in the time trial after winning the Tour de France, which

:07:26. > :07:31.was a fantastic double. Chris Froome is trying to go just one place even

:07:32. > :07:36.better than him. Having already won a third Tour de France in the summer

:07:37. > :07:38.he will be going in the time trial. Today, part two of a possible treble

:07:39. > :07:56.in the road race. Britain's first two time winner.

:07:57. > :08:02.What a Tour de France this has been the Great Britain. The last week

:08:03. > :08:06.after the Tour has been a bit of a moment. Certainly right now the

:08:07. > :08:12.focus is on the road race. With the team that we've got here, the suit

:08:13. > :08:16.-- between the five of us, we will try to cover most of the bases. We

:08:17. > :08:22.don't have a set plan, we aren't already a one guy, it is seeing how

:08:23. > :08:27.the race evolves and covering the different scenarios that may arise.

:08:28. > :08:34.Not going to be a leader writer? We have different scenarios we can play

:08:35. > :08:38.with. Steve Cummings, he's won a lot of races this year from breakaways.

:08:39. > :08:42.It would be a good idea to think about a good moment to put him in

:08:43. > :08:45.the break. Geraint Thomas will be going well. A competitive team. We

:08:46. > :08:51.all stand a chance of getting a result. How does the dynamic work

:08:52. > :08:55.because you would let Steve go maybe if he got into a breakaway and he

:08:56. > :09:00.could get the gold medal. That means that you miss out. It is a strange

:09:01. > :09:04.dynamic. It would be the dream scenario. Having been brought up in

:09:05. > :09:08.road cycling, it's difficult for people to understand from the

:09:09. > :09:13.outside, but that would be a massive victory for us if Steve won from a

:09:14. > :09:19.breakaway like that. But it is only one medal, it isn't 18 medal. Still,

:09:20. > :09:28.it would be a huge honour -- a team medal. Even if he won the muddle it

:09:29. > :09:32.would be amazing to be a part of it. It is a very hilly course, which

:09:33. > :09:38.suits a lot of guys on the test team. Yes, very, it is over 200

:09:39. > :09:41.kilometres, it is long. Hopefully the stages of the Tour de France

:09:42. > :09:50.will help us to prepare. It looks like it is going to be a more sedate

:09:51. > :09:54.race, -- more select race, it looks like a race for the climbers,

:09:55. > :09:59.especially one day racing. A lot of specialist climbers. It is going to

:10:00. > :10:07.be a bit of a gamble, a lottery, how the race unfolds. Several leading

:10:08. > :10:14.riders have avoided this because it is very hilly. What about the

:10:15. > :10:17.British team? Jill Douglas is in the sunshine and you are in very good

:10:18. > :10:22.company. Yes, Chris Boardman is alongside me,

:10:23. > :10:27.also a British champion. He will be with us for the commentary. We spent

:10:28. > :10:33.yesterday out on the course, just taking a really close look at what

:10:34. > :10:39.is clearly a very, very tough route. You said that you think this is that

:10:40. > :10:43.hardest race you have seen. I researched when the last time the

:10:44. > :10:47.road race was this hard and I went back to Mexico in the late 60s and

:10:48. > :10:53.then stopped, this is the hardest I've ever seen and can find.

:10:54. > :10:57.Absolutely brutal, especially the finishing circuit, which is two four

:10:58. > :11:02.kilometre climbs with a small descent in the middle which is going

:11:03. > :11:05.to put the race in pieces. Not just the climb, the descent after it, six

:11:06. > :11:10.kilometres under the Jungle canopy under the shade, treacherous and use

:11:11. > :11:21.the word ad buys ugly. There is a half a foot drop off -- use the word

:11:22. > :11:27.ad buys ugly -- with caution. Chris Froome has an eye on the time trial

:11:28. > :11:31.but he has had an epic two weeks, a couple of weeks ago he was in

:11:32. > :11:35.France, then in London and now he is in Copacabana beach. The team are

:11:36. > :11:46.going to write for individuals rather than particular with a plan

:11:47. > :11:52.-- right. -- ride. I hope so, they road as a team with Mark Cavendish

:11:53. > :11:55.but they had eight guys, but this is only five people and you can't

:11:56. > :11:59.control the race. That was the mistake that was made in London, it

:12:00. > :12:03.was all for one person and everybody else knew he was the best. Here you

:12:04. > :12:07.have fantastic individuals, Stephen Cummings can go for a long time,

:12:08. > :12:11.Thomas can climb and descend and Chris Froome can climb and he'll be

:12:12. > :12:17.there at the end. He needs to get away. The problem is in decline and

:12:18. > :12:20.the descent, it is the 20 kilometres back to the finish line. It has to

:12:21. > :12:25.be a small group, meaning you have to be able to do those things and

:12:26. > :12:32.Sprint. Really stellar line-up when you look at the start list here. The

:12:33. > :12:35.race. In about one hour's time. Looking forward to it, and it is

:12:36. > :12:39.lovely to see you smiling on the beach. We are going to stay in the

:12:40. > :12:44.saddle for the equestrian events because they will start, it is the

:12:45. > :12:47.three-day event to start. Two days after Sarge to complete before we go

:12:48. > :12:53.to the cross country and then the show-jumping element. Going for

:12:54. > :12:56.Great Britain, William Fox-Pitt in his fifth Games, which is a

:12:57. > :13:00.wonderful achievement in itself. Two silvers and a bronze in his career

:13:01. > :13:04.but even more remarkable when you consider that he suffered a serious

:13:05. > :13:12.fall and head injury only last October. What a relief and joy to

:13:13. > :13:20.see him in Brazil. COMMENTATOR: Silver medallist, Great Britain.

:13:21. > :13:24.Cheers are running around -- ring around Greenwich Park. William

:13:25. > :13:29.Fox-Pitt is making steady progress in his recovery. He was placed in a

:13:30. > :13:34.coma after falling at the world force Championships. When you had

:13:35. > :13:40.the fall, at what stage did you become aware of what happened? I

:13:41. > :13:43.think the entire time I was in France, I was there for a couple of

:13:44. > :13:46.weeks, I have no recollection of being there. I wasn't allowed home

:13:47. > :13:56.because they were checking I was safe. I was angry that I wasn't

:13:57. > :13:59.allowed home. All the tests I did, passing them was important to me and

:14:00. > :14:05.when I was at home with my children and Alice at home, that was a big

:14:06. > :14:10.deal. Has she been 100% behind the drive to get to Rio? She seems to

:14:11. > :14:15.have known how important it is to you. I think she's been very

:14:16. > :14:23.supportive of me. In the beginning, we all wondered, will I carry on?

:14:24. > :14:28.I've been doing it for years, I've had fun and I'm lucky not to have

:14:29. > :14:31.fallen but the Rio thing was a part of my rehab, it got me back in the

:14:32. > :14:36.saddle again and got me pushing for it. Physically, there is nothing

:14:37. > :14:42.different about you. I am skinnier. As tall as ever, which is why we

:14:43. > :14:47.made you sit down! In your head, do you think you are there? I really

:14:48. > :14:53.do. If Violet back to it, it happened in October, I thought I had

:14:54. > :14:57.ages -- if I look back to it. Suddenly we are in July, thinking my

:14:58. > :15:13.goodness, only just enough time and I feel great. We are ready.

:15:14. > :15:20.White you think he is almost the perfect event horse? He is a special

:15:21. > :15:27.all-rounder. Eventing is three disciplines and he is a horse that

:15:28. > :15:31.has nailed all three. I enjoy riding him every time. I shall be really

:15:32. > :15:40.sad because potentially this could be his last event, he is 16 years

:15:41. > :15:48.old. Rio could be it, couldn't it? He has got it all to look forward

:15:49. > :15:59.to, just wives! It is crucial you know each other so well. I am lucky,

:16:00. > :16:03.I have had him since he was 12 and he is 16. He has been a great part

:16:04. > :16:09.of my life and given me great confidence to get back and riding

:16:10. > :16:14.again. He rather took me on board as a bit of a geriatric and was very

:16:15. > :16:20.gentle with me and I think he knew I was a bit erratic. Jumping him, it

:16:21. > :16:25.was hit and miss, but he did not care, it was like, come with me. He

:16:26. > :16:27.likes the attention. He loves people. He really likes being in

:16:28. > :16:47.love and being patted. -- being loved. It would be a fairy tale to

:16:48. > :17:00.come back and win the gold medal. It would. If I ride him well and don't

:17:01. > :17:07.let him down, I could be up there. Since my accident, it has hit home.

:17:08. > :17:12.Every day you are lucky. I have been so lucky. France was unlucky, but

:17:13. > :17:18.still I am very lucky. The fact he is good, I am here, we are going to

:17:19. > :17:25.Rio in a few days. It is a real dream. We are very lucky. Any

:17:26. > :17:31.medals, anything else is a bonus and is not expected, but we will have a

:17:32. > :17:35.dam good go. As he always does. I know Lee

:17:36. > :17:40.McKenzie at the Equestrian Centre is looking forward to the start of the

:17:41. > :17:46.event and to seeing William and the team in action. It will be wonderful

:17:47. > :17:53.to see him riding once again in a fifth Games. How reassuring is it

:17:54. > :17:59.that his presence is assured for that eventing team, he has been such

:18:00. > :18:03.a feature of it. William Fox-Pitt is synonymous with the British team. I

:18:04. > :18:09.have spoken to him several times and he seems on good form, he was riding

:18:10. > :18:16.Chilli on the gallops. Wonderful facilities at the Deodoro here

:18:17. > :18:21.outside Rio. He has been through so much in the last 12 months to be

:18:22. > :18:27.here. It is a huge achievement. We have real experience in this team,

:18:28. > :18:31.but there are new names, relatively speaking, that perhaps people will

:18:32. > :18:45.not recognise. We were supposed to have three Olympic debutant. Pippa

:18:46. > :18:49.Funnell was the reserve. Issy is back in the UK. We have Gemma

:18:50. > :18:56.Tattersall and what an incredible 12 months she has had. She seems to be

:18:57. > :18:59.so consistent. Just one year since her first senior call-up. And we

:19:00. > :19:05.have Kitty King, the first athlete to represent Great Britain at every

:19:06. > :19:10.age range eventing has and she is a tough competitor, the highest placed

:19:11. > :19:16.Brit at the European Championships and comes from a competitive family

:19:17. > :19:20.with one sister playing rugby for England and another being a

:19:21. > :19:31.heptathlete and she got injured and went on the programme Gladiators as

:19:32. > :19:36.a gladiator. Don't mess with her! 2012 was memorable, with the

:19:37. > :19:42.show-jumping gold medal and dressage and Charlotte Dujardin, a chance to

:19:43. > :19:46.make history. Along with Laura Trott in the cycling, she is bidding to be

:19:47. > :19:50.the first woman to win three Olympic gold medals, it could be more.

:19:51. > :19:56.Charlotte, what else is there to say, we seem to know everything

:19:57. > :20:00.about her. They have gone from strength to strength since London

:20:01. > :20:06.and she was the first person to hold Olympic, world and European titles,

:20:07. > :20:11.breaking every world record. She is joined in the team along with Carl

:20:12. > :20:15.Hester, such a huge part of the team, competing and also training

:20:16. > :20:22.the others. He is a part owner of her mount. The stories are endless

:20:23. > :20:26.when it comes to dressage. We are looking forward to hearing

:20:27. > :20:31.more from you in the coming days and weeks. We will catch up with you

:20:32. > :20:37.shortly. Now, we will concentrate on an

:20:38. > :20:45.established sport, about 100 years ago, rugby union, but has not

:20:46. > :20:50.appeared since 1920. -- 19 24. This is rugby sevens, born in the

:20:51. > :20:54.Scottish Borders, making its Olympic debut and sure to be popular if the

:20:55. > :21:00.debut at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is anything to go by. A man

:21:01. > :21:05.who knows how to win major prizes is Sir Clive Woodward. There he is.

:21:06. > :21:13.Tell us how exciting a day it is for rugby. A hugely exciting day. The

:21:14. > :21:21.last time in the Olympics it was the 15 aside game and men only. This is

:21:22. > :21:27.a huge day, we hope it will show sevens in its best light as an

:21:28. > :21:31.athletic, performance-based sport. The women's tournament starts today

:21:32. > :21:37.with wonderful teams. When you go through the biographies of the

:21:38. > :21:41.players, so many have switched to take up this because it is in the

:21:42. > :21:46.Olympics. It is very hot, it will be a tough day, but a fantastic

:21:47. > :21:53.opportunity for everyone involved in the sport. The captain, Emily

:21:54. > :21:58.Scarratt, checking my notes! Against Brazil and Japan. So many chances

:21:59. > :22:05.for the women and in the men's team, good chances. The men's team

:22:06. > :22:10.dominated by the prospect of a Fijian medal. Sonny Bill Williams

:22:11. > :22:18.for New Zealand, really good names and great quality in the field. CG

:22:19. > :22:27.especially because they have never won analytic medal -- Fiji -- an

:22:28. > :22:32.Olympic medal. Going into the Olympic Village the distractions are

:22:33. > :22:37.huge. They are favourites. The men's tournament stacks up well. Team GB

:22:38. > :22:44.are ranked fourth, about right, and the programmes of New Zealand and

:22:45. > :22:51.Fiji in the men's event are as good as you can get. Huge pressure on

:22:52. > :22:56.Fiji. In the women's sides, Australia and New Zealand are hot

:22:57. > :23:03.favourites. Team GB ranked fourth, but they can win and they have had

:23:04. > :23:08.big wins against Australia and New Zealand and in both tournaments they

:23:09. > :23:12.are well placed and have a really good chance. You mentioned the hot

:23:13. > :23:19.favourites, it is hot today and will be even hotter. This is a lung

:23:20. > :23:24.busting game. To what extent will the climate to be a factor? The

:23:25. > :23:31.reason it will be a great game is it is so athletic, anaerobic sport. The

:23:32. > :23:38.Fijians have spent time on the sand dunes, getting the aerobic fitness

:23:39. > :23:44.up. It is 8:30am and it is hot already. By the time it kicks off,

:23:45. > :23:51.11am, it will be really hot. Conditioning will be important.

:23:52. > :23:54.Seven minutes each way, when you are running and running, the fittest

:23:55. > :23:59.team will come through. A big test. We have known about it for six

:24:00. > :24:04.years, so no excuse for the teams not to be up to the fitness. Heat

:24:05. > :24:09.will be a factor but that is where fitness will come through stronger.

:24:10. > :24:16.Excited for rugby. A massive day and I wish everyone the best. It will be

:24:17. > :24:22.hot. Wear a hat. I have my factor 50 on already!

:24:23. > :24:28.The sevens will be a highlight here in Brazil and Rio, but there are

:24:29. > :24:37.many ways to enjoy all 28 sports on the BBC.

:24:38. > :24:43.To help you make more of your Olympic Games from boxing to

:24:44. > :24:49.badminton, hockey to handball, we have got it covered right here on

:24:50. > :24:54.the BBC. Alongside coverage on BBC One, BBC Four and Radio 5 Live Extra

:24:55. > :25:00.can access up to 24 sports on the website and on the app, connected

:25:01. > :25:07.TVs and games consoles. The best will be available on the Red Button,

:25:08. > :25:15.through satellite, cable, free view, depending on your setup. And you can

:25:16. > :25:19.download the BBC's sports app. So you can follow your favourite

:25:20. > :25:25.sports. If you are sticking with us we can take you straightaway to one

:25:26. > :25:36.of the most spectacular venues in Rio. The rowing venue. Known by the

:25:37. > :25:41.locals as Lagoa. Great Britain has won gold medals in rowing since LA.

:25:42. > :25:51.There was a Golden Globe at Eton Dorney four years ago. I wonder what

:25:52. > :25:54.the next fortnight will bring. John Inverdale and a certain five-time

:25:55. > :26:00.gold medallist with you, looking forward to it, I am sure.

:26:01. > :26:04.Absolutely. There is only so much you can do with a swimming pool and

:26:05. > :26:12.athletics track but over the years we have got used to spectacular

:26:13. > :26:16.venues for rowing. From the world Championships, to Slovenia, but this

:26:17. > :26:21.takes it to a new level. A fantastic backdrop. Watching training, I am

:26:22. > :26:25.not sure the crews will like it as much. It looks flat, but certainly

:26:26. > :26:32.movement in the water and a lot of the cruise were not looking as sharp

:26:33. > :26:36.as they should be. In terms of the heats, the nature of rowing, it is

:26:37. > :26:41.expensive and not every country that takes part is funded to the extent

:26:42. > :26:49.of Great Britain. In the heats there are a lot of haves against have

:26:50. > :26:56.nots. Singles sculls is how we get the quota of countries up and you

:26:57. > :27:01.will see a big difference in races. Alan Campbell coming down in a

:27:02. > :27:06.couple of heats. The people in his heat, if he is not ahead of that,

:27:07. > :27:12.there is something seriously wrong. You have to be in it to win it and

:27:13. > :27:18.today you have to be the first three. How optimistic are you that

:27:19. > :27:21.the Great Britain team can if not replicate, at least get close to

:27:22. > :27:27.what they achieved in London? Reasonably. They have not had a

:27:28. > :27:31.brilliant season, the top boats have performed well and the top two you

:27:32. > :27:35.almost have a guarantee they will win a gold medal. There is another,

:27:36. > :27:41.the men's eight, I think will take a gold medal and one other can

:27:42. > :27:48.possibly take a gold medal. None of them rowing today. Six boats today.

:27:49. > :27:54.James Cracknell says there will be five medals. We will wait and see.

:27:55. > :27:59.When you were in Barcelona, which was defined by the diving board,

:28:00. > :28:03.these Games could be defined by this image, so how proud does it make you

:28:04. > :28:07.that this is perhaps the defining image people will recall? It is nice

:28:08. > :28:16.to have the iconic vision. The reality is that it is what you are

:28:17. > :28:22.dealt with and we are dealt good cards this time. We will focus on

:28:23. > :28:26.three singles sculls. The first will feature Mahe Drysdale, from New

:28:27. > :28:31.Zealand, the reigning champion, who had a chequered career, going to

:28:32. > :28:36.Beijing as favourite but he was ill, he was the flag carrier for New

:28:37. > :28:40.Zealand in that opening ceremony, and he finished third and literally

:28:41. > :28:44.staggered over the line. He could barely make it to the finish that

:28:45. > :28:51.four years later he went two better and became Olympic champion. We will

:28:52. > :28:53.talk a lot about Great Britain, but we will look at a lot of New Zealand

:28:54. > :29:00.rowers. They are a considerable force. We sought to dominate the

:29:01. > :29:08.bigger boats and they dominate the smaller. The Kiwi pair, unbeaten for

:29:09. > :29:20.I don't know how many years. But some really strong Kiwi crews. Mahe

:29:21. > :29:28.Drysdale is Elaine four. There is an athlete from Venezuela. There was an

:29:29. > :29:33.athlete from Vanuatu, the first from that tiny Southsea Island. If you

:29:34. > :29:40.wonder why Mahe Drysdale is called that, I am sure Gary can tell you.

:29:41. > :29:46.Fantastic handover, my guess is that it is because he is a Kiwi and it is

:29:47. > :29:50.a very popular name in New Zealand and also because when his parents

:29:51. > :29:55.named him, I'm making this up, they knew that he was going to be an

:29:56. > :30:06.Olympic champion and he needed a strong name like Mahe. This is the

:30:07. > :30:07.second heat at the Lagoa. Always a pleasure to watch him but so much

:30:08. > :30:34.going on. Down at the start, we are under

:30:35. > :30:38.starter 's orders. As the green light goes, the buzzer has them

:30:39. > :30:45.away, Mahe Drysdale is the defending champion and he opens up his

:30:46. > :30:51.account. In lane six, Mohammed Al-Khafaji from Iraq also makes up a

:30:52. > :30:57.bit of Olympic history, the first Iraqi to qualify in the men's single

:30:58. > :31:02.sculls. This is what the Olympics is also about, not just the big names

:31:03. > :31:09.at the top of the podium, the little human interest stories going on. We

:31:10. > :31:14.wish Mohammed Al-Khafaji all the best. He is up in there. He has had

:31:15. > :31:19.a good first 200 metres as they come up towards the 250 metres mark. Mahe

:31:20. > :31:24.Drysdale was slow in the first hundred. He doesn't blast off, he is

:31:25. > :31:29.a strong guy and the power comes on as he goes further down the course.

:31:30. > :31:41.He will know that that he is the marked man in this.

:31:42. > :31:52.We have 32 competitors in this event, 22 making their Olympic

:31:53. > :31:56.debut, all of them chasing Drysdale. The world champion and record holder

:31:57. > :32:04.and the defending Olympic champion. It is a seeded heat, he should be

:32:05. > :32:11.winning easily but he has been Rogan previously. This is a big race --

:32:12. > :32:17.been broken. Setting out his stall again as being the man to beat. 500

:32:18. > :32:24.metres gone in the second heat of the Olympic Games. No clear

:32:25. > :32:37.surprises, Mahe Drysdale is opening out from the Hungarian, Jhonatan

:32:38. > :32:40.Esquivel. You very rarely get roaring venues like this which are

:32:41. > :32:46.in the heart of it all. Fantastic scenery to the left. We are in the

:32:47. > :32:56.shadow of Christ the Redeemer, looking down. A spectacular regatta.

:32:57. > :33:01.What Drysdale will be doing now, similar to the track and field, the

:33:02. > :33:09.400 metres, when they get breathing under control, they have the heats,

:33:10. > :33:14.quarters, the semi and the final. Every bit of energy that they can

:33:15. > :33:18.save in the heats, quarters and semis is going to pay dividends in

:33:19. > :33:27.the final. First they will wrap up the race, get the best draw and then

:33:28. > :33:30.just win, expending ethical energy as possible. Right now, Drysdale

:33:31. > :33:42.will be enjoying Christ the Redeemer. Just horse remaining --

:33:43. > :33:49.two remaining to qualify. Looking back on lane number five, Leon

:33:50. > :33:59.Garcia from Peru. Also making his Olympic debut here. Brazil didn't

:34:00. > :34:04.take up its allocating position. You have Baru, Uruguay and Hungary, all

:34:05. > :34:15.fighting out now for the two spots that will take them through -- Peru.

:34:16. > :34:21.Drysdale has gone, that was expected. For him, it's all about

:34:22. > :34:24.getting rid of the cobwebs, if that's the right way to say it,

:34:25. > :34:31.he'll just be tapering off over the last week here. He will be eager to

:34:32. > :34:36.get the first heat out of the way. Beautiful shot, wonderful technique.

:34:37. > :34:41.The overhead camera. Yes, still giving himself a good work-out. He

:34:42. > :34:48.isn't flat out but he's just pressing the race rhythm that he

:34:49. > :34:56.will need. The gap may look big but New Zealand is one of the

:34:57. > :35:00.powerhouses, whereas Iraq, Peru, Uruguay are not. Whereas if it was

:35:01. > :35:04.football, possibly Uruguay beating New Zealand and if it were rugby,

:35:05. > :35:08.New Zealand would be in a similar position to Mahe Drysdale. Tougher

:35:09. > :35:13.battles to come which is why he's using this race to set them up for

:35:14. > :35:17.the week. A good opener for him and there may have been some frustration

:35:18. > :35:26.or doubts after being beaten at Henley, he can lay any doubts to

:35:27. > :35:31.rest. The Hungarian, Petervari-Molnar, having the better

:35:32. > :35:36.of Esquivel, who is pulling away from Leon Garcia in five. Out front,

:35:37. > :35:43.looking back at this, still pushing on. The little blue box at his feet

:35:44. > :35:49.is a little on-board computer, calculating the race, the time and

:35:50. > :35:54.speed. Meticulous in terms of tracking all of his racing. The

:35:55. > :35:59.times and everything. He'll immediately look down and stop the

:36:00. > :36:03.time. That's how much sport has moved on, in our day it was that,

:36:04. > :36:08.the timing and number of strokes per minute, but now it will have GPS. It

:36:09. > :36:12.will have speed and he can look down and see what changes he makes

:36:13. > :36:15.technically to make the boat go faster. That's what he'll be doing

:36:16. > :36:21.now because he has this race under control. He'll be testing out little

:36:22. > :36:27.things and making sure he's fine tuning the engine for the races to

:36:28. > :36:32.come. Between the best in the world, the defending Olympic champion, Mahe

:36:33. > :36:42.Drysdale, 37 years of age, when in past nine and Lucerne this year --

:36:43. > :36:48.winner in Posdan. There is a big gap between them as a head-to-head but

:36:49. > :36:55.more as we progress through the heats. Alan Campbell is coming down

:36:56. > :36:59.later on. It is a fight to the line between Uruguay, Esquivel, in number

:37:00. > :37:06.three, and Petervari-Molnar from Hungary in lane two. Just powering

:37:07. > :37:15.down now, easing off. Pretty hard first thousand, enjoying the last

:37:16. > :37:22.500. 150 out from the line in the second heat back of the men's single

:37:23. > :37:26.sculls in the Olympic regatta. Now clear through. Second place is

:37:27. > :37:32.looking like Petervari-Molnar from Hungary has had the better of

:37:33. > :37:41.Esquivel from Uruguay. Leon Garcia, in the mid-1000. So, Drysdale is

:37:42. > :37:51.true, the crowd appreciating that, a lot of Kiwi fans in the stands at

:37:52. > :37:54.the Lagoa Stadium. Then we have Petervari-Molnar and Esquivel from

:37:55. > :38:00.Uruguay taking the third qualification spot. James, no

:38:01. > :38:10.surprises. One thing we can say is that Mahe Drysdale is looking pretty

:38:11. > :38:40.good but the crucial thing is that he's set

:38:41. > :38:51.himself up. Mahe is a holiday island and it is somewhere that his parents

:38:52. > :39:13.love going Cruyff Cracknell will be listening

:39:14. > :39:19.at home. It is warm back here. It is obviously much warmer next door in

:39:20. > :39:21.the cabin where the Germans have a parasol and they enjoyed several

:39:22. > :39:27.people to hold it over their presenters. Talking about the

:39:28. > :39:35.loneliness of the long-distance single sculls, it is a tough event.

:39:36. > :39:44.Something I always wanted to do but I wasn't very good at it. It is

:39:45. > :39:49.quite tough. The highs are higher but the lows are certainly lower but

:39:50. > :39:55.when things are going wrong, there is no one to play off and get back

:39:56. > :39:58.on track. Does it demand a certain similarity of purpose and

:39:59. > :40:02.individuality to say that you are prepared to spend hours and hours,

:40:03. > :40:06.like marathon runners, out on the water by yourself with nobody to

:40:07. > :40:11.bounce off and engage with? It is a very different mentality to the

:40:12. > :40:17.other rowing boats, you are a real loner, you have a coach who works

:40:18. > :40:21.closely with you but you have a very small team, trying to get the best

:40:22. > :40:26.out of you. You are out on the water for hours and hours, just ploughing

:40:27. > :40:31.up and down, your mind going through all sorts of different things. I

:40:32. > :40:37.want a chat with, so you have to have is that personality. On a

:40:38. > :40:41.technical point, if you have two, Roger, eight people in a boat,

:40:42. > :40:47.they're all sorts of weights and counterbalances to make sure it goes

:40:48. > :40:50.in a line -- two, four, eight. By definition in this you on your own.

:40:51. > :40:55.How much better of a technician do you have to be, how much more core

:40:56. > :40:58.stability do you need to make sure you don't tip over? Why wouldn't say

:40:59. > :41:04.more because the single sculls vessel isn't much smaller than the

:41:05. > :41:08.double skull or pair. It is actually more of a stability problem with a

:41:09. > :41:14.pair because you have one on one side of the boat, you can have more

:41:15. > :41:17.and you are balancing it but in the single you are balancing both sides

:41:18. > :41:23.yourself, so there is more stability on that. When things start going

:41:24. > :41:26.wrong, they go wrong in a big way and it is difficult to get out of

:41:27. > :41:31.the spiralling process to get it on track. Moving on to the Britain's

:41:32. > :41:35.single skull Alan Campbell in a moment, but there is a lot of

:41:36. > :41:39.longevity in the single sculls. Maybe this is the individual

:41:40. > :41:43.mentality you talked about, but many people do this for a long time and

:41:44. > :41:46.there are quite a few contestants in the men's and women's events in

:41:47. > :41:51.their mid, late 30s, even into their 40s. It's a bit like marathon

:41:52. > :41:54.running. The older you get the more mentally strong you become from it

:41:55. > :41:59.and you need that mental strength within the single to keep going.

:42:00. > :42:03.When you have carved out a niche, some of these countries are a to be

:42:04. > :42:08.small, so they aren't able to produce any other rowing boats, so

:42:09. > :42:11.the only option is the single. They have to keep their head down and

:42:12. > :42:15.made sure they keep faster to keep competing in the Olympics and then

:42:16. > :42:21.get to the Olympics. Froch years ago in London, Alan Campbell won a gold

:42:22. > :42:25.medal -- four years ago. One of his great claims to fame will be that

:42:26. > :42:30.he's the first man from Northern Ireland ever to compete four Olympic

:42:31. > :42:32.Games. These are he's thoughts coming into these Games. -- his

:42:33. > :42:46.thoughts. So, the fourth Olympic Games for

:42:47. > :42:53.you. Yeah. Does it feel the same as those Olympic Games back in Athens?

:42:54. > :42:57.You know what, Athens was very different, I was the last guy into

:42:58. > :43:02.the team and I was very lucky to be there. It was a real experience and

:43:03. > :43:07.it has what gave me a taste and zest to continue on my Olympic path. The

:43:08. > :43:12.gladiators are down on the start, all six of them lining up. We are

:43:13. > :43:18.away in the Olympic final of the men's heavyweight single sculls.

:43:19. > :43:23.Alan Campbell in Lane number three. He is out like a rocket. The first

:43:24. > :43:28.Northern Ireland Olympian to have gone to four Olympic Games, this one

:43:29. > :43:32.feels very sign. Alan is not going to roll over, he refuses to be left

:43:33. > :43:37.behind and Alan Campbell from Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Lane

:43:38. > :43:43.three, mounting his challenge again. There's no unfinished business, I'm

:43:44. > :43:47.going all out, doing what I can do. And now, Alan Campbell in Lane

:43:48. > :43:52.number three has responded to the crowd on the far side, one or

:43:53. > :43:58.stroke, Alan, to get yourself ahead. A gold medal today going to Mahe

:43:59. > :44:04.Drysdale and it's going to be Alan Campbell getting the bronze medal.

:44:05. > :44:08.We also all what it took out of you to win the bronze in London. Is it

:44:09. > :44:13.completely ridiculous to think you can do it again in Rio? All I want

:44:14. > :44:19.to do more than anything else is to do my best race. If I can do that,

:44:20. > :44:27.whether it is first or last, I'll be very satisfied that I can walk away,

:44:28. > :44:31.I'll be a happy man. Alan Campbell has done us all so proud. Ladies and

:44:32. > :44:36.gentlemen, the Olympic bronze medallist, Alan Campbell. CHEERING

:44:37. > :44:42.Listened to the crowd. You are probably friendlier with your

:44:43. > :44:46.opponent than anybody else in the rowing events, Mahe might come and

:44:47. > :44:49.stay in your house when he comes to London but you might be in the lane

:44:50. > :44:53.next door to him for the Olympic final. You won't say much to him

:44:54. > :44:59.across the water, 60 seconds before the final begins. Definitely not, it

:45:00. > :45:03.is a situation where I'm there to try and prove I'm better than him

:45:04. > :45:07.and he's there to prove to the world that he's better than everybody. But

:45:08. > :45:15.when you cross the finish line, the only other person who can talk to

:45:16. > :45:20.you is the man U raced alongside. -- the man that you raced alongside. We

:45:21. > :45:24.have huge respect for each other. You poll the spend more time in the

:45:25. > :45:28.single skull than anybody that Britain has ever produced in rowing,

:45:29. > :45:32.so what would you say to the young teenager who's going to watch you

:45:33. > :45:42.and say that he would like to do it. Rio might be the end, but it is the

:45:43. > :45:49.beginning for a new breed coming through and I am proud of that fact.

:45:50. > :45:54.The chamber 's brothers, myself, and I'm not saying I am responsible for

:45:55. > :45:59.them, but in some ways there is a new breed of talent coming up and

:46:00. > :46:03.that is the thing I am most proud of, to see young people coming up,

:46:04. > :46:13.getting into the sport I love, that has given me so many opportunities,

:46:14. > :46:17.to live a life less ordinary. Four years ago we spoke about inspiring a

:46:18. > :46:23.generation and Peter Chambers is in action later and it is a dynasty of

:46:24. > :46:27.Irish growers being created. Amazing, a good setup, bringing good

:46:28. > :46:31.athletes through and being inspired by the guys who have been doing it,

:46:32. > :46:36.especially Allen, the last four Olympics. Alan has had an

:46:37. > :46:43.up-and-down time the last four years. He has had some low moments.

:46:44. > :46:49.More lower than high in the last four years. Being here and being

:46:50. > :46:55.here as a contender is a major achievement on his part. Very much

:46:56. > :46:58.so. He has stepped up the last two years and this season moved on from

:46:59. > :47:04.where he finished off last year. The first two years out of London, the

:47:05. > :47:09.intensity he put into London was incredible and moving on from that,

:47:10. > :47:14.he is easing back a little bit and then he started to come back. I

:47:15. > :47:18.would be surprised if he won medal but if you are reigning Olympic

:47:19. > :47:24.bronze medallist you have a chance. The second heat is just finishing. I

:47:25. > :47:29.will tell you who took part, Venezuela, I am sorry, Lithuania,

:47:30. > :47:34.Poland, Uzbekistan, Poland, Argentina. How much is there a

:47:35. > :47:39.possibility in broadening the base of the sport and increasing the

:47:40. > :47:44.countries that can be competitive at the highest level? It is important

:47:45. > :47:47.to encourage countries to be involved and developing the standard

:47:48. > :47:52.but it is tough when you get to the ultimate event, which this is. We

:47:53. > :47:58.have six heats, spread between the first and the last in all heats are

:47:59. > :48:04.very tough. There is one good person, I think there is one heat

:48:05. > :48:09.with two good people in it. It is tough, but we have to encourage

:48:10. > :48:13.other nations to move on. What we should do, the bigger nations taking

:48:14. > :48:18.under their wing one of the smaller nations, to build them up. Like a

:48:19. > :48:22.Premier League football club taking on a non-league club. Is there a

:48:23. > :48:27.will to do that? There is not, because it comes down to finance.

:48:28. > :48:33.The bodies should be coming up with the finance if they want to develop

:48:34. > :48:36.the sport realistically. That is the best way to do it rather than

:48:37. > :48:43.allowing crews to come to the Olympics, where they know they will

:48:44. > :48:48.not do well. It is just taking the boxes. That we have so many nations

:48:49. > :48:53.at the Games. Cost is a factor and every four years, it is probably the

:48:54. > :48:58.first time people have seen rowing for a long time. How much does a

:48:59. > :49:06.boat Koss? Good question, I cannot remember the last time I had to buy

:49:07. > :49:12.one. A single is about 4000, ?5,000, and eight is in the region of

:49:13. > :49:16.?40,000. As an athlete you do not go out and buy an eight and you join a

:49:17. > :49:20.club and get to do the sport free of charge for the rest of the year.

:49:21. > :49:28.Mentioning Alan Campbell, I think he is at the start. I will not ask you

:49:29. > :49:33.why he is called Alan, Gary! You are too good to me. Alan

:49:34. > :49:47.Campbell in lane number four. The first three will go through to the

:49:48. > :49:52.quarterfinals. Andrew peoples from Zimbabwe in three. Alan is in four

:49:53. > :50:06.and bemoan me Mo from Indonesia, 2016 debut, -- is in lane number

:50:07. > :50:10.five -- Memo Memo. There will be a stretch of ability. Alan will know

:50:11. > :50:14.he has had an indifferent year. In different in the last couple of

:50:15. > :50:18.years, so he has to bring it up through the regatta as they come

:50:19. > :50:40.under starters starter's orders. They are awake quick in lane number

:50:41. > :50:46.five, Memo Memo jump out, making the most of being the first ever

:50:47. > :50:51.Indonesian rower to qualify for and Olympic regatta. Through the regatta

:50:52. > :51:01.there are human interest stories. It is a big day in the life of Memo

:51:02. > :51:07.Memo and the Indonesian contingent. He has had to work hard to earn his

:51:08. > :51:15.place and he is in amongst it. Alan Campbell sitting inside lane number

:51:16. > :51:21.five. There is a lot of high rate going on. He is powerful and fast,

:51:22. > :51:26.but when I watch him, I see high rate and I want to see more speed.

:51:27. > :51:33.He does have huge high-speed, arguably the highest boat speed than

:51:34. > :51:38.anybody in the field, but what he does not have is easy speed. You

:51:39. > :51:48.always get the feeling he is working it. And he has a good spring. In the

:51:49. > :51:54.single you need easy, efficient speed. In a heat where he is by far

:51:55. > :52:00.the best, he will make it look easy but the reality is when he comes up

:52:01. > :52:05.against Drysdale, Ondrej Synek, who we will see next, he will have to

:52:06. > :52:10.find the speed in the middle to be competitive. He has not had a

:52:11. > :52:16.consistent year but every race has got better. Not making the final of

:52:17. > :52:21.the World Championships since 2013. He has had a bad couple of years. He

:52:22. > :52:26.was third in the last World Cup and fifth at the one before and he is

:52:27. > :52:30.bronze medallist, so he can perform on the big stage. He needs to build

:52:31. > :52:41.his confidence. A breeze coming up in the second 500 metres. Alan

:52:42. > :52:46.Campbell sitting in four. Making two statements, as he eases out to

:52:47. > :52:51.Clearwater. A big personal statement, early days in the regatta

:52:52. > :52:55.and competition, and they will not go to the line over the 2000 metres,

:52:56. > :53:01.but they will try to put in a QuickTime to the 500 metres and to

:53:02. > :53:16.the 1000 metres as a benchmark. I don't want to do injustice to the

:53:17. > :53:23.others, and Memo Memo, just a little bit down from the Belarussian. He

:53:24. > :53:30.has to beware of Kim. Alan will make a personal statement. He has to be

:53:31. > :53:34.clean as he takes the blades out. He can afford to do that now, but he

:53:35. > :53:40.will need to be sharper and cleaner with his finish. The water is

:53:41. > :53:47.starting to move in the middle 1000 metres. Starting to get lumpy. It's

:53:48. > :53:53.just after 10am here. The last race starting at 1pm. It could be more

:53:54. > :53:57.like the sea at Copacabana than the flat water of the swimming pool at

:53:58. > :54:04.the Olympic Park. What he did well was to clear out and he can get used

:54:05. > :54:06.to the conditions and set himself up for a good quarter. Alan Campbell

:54:07. > :54:17.through the halfway mark in his heat. Memo Memo from Indonesia in

:54:18. > :54:21.five is having the time of his life. Currently in third place, in the

:54:22. > :54:24.qualification spot and if that holds he goes to the quarterfinal and

:54:25. > :54:31.remember he is the first Indonesian rower to qualify for and Olympic

:54:32. > :54:36.regatta. Look at the water, Alan struggling, it is getting bouncy.

:54:37. > :54:41.The lake going out to the middle, so they come away from the side and in

:54:42. > :54:46.the middle 1000, with the wind coming from their side, making it

:54:47. > :54:52.tricky, having to back down. They are going forwards now. The first

:54:53. > :54:56.three to qualify are through to the quarterfinal and the remaining two

:54:57. > :55:01.go to the repechage. The reason it is an issue with the wind, on a

:55:02. > :55:05.normal course, the outside lane is only five, ten metres from the back,

:55:06. > :55:11.but when the course opens out you are 200 metres from the back and the

:55:12. > :55:16.wind has further to carry over the water, affecting the scullers.

:55:17. > :55:21.Especially those on the far side. You can see the wind shifting. He is

:55:22. > :55:26.relaxed enough and far enough in the lead that he can concentrate on

:55:27. > :55:34.making sure his boat is set up whereas you have three scullers

:55:35. > :55:37.battling for places. The 21-year-old from Indonesia, Memo Memo, pushing

:55:38. > :55:51.on. Having to hold off and he is doing that from Shcharbachenia, who

:55:52. > :55:57.was seventh in the World Championships. A great day for Memo

:55:58. > :56:01.Memo, so far. 1500 metres, three quarters of the way through. Alan,

:56:02. > :56:12.it is all about technique. Controlling it. The race on from

:56:13. > :56:14.Shcharbachenia and Memo Memo in number five and among them is De

:56:15. > :56:47.Jong Yong Kim -- came from career. from Korea. They come back into the

:56:48. > :56:54.water. The middle 1000 is getting bouncy out in the middle. They come

:56:55. > :57:01.back in towards the side. The water is getting better. The British fans

:57:02. > :57:08.are on their feet. They are right in front. The union flags bordering the

:57:09. > :57:12.rails. They got here early, got their seats. Alan has not

:57:13. > :57:22.disappointed. A big statement for Alan Campbell. He has got to step

:57:23. > :57:27.up. He was fifth at Lucerne. Step, step. He is hunting down the medals.

:57:28. > :57:33.I spoke to him the other day and in his mind, realistic or otherwise, in

:57:34. > :57:37.his mind he is here for one medal and the colour is gold. He has the

:57:38. > :57:43.bronze, he wants to miss out the silver. Go straight to go, collect

:57:44. > :57:47.the gold medal. Alan Campbell for Great Britain has done a good

:57:48. > :57:54.opening job. Through to the quarterfinals. Shcharbachenia in

:57:55. > :57:58.second and Memo Memo from Indonesia has done a fantastic job qualifying,

:57:59. > :58:04.third position and through to the quarterfinal.

:58:05. > :58:09.I was trying to work out the time difference between here and

:58:10. > :58:13.Indonesia and I cannot work it out but if they are watching, they will

:58:14. > :58:19.be thrilled by that performance of their man coming in third and

:58:20. > :58:24.qualifying for the quarterfinals as we see a slow motion shots of Alan

:58:25. > :58:29.Campbell. How happy will he be? Reasonably happy. I am peering

:58:30. > :58:36.around to see the shot. I think he will be very happy. Very smooth,

:58:37. > :58:42.very strong. He will be extremely happy. The step up with the singles,

:58:43. > :58:45.they have quarterfinals and semifinals. A lot of races in the

:58:46. > :58:50.week and so he has two pace his energy but looking in good shape.

:58:51. > :58:57.One great thing about the Olympic Games, you watch sports that you

:58:58. > :59:01.almost do not give a thought too. We spoke about dressage earlier and

:59:02. > :59:06.suddenly we are wrapped by dressage and then do not think about it and

:59:07. > :59:11.people think the same about rowing. They will get so involved over the

:59:12. > :59:15.next days. Perhaps not understanding the technicalities. When the

:59:16. > :59:20.statistics come up as they did in the last race, that one is stroking

:59:21. > :59:25.at 35 minute and somebody else is doing 28, 29, from afar, you would

:59:26. > :59:35.think they must be going quicker but it does not mean that. Rate has no

:59:36. > :59:39.difference. The rate of stroke is how many per minute but it is the

:59:40. > :59:43.length of the stroke that is important and the power in the

:59:44. > :59:47.individual stroke so the longer you wrote, the lower the rate will be

:59:48. > :59:52.and if you have long strokes and a high rate, you will go faster but

:59:53. > :59:57.you have to be able to lay it down to produce the length and power at

:59:58. > :00:02.the same time. We have athletes from Algeria, Paraguay, Ecuador in the

:00:03. > :00:09.next heat. Earlier there was an athlete from India who had a

:00:10. > :00:15.fantastic back story. He finished third in his heat. Qualifying in the

:00:16. > :00:21.quarterfinals. He watched London 2012, watched the rowing and was

:00:22. > :00:26.inspired to start then. Over four years, he has got it here. He joined

:00:27. > :00:29.a training group in India from a remote village from where he was

:00:30. > :00:35.from and the first thing he did when he was watching the lake, he was

:00:36. > :00:40.thinking, how can I get the water back home? It is humbling. These are

:00:41. > :00:44.the stories that we like being around here. He was sent to a

:00:45. > :00:49.high-performance area in India, looked at the lake and the first

:00:50. > :00:54.thing he thought about was getting water back home. This is what the

:00:55. > :00:55.Olympic Games is all about. He has done his country proud, qualifying

:00:56. > :01:06.to the quarterfinals. We're into the fifth feet, with the

:01:07. > :01:14.world champion, Ondrej Synek, sitting in Lane four. Paraguay in

:01:15. > :01:22.lane one, Ecuador in two, Australia in three, the Czech Republic in four

:01:23. > :01:31.and Algeria, also making his Olympic debut, Sid Boudina, in Lane five.

:01:32. > :01:36.So, Ondrej Synek, in Lucerne he finished second, the world champion

:01:37. > :01:40.last year but he has had a very up and down season, especially at the

:01:41. > :01:44.European Championships but the water conditions were not particularly

:01:45. > :01:51.good. The last ten years, the head-to-head has always been between

:01:52. > :01:54.New Zealand's Mahe Drysdale and the Czech Republic's Ondrej Synek and

:01:55. > :02:01.that is what the international fans are building up to, the showdown

:02:02. > :02:11.between two Mac and Ondrej Synek. -- between Mahe. You can see how Ondrej

:02:12. > :02:21.is bubbling but the breed is coming from left to right -- is not

:02:22. > :02:25.struggling but the breeze. The Algerian just going over in fifth

:02:26. > :02:34.place. Look how the wind is moving to the right. What's happening,

:02:35. > :02:39.Ondrej moving here is bows over. They can control these boats and

:02:40. > :02:46.they are a foot and a bit wide, very thin. It is hard just keeping them

:02:47. > :02:53.level. If you try it, you will fall in nine times out of ten. You might!

:02:54. > :03:01.You saw the picture of Synek from behind, he's a very skinny athlete.

:03:02. > :03:11.Some of the other scholars are more muscular -- Temple back. In his

:03:12. > :03:23.head-to-head with Mahe Drysdale over the last few years -- some of the

:03:24. > :03:27.other skullers. In 2013, and he was the silver medallist at the last two

:03:28. > :03:39.Olympics. This is by standard that it shocking. Over the last six weeks

:03:40. > :03:50.you will have on its training camp. Not very sharp. The white water

:03:51. > :03:55.coming up. Even Ondrej, the world champion, three-time world champion

:03:56. > :03:58.at the last couple of it. You mention how the struggling. The

:03:59. > :04:06.picture in ships were with the big beat the beast. I felt for them.

:04:07. > :04:13.Normally you want to be in the race but I was happy on the side.

:04:14. > :04:24.At the halfway mark in heat five of the men's single sculls, it is Synek

:04:25. > :04:29.from the Czech Republic, it is Arturo Rivarola Trappe be from

:04:30. > :05:08.Paraguay, then you have Rhys Grant from Australia. At food to the

:05:09. > :05:16.It is going to be a distraction, or is it moving the hands quicker, are

:05:17. > :05:24.you focus on it, stroke for straight. If it is rough I would

:05:25. > :05:29.rather be in a single. You can cope with the conditions the best way you

:05:30. > :05:33.can. Two individuals might cope differently, if you are rowing in

:05:34. > :05:40.the same boat it might rock and roll, so at least he is on his own.

:05:41. > :05:44.He is in the narrowest boat and it is slow-moving. Cut straight through

:05:45. > :05:50.the job, whereas if you are in a single and it is wobbly and slab,

:05:51. > :05:55.you will feel it more. Tension in the shoulders will be big. And the

:05:56. > :06:03.good thing for him is he's quicker than the other sculler.

:06:04. > :06:09.1500 metres, three quarters of the race has gone. You can see the

:06:10. > :06:15.breeze moving from left to right across the course here. The third

:06:16. > :06:22.500 was dealt with quite well by it Synek from the Czech Republic. Lane

:06:23. > :06:27.number one we've got Arturo Rivarola Trappe a from Paraguay and Rhys

:06:28. > :06:32.Grant from Australia, sitting in third place. Those three skullers

:06:33. > :06:37.look like they will go through to the quarterfinals. Looking down

:06:38. > :06:43.here, the overhead camera, which is fantastic. It was in London 2012 and

:06:44. > :06:47.we could follow the cruise down the course and get in the boat. Just

:06:48. > :06:53.showing that Ondrej had calmed down a bit. Without the

:06:54. > :07:03.is Arturo Rivarola Trappe a holding off Rhys Grant. In the men's

:07:04. > :07:08.quadruple sculls, Rhys Grant was a couple of years ago but haven't seen

:07:09. > :07:17.much of him since. He is squeezing back a little bit on Rivarola

:07:18. > :07:30.Trappe, the Olympic debut for the Paraguay skuller. About 200 now, 150

:07:31. > :07:36.from the line. The wind goes again. Nicely covered. Synek may look

:07:37. > :07:41.fairly comfortable, winning by a long way but if I was his position I

:07:42. > :07:48.would be quite pleased with how badly he handled the water. I think

:07:49. > :07:55.Drysdale will handle it better. Coming up to the line, Ondrej Synek,

:07:56. > :07:58.the world champion, safely into the quarterfinal and we have Rhys Grant,

:07:59. > :08:04.hammering it as if he was in the final. Why is he doing it? He

:08:05. > :08:09.doesn't need to. He had to put in a sprint that had him on 38 strokes

:08:10. > :08:13.per minute. Ridiculous. He gets a better draw in the quarterfinal,

:08:14. > :08:16.that's important when you are at the bottom end, you want as good a

:08:17. > :08:24.chance as possible. Heat five has gone.

:08:25. > :08:34.Quick word about the conditions out there? Synek was a mile away. Rowers

:08:35. > :08:38.like flat water. Where the start is, you're close to the bank and you are

:08:39. > :08:42.going out into the middle of the lake. It is almost the shape of a

:08:43. > :08:47.boot, the toe is pointing towards Copacabana beach, where the wind

:08:48. > :08:54.comes from. That section from just over 500 metres, it is side wash and

:08:55. > :08:58.that is awful to be rowing in, but the pairs will struggle in its more

:08:59. > :09:02.than any other boat. We've got five more British boats to take part in

:09:03. > :09:06.the opening day. It is difficult for those on the water but whether body

:09:07. > :09:12.else it is like a sporting the Urbana here, Hazel.

:09:13. > :09:16.I would have two great -- sporting Nirvana. -- I have to agree. I pinch

:09:17. > :09:22.myself whenever I look over my shoulder. Sport is ingrained in

:09:23. > :09:29.Brazilian culture. People playing volleyball, football and a mixture

:09:30. > :09:35.of the two. We are going to concentrate on the men's road race,

:09:36. > :09:40.150 miles, 500 metres of climbing and six hours of racing lying ahead

:09:41. > :09:44.very shortly. Chris Froome is clearly the stand out in the British

:09:45. > :09:48.quintet of riders but every single one of them has the chance to win a

:09:49. > :09:55.medal, most notable the Welshman Geraint Thomas, who selflessly has

:09:56. > :10:00.helped to put Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome on the top step of the

:10:01. > :10:03.Tour de France podium. Thomas himself is a two-time gold medallist

:10:04. > :10:08.on the track and he is the Commonwealth Games road race

:10:09. > :10:13.champion but might step out of the Olympic shadows this time?

:10:14. > :10:18.What are you like as a team-mate would you say? I'm a great

:10:19. > :10:26.team-mate! Everyone wants to be team-mates with me. COMMENTATOR:

:10:27. > :10:35.It's another world record and an astonishing world record. And Great

:10:36. > :10:41.Britain have won the gold medal. Faultless display there. Fortunately

:10:42. > :10:45.I've been in some great teams in the past and we've had some great

:10:46. > :10:50.results, so hopefully I can continue. What does it feel like,

:10:51. > :10:56.winning Olympic gold? It was unreal when we won Gold, especially in

:10:57. > :11:00.Beijing when I was only 22. It was a massive whirlwind. Seeing those

:11:01. > :11:03.images of people receiving theirs and from next thing you know, you

:11:04. > :11:10.are standing there alongside your mates. It was weird and I didn't

:11:11. > :11:16.appreciate how big it was back then. Now I'm old, I am 30 and I can look

:11:17. > :11:24.back. Certainly it was a special moment. This year you're aiming for

:11:25. > :11:27.road race gold. What physical changes have you gone through to

:11:28. > :11:33.transform yourself from a track rider to the road rider? Quite a lot

:11:34. > :11:42.of weight, that is a big thing. How much? Must have been 74, 75 in

:11:43. > :11:47.London but on the road this year during the Tour I would be around

:11:48. > :11:52.68. It is a big shift. On the road as well you are competing for over

:11:53. > :11:56.six hours, there are a lot of variables, a lot can happen, my race

:11:57. > :12:00.can be affected by what other people do. In the road race you can have

:12:01. > :12:05.the best legs in the race and come away with nothing. COMMENTATOR:

:12:06. > :12:09.There is a problem here for Geraint Thomas! A puncture of the front

:12:10. > :12:17.wheel. This makes life interesting in the race yet again. Oh, no. This

:12:18. > :12:22.is unbelievable for Geraint Thomas. Geraint Thomas is going to win with

:12:23. > :12:26.a little bit of elbow room here. This is a moment that he can savour

:12:27. > :12:32.here. So often the team player but now the glory will be his. And

:12:33. > :12:37.Geraint Thomas wins for Wales in Glasgow in 2014. What a superb

:12:38. > :12:46.victory. Are you too nice to be a team

:12:47. > :12:51.player? No, people have asked me that, but I don't think so. When it

:12:52. > :12:57.comes to racing on the bike, I'm not as chilled back as I am off it. I

:12:58. > :13:01.would cut anybody up in the sprint, if I'm in Rio and the barriers are

:13:02. > :13:11.here and somebody is coming up here, I'll be the first person just

:13:12. > :13:14.slightly wheezed them! -- squeeze. Chris Lloyd, he was accessible but

:13:15. > :13:23.you can be two different people on and off the bike -- Chris Hoy. It is

:13:24. > :13:27.going to be brutal for him and it is going to be compelling for everybody

:13:28. > :13:32.watching it and it's going to take six hours. They won't cross the line

:13:33. > :13:36.until 4pm here, 8pm your time. We will see the early stages and get a

:13:37. > :13:42.feel for the really tough course which Chris Boardman has called the

:13:43. > :13:45.most brutal ever in Olympic history. Jill Douglas and Chris Boardman, you

:13:46. > :13:50.are down there, can you remind everybody who may be joining us of

:13:51. > :13:54.who is going to ride for whom here. Normally in the Tour de France

:13:55. > :13:58.everybody would support Chris Froome, but could it be that Chris

:13:59. > :14:03.may support Geraint Thomas or somebody else in the quintet?

:14:04. > :14:07.It is intriguing, how they approach the race, because there were only

:14:08. > :14:11.five members in the great British team: the maximum anybody can have,

:14:12. > :14:17.it isn't like Uysal in London where they were ready for Mark Cavendish

:14:18. > :14:20.-- like you saw. It is not like the Tour de France where they are racing

:14:21. > :14:24.for a protected rider but this could be every man for himself. They have

:14:25. > :14:30.a deck of cards to play here. They are on the line here, 150 riders

:14:31. > :14:35.ready to start and amongst them, the Great Britain team and we hope that

:14:36. > :14:39.Chris Froome is among them. We are shouting over the tannoy, can he

:14:40. > :14:44.come and sign on. The riders have got to sign on before they start the

:14:45. > :14:56.race. They well but I think he will just get a fine, it is a

:14:57. > :15:04.technicality. Everybody is worried,, you called it a warm Blackpool,

:15:05. > :15:07.doing a bit of a disservice! These riders at six hours in the saddle,

:15:08. > :15:12.they are going to take it ready to begin with? I don't think so, the

:15:13. > :15:16.Olympic road race, a lot of people know that they don't have a photo

:15:17. > :15:21.with the clients coming later on so they will go for the breakaway. With

:15:22. > :15:31.such small teams, just four people, you can't control the race -- with

:15:32. > :15:38.climbs. It is the going to go off all day. The first circuit, they

:15:39. > :15:46.will do finds. Two short and sharp climbs. It is such a tough course,

:15:47. > :15:50.very difficult to predict. Valverde is very much fancied, we saw Nibali

:15:51. > :15:54.out on the course, this has been one of his main focus is but it could be

:15:55. > :16:06.very unpredictable. these are steep and long lines, the

:16:07. > :16:16.final, two kilometres and four kilometre climbs together. I would

:16:17. > :16:25.say 30. I cannot look past Valverde and Nibali. But it is about 30 guys

:16:26. > :16:30.who can get over that line. And it will probably be a small group, so

:16:31. > :16:38.you will have to be able to sprint. Chris Froome, he would need to be

:16:39. > :16:41.away on his own. We have heard from Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas and

:16:42. > :16:42.before the race gets under way we can hear from the rest of the

:16:43. > :16:53.British team. You are the bright young star of

:16:54. > :16:59.British cycling. The white jersey at the Tour, fourth overall, you must

:17:00. > :17:04.be on top of the world? I had a fantastic Tour de France. If you

:17:05. > :17:08.told me I would come forth and have the white jersey till the finish, I

:17:09. > :17:15.would have taken that. We recovered well. Here we are. My first

:17:16. > :17:22.Olympics. We have a fantastic team. We have the guy who has won the Tour

:17:23. > :17:29.de France and those who have won one-day races. It has been

:17:30. > :17:33.difficult, finishing the Tour de France are getting big recovery

:17:34. > :17:41.right. Just getting the recovery right. It is all coming into place

:17:42. > :17:48.now. Back in the team, a late call up. What is it like to be on Team

:17:49. > :17:54.GB? It is great. I am looking forward to it. A bit of a surprise

:17:55. > :18:01.but a nice surprise and looking forward to the race. How is the

:18:02. > :18:07.politics in the camp? You were out spoken about the coach, are you over

:18:08. > :18:13.that? You will never agree with everyone. I think it is good you can

:18:14. > :18:19.disagree. It is important as a group to move forward. What is your role

:18:20. > :18:27.in the team? I cannot tell you that just yet. We keep saying it is

:18:28. > :18:34.unpredictable and guys will move early and those who cannot climb as

:18:35. > :18:37.well as Chris Froome, or myself. It is looking after Chris Froome and

:18:38. > :18:41.Geraint Thomas so they can race in the final as fresh as possible.

:18:42. > :18:45.Getting water bottles, looking after the early moves and making sure the

:18:46. > :18:53.right ones go and keeping them out of the wind.

:18:54. > :19:01.Hopefully we can do something. The time for talking is over. They are

:19:02. > :19:04.on the starting line and about to get the Olympic road race under way.

:19:05. > :19:10.Chris Boardman has joined Simon Brotherton.

:19:11. > :19:15.There is Chris Froome, winner of the Tour de France alongside his British

:19:16. > :19:21.team-mates. Waiting for the flag to drop. The final moments of pensive

:19:22. > :19:26.thought ahead of a long day in the saddle and a long, hot day, as they

:19:27. > :19:36.prepare to leave Copacabana Beach behind. 144 of them are lined up and

:19:37. > :19:39.the route is 237.5 kilometres. It includes spectacular vistas,

:19:40. > :19:49.coastline, cobbles and a couple of circuits. Grumari, four lapse of

:19:50. > :19:55.that. And the Vista Chinesa, the finishing circuit. We are almost

:19:56. > :20:03.ready to go. Brian Cookson, the president, gets ready to drop the

:20:04. > :20:09.flag. And the men's road race at the Rio

:20:10. > :20:13.Olympic Games is under way. Brian Cookson drops the flag and with the

:20:14. > :20:18.British riders at the front alongside some of the favourites and

:20:19. > :20:24.away they go. We think they will be in the saddle six hours, finishing

:20:25. > :20:31.around 4pm, UK time. What a spectacular setting they leave

:20:32. > :20:38.behind. Chris Boardman is alongside me in the commentary position. I

:20:39. > :20:43.think we can expect an excellent race, something of an epic battle.

:20:44. > :20:52.The real battle I imagine will happen on the final circuit, the

:20:53. > :20:58.three laps Vista Chinesa. The course is so severe. I researched back to

:20:59. > :21:03.the 60s and gave up trying to find an Olympic course of similar

:21:04. > :21:07.severity. It is serious climbs. They have made it interesting because the

:21:08. > :21:13.finishing line is quite a few kilometres after the final ascent,

:21:14. > :21:18.so it is not necessarily the best climber who will win. I think it

:21:19. > :21:25.takes it down to 30 who could win the race, but we have such small

:21:26. > :21:30.teams, five-man teams, no one can control the race. It opens it up.

:21:31. > :21:34.There are Classics riders who could take this, certainly if it is a

:21:35. > :21:41.small group and it is a sprint situation. The riders heading west.

:21:42. > :21:54.Going along the beach-front at Ipanema. They are on the road that

:21:55. > :22:00.links the two famous beach fronts. There is Alejandro Valverde, one of

:22:01. > :22:05.the big race favourites. Along with Vincenzo Nibali, the winner of the

:22:06. > :22:11.Italian Tour. Nibali is interesting. Through the Tour he fails to live up

:22:12. > :22:16.to his high standards but stayed in the race and kept riding. You can

:22:17. > :22:21.only assume it was preparation for the Olympics. Having won the

:22:22. > :22:29.Italian, he just wanted to ride the Tour. Having looked at the course

:22:30. > :22:33.yesterday, I think we are in agreement that Vincenzo Nibali is

:22:34. > :22:51.perhaps a worthy favourite. We can look at the course guide.

:22:52. > :22:57.The Rio 2016 road race route is the hardest I have seen since, well I

:22:58. > :23:01.stopped researching whether I got to the 60s because I could not find one

:23:02. > :23:10.of similar severity, but it is not just the climbs that will make this

:23:11. > :23:14.a classic. Starting alongside the famous Copacabana Beach, they head

:23:15. > :23:20.west through Ipanema away from the city along the coastal road. Before

:23:21. > :23:27.arriving at the Grumari circuit. The 25 kilometres loop will be tackled

:23:28. > :23:34.four times by the men, taking two short climbs. The tree-lined Grumari

:23:35. > :23:47.at 1.2 kilometres and the 2.1 kilometres ascent. A maximum

:23:48. > :23:52.gradient could lead to the first serious breakaways. The riders head

:23:53. > :23:59.back along the coast of the second and demanding Vista Chinesa loop.

:24:00. > :24:04.It is in the shadows of this jungle canopy where the race will be

:24:05. > :24:07.decided. Because of its proximity to the finish and eight kilometres of

:24:08. > :24:12.solid climbing. I choose my words carefully because it is two four

:24:13. > :24:20.kilometres ascent, with a little descent in the middle. The first

:24:21. > :24:25.section averages 10% and after a few seconds of respite they tackled the

:24:26. > :24:34.Vista Chinesa climb which averages 6%. It will take them 20 minutes,

:24:35. > :24:38.making it the obstacle of the day. What goes up must come down and it

:24:39. > :24:45.is followed by a six kilometres fast and furious and technical descent.

:24:46. > :24:53.An opportunity for a would-be rider to slip away. I say technical, I

:24:54. > :24:59.mean it is dangerous. I think the descent could play as big a part in

:25:00. > :25:03.the race as the climb itself. It is rapid, with hairpin after

:25:04. > :25:08.hairpin and at the later stages, they will push it to the limit,

:25:09. > :25:13.which is a problem. The edges of the road drop away. If they make a

:25:14. > :25:19.mistake, they will not recover. They are surrounded by concrete and trees

:25:20. > :25:23.and to compound it, the dappled shadows on the roads makes it

:25:24. > :25:26.difficult to see where the edge of the road is.

:25:27. > :25:31.When they get back to the coast, there is less than 20 kilometres

:25:32. > :25:37.left. They pull around the last bend with 500 metres to go and see the

:25:38. > :25:41.chequered flag on Copacabana Beach. Climbs and ascents and technical

:25:42. > :25:46.aspects, potential crosswind and even cobbles. It is as if the

:25:47. > :25:51.organisers have looked at every classic to see what is a good cause

:25:52. > :25:52.and ticked every box. They have done their bit. It is now over to the

:25:53. > :26:01.riders. Having seen that finishing circuit I

:26:02. > :26:06.think we can say most of the riders we are looking at, Chris, will not

:26:07. > :26:12.be there. It is hard to know when the first attacks will come. They

:26:13. > :26:17.know the climbs that face them and some of them the only opportunity is

:26:18. > :26:22.a wild breakaway attempt. I thought we might see attacking at an early

:26:23. > :26:28.stage, because there might be a slim chance but it is the only one. The

:26:29. > :26:33.fast circuit has two small climbs, the obvious place for a serious

:26:34. > :26:39.attack, and they are narrow. There are even cobbles, incredibly. They

:26:40. > :26:44.have every ingredient on this cause. What we are watching is the riders

:26:45. > :26:50.slowly heading through Rio towards Barra and eventually towards the

:26:51. > :26:55.Grumari circuit, a long journey along the coast road. We thought the

:26:56. > :27:00.wind might play a part. It is an open part of the race. It looks like

:27:01. > :27:03.they are fortunate and have an offshore breeze and are protected by

:27:04. > :27:12.the hills they will climb later. Some of those who might be more

:27:13. > :27:14.interested in attacking early currently finding their route

:27:15. > :27:17.blocked with the likes of Chris Froome and some of the bigger name

:27:18. > :27:24.riders filling the front of the road at the moment. Number 33, the Dutch

:27:25. > :27:29.rider, one of four in the race. He had a big win last weekend, riding

:27:30. > :27:36.well in the Tour de France and was second for a long time but dropped

:27:37. > :27:41.down to tenth and beyond. But he won the one-day San Sebastien race. A

:27:42. > :27:49.really nice guy. He is in the group of 30. He can climb, but he can also

:27:50. > :27:54.sprint. A good tactical head, which he uses for a single day race.

:27:55. > :28:01.Certainly a contender. Given that the climb to Vista Chinesa, where we

:28:02. > :28:07.think it will be won and lost, that is where the selection will take

:28:08. > :28:11.place. That climb is effectively two separate climbs with a one

:28:12. > :28:15.kilometres descent, given that is the selected part, do you think it

:28:16. > :28:22.will lead to more attacking racing in that climbers know they cannot

:28:23. > :28:26.just clip off the front on the last lap and have advantage because of

:28:27. > :28:30.the 12 kilometres to the finish? May be as early as the second lap

:28:31. > :28:36.climbers will put their cards on the table? They have three climbs, three

:28:37. > :28:42.solid climbs, they will have to go from the start. The big change we

:28:43. > :28:47.have mentioned is the small team sizes. It changes the dynamics of

:28:48. > :28:54.the race. None of the riders we are looking at are used to that. You

:28:55. > :28:58.cannot hold back a breakaway, you have to to be vigilant all the time.

:28:59. > :29:02.If a solid group of half a dozen riders goes away it will be

:29:03. > :29:07.difficult to get them back and another factor on the climbs is it

:29:08. > :29:12.is narrow, maybe space for five riders are breast going up and down,

:29:13. > :29:19.and it will string them out. Even if you are a good climate you might not

:29:20. > :29:23.be able to find your way through. We came up on the jungle canopy

:29:24. > :29:27.yesterday and you would never know the Olympic Games road race would

:29:28. > :29:32.take place 24 hours later. Some barriers, some padding on the trees

:29:33. > :29:39.in case someone took a wrong turn, but other than that, little sign of

:29:40. > :29:44.the pending epic action. We realised we were surrounded by monkeys in the

:29:45. > :29:48.trees! We have seen the high-rise blocks. We were in the jungle

:29:49. > :29:57.surrounded by wildlife. The racing is at last underway.

:29:58. > :30:01.We've only been going for a few moments. Already the riders are

:30:02. > :30:11.starting to think about going for the long one. Just testing the

:30:12. > :30:17.waters at the moment. I think we will see a bit of this before the

:30:18. > :30:22.group is formed properly and is allowed to gain a bit of ground on

:30:23. > :30:28.the peloton, then the race can settle down. As the breakaway goes,

:30:29. > :30:32.as long as it is the right combination it will suit the bigger

:30:33. > :30:34.riders because it means there is no incentive for the people to keep

:30:35. > :30:39.attacking as long as they monitor it. You will find alliance is not

:30:40. > :30:43.only between the national teams but don't forget that these guys are

:30:44. > :30:48.professionals in their day job so there are alliances that can be

:30:49. > :30:54.formed to temporarily control the breakaway and we will look out for

:30:55. > :30:58.that as far as we can. Rodriguez bringing up the rear. Adam Yates,

:30:59. > :31:03.number 21 for Great Britain. This could be a good course for him. I

:31:04. > :31:12.know everybody is saying Chris Froome, Chris Froome, but he hasn't

:31:13. > :31:16.won a race like this. Adam Yates, if Chris Froome is in the mix when the

:31:17. > :31:21.rates is kicking off, everyone is watching him, Adam Yates going up

:31:22. > :31:31.the road, one of the top riders, he could win the Olympic road race.

:31:32. > :31:35.Making his way west from Rio. The first few riders are trying to test

:31:36. > :31:39.their legs and make their mark on this Olympic Games road race because

:31:40. > :31:46.as Chris was saying, most of these riders know that they don't have any

:31:47. > :31:52.chance at all of winning this race. Just coming round the headland now

:31:53. > :32:01.and the slight rise that we saw. It is very flat all of the way to the

:32:02. > :32:07.Grumari Circuit. Just finishing going around the headland now. You

:32:08. > :32:11.can see the bike path on the side. Someone had a tragic accident,

:32:12. > :32:16.collapsing a few months ago. A lot of cycling along these promenades,

:32:17. > :32:22.people using them all day, which is great to see. The roads are looking

:32:23. > :32:25.clearer than when we went in the opposite direction yesterday. We

:32:26. > :32:30.were trying to look at the course and we were caught up behind the

:32:31. > :32:31.torch relay. Two hours later I think we had moved about a mile and a

:32:32. > :32:50.half! There is quite a breeze that we can

:32:51. > :32:55.feel at the moment. It seems to be pushing the riders along at the

:32:56. > :33:00.moment. Valverde at the back, surely he will fancy his chances on a

:33:01. > :33:03.course like this. His strike rate in terms of World Championship medals

:33:04. > :33:09.is quite extraordinary. Showing no real signs of slowing up in his

:33:10. > :33:12.mid-30s. He must ride near the back, many of the favourites will be at

:33:13. > :33:18.the back so they don't get involved in any of the action. Even if a big

:33:19. > :33:23.breakaway goes, you can't race all day, you must choose when to expend

:33:24. > :33:27.your energy and it makes sense for the big riders to wait until the

:33:28. > :33:32.last probably 30 kilometres before they get on the front and start

:33:33. > :33:38.doing their thing. It is going at a fair clip. Spectacular scenery, not

:33:39. > :33:44.that they have a chance to take advantage of the view. It is all

:33:45. > :33:47.about the track surface, what Bend is coming up and those around you.

:33:48. > :33:55.Fantastic surf to the left-hand side. Tom Dumoulin, one of the

:33:56. > :33:59.favourites for the men's time trial, along with Chris Froome. Tom

:34:00. > :34:02.Dumoulin had a nasty accident towards the end of the Tour de

:34:03. > :34:10.France which may potentially hamper his chances. Yes, I think it was a

:34:11. > :34:14.broken wrist. I would still say he is the odds-on favourite for that

:34:15. > :34:18.event, his time trial at the Tour de France was very impressive, he's

:34:19. > :34:20.really concentrated on the event and I don't think he will let it eat

:34:21. > :34:37.him. -- let it deter him. Just slotting in. A lot of the

:34:38. > :34:40.riders who are the sole representatives of their countries

:34:41. > :34:45.are just looking to get involved, make their mark and let people know

:34:46. > :34:59.that they are here. So this is their part. Very easy to sit in in these

:35:00. > :35:02.conditions. It is a good road surface, actually, even on the

:35:03. > :35:07.climbs later on, which we will talk about later, some of them are

:35:08. > :35:14.downright treacherous on the descents, but the surfaces are very

:35:15. > :35:20.good by and large stop you see the level of population here. -- by and

:35:21. > :35:33.large. One of the Fran Velez of Rio. Just in from the coast -- favalas.

:35:34. > :35:38.Packed in on the hillside. Back with the race. Some of these riders are

:35:39. > :35:49.determined to form a breakaway group. Fractious at the start. When

:35:50. > :35:52.the riders are looking round all the time, they are starting to feel the

:35:53. > :35:56.effect of constant attacking and they are thinking that they would

:35:57. > :35:59.like to have somebody else help them out. Those momentary pauses when the

:36:00. > :36:20.gaps open and there is less incentive to close it.

:36:21. > :36:29.You can see the shape of the peloton behind, it isn't strung out. If

:36:30. > :36:33.something serious went in the first half of the race you can expect

:36:34. > :36:37.Stannard, fantastic team rider, probably the only person in the

:36:38. > :36:46.British team is not going for a win in the race. He's going to do a job

:36:47. > :36:54.for his team-mates. A chunk of those riders in the same team, Team Sky.

:36:55. > :36:58.For those who don't want cycling very often, we shouldn't forget that

:36:59. > :37:02.many of these riders are wearing different jerseys today but they are

:37:03. > :37:06.team-mates for the rest of the year. Although it shouldn't come into play

:37:07. > :37:12.it has the potential to be a factor in terms of the way that they ride

:37:13. > :37:16.at certain times. We got our first problem of the day. Doesn't seem to

:37:17. > :37:30.be any kind of urgency to get back in the race. That is the Turkish

:37:31. > :37:38.rider, Valcan. I don't think it was a major crash, it was some

:37:39. > :37:47.concertina ring, and just moving off to the side -- Balkan. Nobody

:37:48. > :37:52.running over with a sponge. Getting back in the saddle. The National

:37:53. > :38:01.road race champion of Turkey, just 20 years of age. First hint of the

:38:02. > :38:05.incline for the peloton. You can see the early attempt of a breakaway

:38:06. > :38:20.group, not allowed to get away. The Turkish rider is back on the

:38:21. > :38:22.road. At this stage he should be able to get back to the peloton

:38:23. > :38:46.before too long. Here we are back at the front once

:38:47. > :38:57.more. Just constant tiny fractures, just small fissures appearing.

:38:58. > :39:01.Something to notice, the gutters at the side, it is the standard way of

:39:02. > :39:07.building roads and it is just a drop, at the edge of the tarmac and

:39:08. > :39:12.then a solid concrete curb. Later on, when they are descending, there

:39:13. > :39:15.is no room for error, no chance of going onto some greenery and

:39:16. > :39:23.recovering. If you go off the edge of the it's really serious. It looks

:39:24. > :39:27.like Tony Martin is having a go. Having a stab early on, I'm

:39:28. > :39:32.surprised it is so early for him. Already seeing some riders at the

:39:33. > :39:37.back. That is Tom Dumoulin. My colleague from Dutch radio said he

:39:38. > :39:42.would probably go about five kilometres and then climb off.

:39:43. > :39:46.Whether it is mechanical or he has abandoned it to concentrate on the

:39:47. > :39:51.time trial. He doesn't seem to be in a rush. That was a pre-considered

:39:52. > :39:56.decision. Surprised to see him lining up. You can see him waiting

:39:57. > :40:01.for the race traffic to go past and then he's going to go back down the

:40:02. > :40:08.course. He looked good in the time trial during the Tour de France. It

:40:09. > :40:12.was a very hilly time trial as well, less hilly than it is here but he

:40:13. > :40:16.was technically very good. Everything about his riding was very

:40:17. > :40:21.considered. Spent a lot of time training on the time trial bike.

:40:22. > :40:39.Terrible picture here at the finish line, is that Simon gets

:40:40. > :40:45.key -- Simon Geschke. Some of these races, if you don't have an out and

:40:46. > :40:54.out climate, you have to do something a little bit avant-garde.

:40:55. > :41:08.Andre hammered all, the lone rider from Costa

:41:09. > :41:22.Rica -- Andrey Amador. Potentially opening up here. Again, a very dark

:41:23. > :41:31.and shady picture. It looks like it might be Geschke from Germany. Not

:41:32. > :41:34.many of these twists and turns early on so they are making the most of

:41:35. > :41:42.the opportunity to string out the peloton.

:41:43. > :41:50.We are just hearing over the tannoy on the street that indeed it is

:41:51. > :41:56.Simon Geschke, the German rider, a stage winner in the Tour de France

:41:57. > :42:05.last year. A very steep finish, even if you only walking up it. Geschke,

:42:06. > :42:10.the best beard in the peloton, just leading the way, stretching them

:42:11. > :42:18.out. We believe this race will take about six hours. Here we are with

:42:19. > :42:20.Geschke. And the rider just behind him almost overshooting the

:42:21. > :42:26.right-hand bend on the descent. It takes them a bit by surprise when

:42:27. > :42:34.they which from the big open roads. We will have a look at that. We'll

:42:35. > :42:39.see a lot more of this type of terrain later in the race. Small

:42:40. > :42:47.patches of it early on. Mostly the big open roads to get them across.

:42:48. > :42:51.Feedback of that little group. Here we are at the front. Geschke and it

:42:52. > :42:53.looks like one of the Polish riders is with him. They have a strong

:42:54. > :43:11.team. I wonder if that is Konovalovas. We will get a

:43:12. > :43:17.better look shortly. Not sure if they want to continue with it. You

:43:18. > :43:21.have put the effort into the move. Some big-name is playing that we

:43:22. > :43:29.weren't expecting until later in the race. Sitting up, monitoring things.

:43:30. > :43:34.Waiting for the group to swell a little bit. Getting in a prime

:43:35. > :43:45.position so he can dictate what's going to happen. He is one of the

:43:46. > :43:48.outsiders for the race. Perhaps not showing the form of recent years

:43:49. > :43:54.which is why we haven't brought him in. Going well at the start of the

:43:55. > :44:00.season, winning a race at the start of the Sprint season but he didn't

:44:01. > :44:06.ride in the Giro d'Italia or the Tour de France. He certainly has the

:44:07. > :44:17.capability, worth keeping an eye on. They have a strong team,

:44:18. > :44:34.Baga and Golas and Majka. That's quite a decent working group. Now

:44:35. > :44:41.they started going through. Not going flat out here. They still have

:44:42. > :44:44.221 kilometres to race. But they have the lead and they are thinking

:44:45. > :44:50.that they might as well make the most of it. Some fractures happening

:44:51. > :44:53.as a result of the bends we saw earlier, splitting things up a

:44:54. > :45:02.little bit and it is taking a few seconds to get back together again.

:45:03. > :45:07.Slight advantage for the six riders. Someone else feeling he has missed

:45:08. > :45:10.the train, trying to bridge the gap at the moment. The peloton has sat

:45:11. > :45:16.up as well, so deciding to let them go. Some big names. Always a

:45:17. > :45:22.possibility in Olympic road race with such small teams that a move

:45:23. > :45:25.can go from a long way out or at least it can coalesce, which

:45:26. > :45:30.happened in London and the latter part of the race, the last 100

:45:31. > :45:35.kilometres. Riders on Foxhill were going off up the road and suddenly

:45:36. > :45:44.you had 30, 40 riders and they contested the Sprint tennis.

:45:45. > :46:01.We have six riders, a good working group. The Russian is one of those

:46:02. > :46:07.riders. A number in 11 from Colombia, who again would be a

:46:08. > :46:16.threat in this race, potentially. He went so well in the Tour de France.

:46:17. > :46:29.This is a solid group. Norway have arrived in the group, number 54.

:46:30. > :46:38.Bystrom. This is a stronger group then we would expect at this stage

:46:39. > :46:49.in the proceedings. The rider trying to bridge the gap there. From the

:46:50. > :47:02.Czech Republic. He has is numbered skewered. -- he has his number

:47:03. > :47:08.obscured. We can see the flattening of the front of the peloton. They

:47:09. > :47:12.are happy to let it go. They will work it out later. You can bet the

:47:13. > :47:17.team managers are talking to each other back in the car, now they

:47:18. > :47:21.understand the make-up of the group and they will say, we will letting

:47:22. > :47:27.go, and then we will work together to pull it back. It is a game of

:47:28. > :47:35.chess, a bicycle race. There are so many elements to it. The big mix is

:47:36. > :47:39.the small team sizes, which I like. It makes it more about the

:47:40. > :47:43.individual and makes being able to read a race more important. Number

:47:44. > :47:59.41 at the back of the grid. Albasini is capable in groups like

:48:00. > :48:09.this. He won the overall classification in Great Britain in

:48:10. > :48:13.2010. He completed the Tour de France this year. Albasini, just to

:48:14. > :48:20.let you know why he would be potentially a threat in a race like

:48:21. > :48:28.this, he was seventh and second this year. A former world champion, Tour

:48:29. > :48:42.de France stage winners in here. And Albasini, as well.

:48:43. > :48:52.They have committed. This is a good group. It is a good size group of

:48:53. > :48:59.six. Allowing for the fact they have 217 kilometres to go. Look at the

:49:00. > :49:03.gap opening up behind. It is the move we expected to see at the early

:49:04. > :49:08.stage but perhaps not the participants. It would be good to be

:49:09. > :49:15.given time gaps. We are not provided with that information. But here we

:49:16. > :49:23.are. 46 seconds. 48 to the chase. The peloton is one minute back. No

:49:24. > :49:29.surprise to see an early rake away. Often we see riders from what you

:49:30. > :49:33.would describe lesser cycling nations showing their faces at the

:49:34. > :49:43.front early on. Already travelling at a clip. They are going through

:49:44. > :49:48.Barra at the moment. A prosperous suburb of Rio. Still

:49:49. > :49:53.heading west along the coastal road and they will do for some

:49:54. > :49:59.considerable time now. A beautiful day in Rio. The

:50:00. > :50:05.temperature is in the high 20s. Very nice for days here watching the

:50:06. > :50:10.start a little while ago to disappear onto the beach for a few

:50:11. > :50:20.hours and to come back to watch the conclusion of the race.

:50:21. > :50:37.The Czech Republic rider there. He has decided to give up the chase,

:50:38. > :50:40.Petr Vakoc. There is no hint of any resistance now. The race will settle

:50:41. > :50:52.down into something more of a rhythm. Such a long time to go. The

:50:53. > :50:58.big names trying to avoid tapping into their reserves for as long as

:50:59. > :51:07.possible. A shot of Chris Froome on the right. This is one of the

:51:08. > :51:18.Belgian riders. With hopes as well, a young the 20-year-old. He won a

:51:19. > :51:26.couple of smaller stage races. One of the promising Belgian riders on

:51:27. > :51:34.the scene. Petr Vakoc missed the bus when it

:51:35. > :51:39.disappeared. Here it is, hurting the -- along the road.

:51:40. > :51:47.Bluffing each other really. Everyone saying, I am not going to use up my

:51:48. > :51:54.men early on. Perhaps having the conversations between the managers.

:51:55. > :52:00.Ultimately, it is down to them. No race radios today. The riders do not

:52:01. > :52:06.get ready availability to information. I am a fan of no race

:52:07. > :52:12.radios. I like the fact the riders have to know where they are on the

:52:13. > :52:19.course. If somebody punctures, and they are supposed to be with the

:52:20. > :52:23.lead and need to be around them. It changes the pattern of the race.

:52:24. > :52:29.Passing information is more difficult and the team has to be a

:52:30. > :52:31.good team. They have to know how others will react, even before they

:52:32. > :52:44.have spoken to each other. Just rolling along. Still not committing,

:52:45. > :52:56.the judgment on energy and where to expend this race. Pantano coming to

:52:57. > :53:00.the front. He was a Tour de France stage winner and 19th overall.

:53:01. > :53:06.Second on a couple of stages. He had a wonderful Tour. Simon Geschke's

:53:07. > :53:28.decried was last year. -- big ride. Pavel Kochetkov was in the Giro

:53:29. > :53:29.d'Italia and finished 32nd. A key animator in the breakaway group thus

:53:30. > :53:44.far. Poland are in a good position and

:53:45. > :53:45.Colombia. Colombia have other options in the line-up, as do

:53:46. > :54:16.Poland. The right kind of move for him to be

:54:17. > :54:26.in but potentially the wrong part of the race to be in it. The last 100

:54:27. > :54:33.kilometres would be a good shot for Pavel Kochetkov. The race has not

:54:34. > :54:39.kicked him in terms of the route itself. It is flat at the moment. We

:54:40. > :54:43.have a section of cobbles along the road, eight kilometres, I think. On

:54:44. > :54:48.the smaller circuit, the westerly circuit, the first of the two

:54:49. > :54:58.circuits, the Grumari circuit, they have four laps. Two named climes.

:54:59. > :55:02.Including Grumari. Several other undulating structures add to the

:55:03. > :55:08.difficulty cumulatively. That is what makes the circuit difficult. It

:55:09. > :55:16.is not a tough, brutal climb, it is constantly unrelenting. There are

:55:17. > :55:23.some steep sections on the climb. I looked at the profiles of them

:55:24. > :55:27.earlier today. I do not know why they are showing number 15, because

:55:28. > :55:38.he has been ill and number 14 is more interesting.

:55:39. > :55:50.Bardet can descend spectacularly. He will be waiting for the back-end the

:55:51. > :55:56.race. Another French team-mate, a late addition, not in the initial

:55:57. > :55:59.selection, he could be a player. They have multiple options and the

:56:00. > :56:07.climes on the first circuit will not trouble them. Everybody is happy to

:56:08. > :56:14.let it unfolds. The climate Grumari, just over one kilometre and

:56:15. > :56:20.reportedly has sections of 24%. Only small, tiny ramps as they go around

:56:21. > :56:27.the corner, perhaps, but big chunks at 12%, even 14. And later on the

:56:28. > :56:35.circuit, slightly longer act two kilometres, dragging up a long way.

:56:36. > :56:42.Averaging 7%. Two decent sections to string out the peloton. Valverde,

:56:43. > :56:52.one of the big prerace favourites. Taking his time. We'll be late for

:56:53. > :56:57.dinner will stop typing that in! I think we will see more of him later.

:56:58. > :57:04.I will be very surprised if we do not. He is the man of the day, that

:57:05. > :57:10.everybody tipped. He was a frustrated help in the Tour,

:57:11. > :57:18.climbing better than I have seen him climb in years. Seldom drops the

:57:19. > :57:22.ball. The only issue with the Spanish team is that you have

:57:23. > :57:27.Rodriguez, who will be hoping to do well in his last professional race.

:57:28. > :57:34.Waning a little bit, but not to be discounted. They really are going at

:57:35. > :57:38.a pedestrian pace. We have not had a recent time check. Here we go, it is

:57:39. > :57:44.almost as if they are listening! That is what I expect to see, going

:57:45. > :57:49.out quickly. They can afford to let the breakaway go if they work

:57:50. > :57:57.together to chase upwards of ten minutes. Average speed is still

:57:58. > :58:01.pretty high. Leaders averaging 50 kilometres per hour. We could expect

:58:02. > :58:08.a 40 kilometres average. Taking in the climes. Giving a finishing time

:58:09. > :58:12.of just under six hours. For those watching at home, wanting to know

:58:13. > :58:17.about British chances, everyone will know Chris Froome is riding today.

:58:18. > :58:22.Five British riders, the maximum anyone can have in the team at the

:58:23. > :58:26.Olympics and most nations have fewer. Can you talk us through

:58:27. > :58:32.opportunities. I think there are several. If they choose to take it.

:58:33. > :58:36.It is all on tactics and they have been cagey about disclosing them in

:58:37. > :58:42.the past few days. They have fantastic options. Only one who is

:58:43. > :58:46.there to do the hard work, Ian Stannard, not a climber but a

:58:47. > :58:50.brilliant team rider and loyal. They know they can rely on him to do the

:58:51. > :58:55.work where necessary between the climes as long as he can stay there

:58:56. > :59:02.on the flatter sections. After him, the four members of the team, all

:59:03. > :59:09.legitimately capable. Stephen Cummings was a late selection. Steve

:59:10. > :59:16.Cummings, stage winner at the Tour de France. A fantastic solo escape

:59:17. > :59:20.artist. He will look for an opportunity. He climbs

:59:21. > :59:26.fantastically. He has shocked people this year, who think they do not

:59:27. > :59:33.know him well. A big engine. Look for Steve going for a long one. He

:59:34. > :59:47.would be a popular win in our house. Obviously Chris Froome. Only with

:59:48. > :59:50.one small win, not winning a single day race. This is a big challenge

:59:51. > :00:01.for him. He could get away on the climb. We know he can time trial.

:00:02. > :00:08.Can you go 100% in this race today and in the time trial on Wednesday?

:00:09. > :00:11.I would say yes. Just getting around this entire race, riding to be in

:00:12. > :00:16.contention, you have already done the damage and might as well go all

:00:17. > :00:22.in. Maybe that is a decision we will see later in the race. If a

:00:23. > :00:26.breakaway goes and he is not in it. Psychologically, when you have other

:00:27. > :00:30.options you start to suffer and think maybe I should pack this in

:00:31. > :00:34.and think about the time trial. Geraint Thomas, an ideal course.

:00:35. > :00:41.The nice thing about this claim is it two four K climbs with a

:00:42. > :00:44.one-minute rest in the middle, which brings in Classics riders and if

:00:45. > :00:49.there was a small group to go over the top of that final climb and

:00:50. > :00:53.Geriant within it, he could sprinter bit and that wings is quite nicely

:00:54. > :00:56.really took Yates here at the back, just checking something out on the

:00:57. > :01:03.race card. No race radio. They are not able to talk to the team cards.

:01:04. > :01:07.-- team cars. I think that he is probably the dark horse of the team

:01:08. > :01:14.here. He has all the attributes. Such a marvellous Tour de France,

:01:15. > :01:18.Excel. His performance throughout so consistent, the white jersey. If you

:01:19. > :01:23.wonder where they are going off the road, they are going, as you can

:01:24. > :01:28.imagine, for a comfort break. As it is politely called. Something of a

:01:29. > :01:31.truce, where they go at the same time and try to make sure they are

:01:32. > :01:34.away from the high street, or the village where they are. It's been

:01:35. > :01:38.difficult in the last few kilometres. That's one of the

:01:39. > :01:43.problems in the UK, there are so many people at the roadside and

:01:44. > :01:49.nowhere to go. Moving along, Adam Yates won San Sebastian last year,

:01:50. > :01:54.which is a hilly course. A hilly, big one-day race. He has shown on

:01:55. > :01:57.this sort of route he is more than capable of performing well. The

:01:58. > :02:03.German rider at the front you can see in the white jersey is Tony

:02:04. > :02:11.Martin. The two riders from Venezuela as well chatting away

:02:12. > :02:15.happily on the front of the peleton. Enjoy it while you can, because it's

:02:16. > :02:20.going to get tough as the day wears on. It will be interesting to see

:02:21. > :02:24.how the breakaway tackles this first circuit, because of those crimes and

:02:25. > :02:27.really, they should wait for the slowest member. Effectively they

:02:28. > :02:31.have become part of the team together and they need to look after

:02:32. > :02:34.each other because they need the strength in numbers that they have

:02:35. > :02:39.any hope of staying away from this peleton, as you look down the coast

:02:40. > :02:42.road and nowhere in sight. Stunning, the scenery is stunning here.

:02:43. > :02:49.Although the riders won't see it later on but at the top of some of

:02:50. > :02:54.those climbs, in particular one of them it's magnificent, the view down

:02:55. > :02:58.across Rio. You can see why so many people have made their home here and

:02:59. > :03:03.why its popular place. This is the Turkish rider who fell off a bit

:03:04. > :03:08.earlier on, clearly still suffering some discomfort. They will mock that

:03:09. > :03:13.up, it will sting a bit but he will carry on. A good time to get it

:03:14. > :03:18.done. Such a diverse course this. Look at the size of this road, this

:03:19. > :03:22.beautiful surface, it is very flat. The roads that you will see later on

:03:23. > :03:25.are quite incredible. I was stunned yesterday when I went to see the

:03:26. > :03:31.course and saw just how narrow the roads are. They are just bigger than

:03:32. > :03:35.bike path. I think there will be not -- there's no room for spectators.

:03:36. > :03:41.We will not see a big bunch of finishing circuit, they will be

:03:42. > :03:44.strung out, in bits and pieces. It's going to be strung out completely.

:03:45. > :03:50.It will be blown apart. We will probably see maybe 40 or 50 people

:03:51. > :03:53.finishing this race in total. Steve Cummings from Great Britain going

:03:54. > :03:56.across your screen at the front. Pulling over, getting himself to the

:03:57. > :04:00.front, the professional way to do it, get to the front and you have

:04:01. > :04:04.given yourself an extra few seconds while the peleton goes past. To go

:04:05. > :04:12.to the loo. He's off Darryn Lloyd -- often loitering near the back. He's

:04:13. > :04:20.generally. What about the Italian squad, neighbourly? Alexander De

:04:21. > :04:24.Marchi has won a stage in each of the last two. Of all the national

:04:25. > :04:29.teams, Italy have never worked out how they've managed to ride as a

:04:30. > :04:34.committed team. The three line whip always kicks in with them. They lay

:04:35. > :04:39.it down for each other, they will give up their own chances and it is

:04:40. > :04:42.an individual, if one person gets the medal or the World Championships

:04:43. > :04:46.jersey, but they ride beautifully other team every single year and I

:04:47. > :04:50.expect that to be no different here. They have some good cards to play.

:04:51. > :04:55.They are team-mates with Castan, this won't be the case next year,

:04:56. > :05:00.may be joining the new team, the Bahrain team that is being set up.

:05:01. > :05:05.We have a close up view of the breakaway group. I think our

:05:06. > :05:13.cameraman is trying to entertain us with... A nice view. Super slow Mo,

:05:14. > :05:17.very shiny looking shoes. Still just over 200 kilometres to go, these are

:05:18. > :05:20.the leading riders. If you've just joined us, the rider at the front on

:05:21. > :05:26.the left is Albasini from Switzerland. On the front is Sven

:05:27. > :05:29.Erik Bystrom from Norway. On the right-hand side, they are coming

:05:30. > :05:34.through to do attorneys Pantano, stage winner in this year's Tour de

:05:35. > :05:38.France. The Russian rider is Pavel Kochetkov, the Russian national

:05:39. > :05:42.champion and the rider with the big red stripe down his jersey on the

:05:43. > :05:49.front now with Kwiatkowski, races for Team Sky, a team-mate of Chris

:05:50. > :05:51.Froome and Brian Thomas, the Polish rider. He was the world champion

:05:52. > :06:01.couple of years ago. -- Geriant Thomas. It looks like time to start

:06:02. > :06:12.at least riding a little bit of tempo here.

:06:13. > :06:18.It looks like we are starting to roll through, you can see these

:06:19. > :06:22.conversations amongst the riders, deciding just what they are going to

:06:23. > :06:29.do. Most of the countries will have designated a team captain. Who will

:06:30. > :06:33.be the ultimate decider of what the tactics are going to be. Italy are

:06:34. > :06:37.going early here. They are not having to work too hard, that's for

:06:38. > :06:47.sure. Thinking about rolling through. We mentioned the riders,

:06:48. > :06:55.there are several from Italy. The Dutch rider is while Paul's, a good

:06:56. > :06:58.outside bet. Not even outside, he could be top three, top three or

:06:59. > :07:04.four potential riders for a circuit like this come on form, very wily.

:07:05. > :07:09.How good was he during the Tour de France? What a fantastic ride on

:07:10. > :07:13.behalf of Chris Froome. I think he it's an awesome team, that's the

:07:14. > :07:18.strength of Team Sky, they are capable of buying in riders like

:07:19. > :07:21.wild pools who are capable of being team leaders in their own right,

:07:22. > :07:30.working in the service of Chris Froome, a great job too. -- Wout

:07:31. > :07:35.Poels. He has a few good wins, those sorts of courses for those who don't

:07:36. > :07:39.know, if you do well in those races, it gives you an indication this is

:07:40. > :07:43.the kind of course for you. Absolutely, and that in with the

:07:44. > :07:48.recent Tour de France and the form he showed, he has the capability and

:07:49. > :07:53.performing this moment, so one of the top three or four riders for

:07:54. > :08:00.today, certainly. They will remember him in Thame MERS, he won the Tour

:08:01. > :08:05.of Britain last year. -- in the town in Devon. He's big in Devon. We have

:08:06. > :08:08.the breakaway group, hopefully in the not too distant future they

:08:09. > :08:13.might let us know what the gap is. It was nearly five minutes the last

:08:14. > :08:16.time I saw. You are getting a tale now with the teams, if you like,

:08:17. > :08:20.because they try to pretend they're not worried asked worried about a

:08:21. > :08:27.breakaway going, but then amass near the front. The Spanish is obvious.

:08:28. > :08:33.Steve Cummings. Having a chat with the team manager for the day. It's

:08:34. > :08:37.quite a serious conversation there. There's a discussion on Steve

:08:38. > :08:41.deciding he might want to do something early in the race, but

:08:42. > :08:45.this is how the information has to be conveyed of course without

:08:46. > :08:49.radios. He's got to go all the way back and then go and find all the

:08:50. > :08:52.riders and disseminate that information, and it's such a lengthy

:08:53. > :08:57.thing. It will have an impact on today's race. There's a few

:08:58. > :09:01.kilometres, but it's not that many after the final climb, and when

:09:02. > :09:05.somebody has got away, everybody is going to have to decide who's going

:09:06. > :09:09.to chase, who is going to do the work, and it will take a while for

:09:10. > :09:13.that information to percolate through whoever is left. Do you

:09:14. > :09:16.think they were discussing the composition of the leading group and

:09:17. > :09:24.the advantage they already had? Better riders than we would have

:09:25. > :09:28.expected in the breakaway. It is certainly being taken seriously by

:09:29. > :09:38.Italy and Spain. The peleton looks as if it is up into third gear,

:09:39. > :09:42.shall we say. Going back to the communication front, if you are

:09:43. > :09:45.struggling to let everyone know what's going on one of the better

:09:46. > :09:51.ways is to stay together to talk readily. Still heading out towards

:09:52. > :09:58.the grim Ari circuit, where they will do four lapse. The route today

:09:59. > :10:05.for the road race looks a bit like a dumbbell. The circuit at the

:10:06. > :10:09.left-hand end and the other circuit on the right. At least for those of

:10:10. > :10:15.us with a decent imagination. The bar in the middle is the road along

:10:16. > :10:20.the front. Past Boro, which is where they are going now. A long coastal

:10:21. > :10:26.road, out and back, with a circuit at either end. Quite strung out now,

:10:27. > :10:30.actually, there will be a few riders from some of the small and nation

:10:31. > :10:34.starting to feel the pace a bit at the back of the peleton. The

:10:35. > :10:39.breakaway six still probably taking some time, but only now a handful of

:10:40. > :10:48.seconds every kilometre, because it's being regulated, as we go back

:10:49. > :10:53.to have a look. They are out, heading into the circuit now, I

:10:54. > :10:57.think. Just to let you know, the time gaps which are appearing on the

:10:58. > :11:01.screen are the only time gaps we are being given, in case you were

:11:02. > :11:05.wondering how far ahead they are, we're not getting that information

:11:06. > :11:14.at the moment. Your guess is as good as ours. They are on the circuit,

:11:15. > :11:17.quite clearly. 24.7 kilometres lap, they will cover it four times,

:11:18. > :11:34.before heading back down the coast road. The first of the

:11:35. > :11:47.climbs, Grimari, there's the circuit in yellow. It's that little point at

:11:48. > :11:52.the far end, they have a few kilometres to the other side before

:11:53. > :11:57.they tackle the second climb, the less difficult of the two. But it's

:11:58. > :12:03.rolling in between as you can see. Fairly steady for these riders, the

:12:04. > :12:08.one bringing up the rear is from Germany. Simon Richard Kerr, wrote

:12:09. > :12:28.the Tour de France this summer. Norway have a strong line-up, he's a

:12:29. > :12:32.team-mate of the Russian rider who is in the breakaway group for the

:12:33. > :12:38.rest of the year. He's a good young rider, 24 now, he was the under 23

:12:39. > :12:44.world champion in the road in 2014. Some beautiful scenery here. As we

:12:45. > :12:48.mentioned earlier, not that the riders will appreciate it, but some

:12:49. > :12:53.spectacular coastline. Good surfing territory, we were looking at that

:12:54. > :13:04.yesterday. They sweep down the small descent. You see the wind is crossed

:13:05. > :13:08.tale, not off the land at the moment, it's off the sea. That might

:13:09. > :13:12.be one of the reasons that the Spanish team has decided to amass at

:13:13. > :13:16.the front of the peleton in case there's an issue with crosswind.

:13:17. > :13:20.Best to be safe than sorry. We saw the impact of cross winds in the

:13:21. > :13:24.Tour de France of course. The gap staying steady at the moment, just

:13:25. > :13:30.over seven and three quarters minutes. These six riders working

:13:31. > :13:34.well together. I call that the thick end of eight myself. The thick end

:13:35. > :13:39.of eight minutes but they are working well. The shape of the

:13:40. > :13:43.peleton is subtly shaped -- subtly changing, work being done to

:13:44. > :13:47.regulate things at the front. The length of that straight line at the

:13:48. > :13:50.front says OK, I'm not too worried, I'll let it go and that's where

:13:51. > :13:54.there's a big club further back there. If it was really serious

:13:55. > :13:57.there would be an arrow point and the club would be at the front as

:13:58. > :14:03.everyone fights to get position. Nobody is worried at the moment,

:14:04. > :14:14.happy to let the two teams go at it. Dipped under the 200 kilometre mark

:14:15. > :14:18.now. Amir hundred and 7.6 to go. You can see the pace, the helicopter

:14:19. > :14:22.shot gives you a good idea. The front camera kills speed and makes

:14:23. > :14:26.it look like they are standing still but they are trundling along here,

:14:27. > :14:33.probably just under 30 miles an hour. A big long term, unlike the

:14:34. > :14:35.breakaway six, who are going through and off in short, sharp, frequent

:14:36. > :14:44.turns, because there's not many people to do the work here. A strong

:14:45. > :14:48.line-up for the Spanish. Another rider who perhaps others might not

:14:49. > :14:55.look at as closely as they should, he's more than capable on a rude

:14:56. > :15:02.like this. Imanol Erviti and Jonathan Castroviejo competing a

:15:03. > :15:06.strong Spanish team. Yes, I think they have got more cards to play,

:15:07. > :15:10.but we were talking about Classics rider is earlier on, the difference

:15:11. > :15:14.between a stage race in a single day with torturous roads is positioning

:15:15. > :15:18.before the climb, and when they actually get onto it so you don't

:15:19. > :15:22.have to have the legs to be a climber, which the likes of visibly

:15:23. > :15:26.Edu, you have to be able to position yourself to take advantage those

:15:27. > :15:38.physical abilities. The peloton is heading towards the

:15:39. > :15:44.circuit. The breakaway group make their way around the first of four

:15:45. > :15:49.lapse. Some welcome shade for them, I wish we had that here. We have got

:15:50. > :15:54.some beautiful cardboard structure is being held in place by our

:15:55. > :15:59.producer at the moment holding the sun off. It is all part of the fun.

:16:00. > :16:08.They made their own little cardboard village here. It is an opportunity

:16:09. > :16:12.to look at the seams. We are in the cobbled section now. We had a look

:16:13. > :16:20.at these yesterday and they are proper rough sections of cobbles. It

:16:21. > :16:26.really is quite tough. That will have affected the tyre choice the

:16:27. > :16:31.riders. They will have gone for those which have helped them get

:16:32. > :16:38.traction. We will talk about that later on. The descents will be as

:16:39. > :16:48.big a part of this race as the climbs themselves. Italy and Spain

:16:49. > :16:54.leading the Palatine. Trying to keep the leading group of six in check.

:16:55. > :16:59.British success over the years in the men's road race in the Olympic

:17:00. > :17:09.Games, one silver medal and three bronze medals. The most recent was a

:17:10. > :17:15.bronze medal in Atlanta. It gets slightly more serious now. Still

:17:16. > :17:24.trying to use that smooth piece of dirt. That is another factor to take

:17:25. > :17:32.into account. They are trying to ride on the stones at the side. It

:17:33. > :17:38.is the lesser of evils really. They have also got to watch out for

:17:39. > :17:45.punctures on this first circuit. Inevitably there will be some. You

:17:46. > :17:56.can hear the gears as they had over it. I have not done a full preview,

:17:57. > :18:02.but it is a rough piece of road, but it is so far from the finish, I do

:18:03. > :18:07.not think it will be a factor. But it is yet another thing they have

:18:08. > :18:10.thrown in. They have brought in as many elements as they can from all

:18:11. > :18:16.the different races around the world. They are buying a bit of

:18:17. > :18:23.respite, they have spotted some smooth road. The barriers will bring

:18:24. > :18:25.an end to that. You saw a subtle change in the shape of the pellet on

:18:26. > :18:54.a few minutes ago. The wind is getting up a little bit

:18:55. > :19:05.here at the finishing line. I crossed tailwind for the peloton.

:19:06. > :19:11.This is enough to push them out of their saddles, although it is not

:19:12. > :19:19.classified, this one. Everybody getting themselves into this first

:19:20. > :19:26.circuit, getting a feel for it. It is going to be a culture shock as

:19:27. > :19:32.they come of this smooth surface in a few minutes' time. The pace is

:19:33. > :19:37.still there. Almost void of spectators up here, it would have

:19:38. > :19:43.been a nice place to watch the race. It will be interesting to see how

:19:44. > :19:47.many spectators there might be. Where you would want to watch it on

:19:48. > :19:54.the climbs, there is very little room for the spectators today. They

:19:55. > :19:59.will be quite happy watching it on the telly. Quite thick jungle, one

:20:00. > :20:09.of the biggest urban jungles in the world. They will be heading up

:20:10. > :20:13.through it in a little while. They will not be any helicopter shots at

:20:14. > :20:19.that point in the race because of the jungle canopy because there is

:20:20. > :20:27.nothing to see, just trees. They will be motorbike shots. It is

:20:28. > :20:35.spectacular. Thinking about the make-up of this breakaway group...

:20:36. > :20:41.That is a beautiful use of a slow Mo Camara, to see the kind of pounding

:20:42. > :20:48.the bike and the rider themselves have to endure. But these riders are

:20:49. > :20:58.very experienced and they are no stranger to this kind of obstacle.

:20:59. > :21:03.This is a serious breakaway group. It is very unusual to see that

:21:04. > :21:08.quality of rider at such an early point in the race. Having said that,

:21:09. > :21:16.the Olympic road race is a one-off and every four years the rules are

:21:17. > :21:21.changed. The gap has come down. It is about seven and a half minutes

:21:22. > :21:31.just now. Albert Cini is on the front. Sven Erik Bystrom is behind

:21:32. > :21:37.him. This is the Grumari climb under the canopy. At least could think it

:21:38. > :21:42.is. It is very shady, it gets a little bit narrower with steep

:21:43. > :21:49.sections, but only very short. Just over a kilometre in length. Very

:21:50. > :21:57.narrow, twisty roads on this Olympic road race route. That is the

:21:58. > :22:08.peloton, they are a climb away from the beach. Vincenzo Nibali in the

:22:09. > :22:19.white jersey going through your picture. A big favourite for today's

:22:20. > :22:26.race. Chris Froome is just going around that corner. There are two

:22:27. > :22:36.small birds which is what the peloton is tackling now, as well as

:22:37. > :22:42.the main climbs on this circuit. The Grumari Climb gets steeper and

:22:43. > :22:47.steeper. I wondered whether Pantano was disappearing off the back, which

:22:48. > :22:53.would have been a surprise. You least of all expect him to be

:22:54. > :23:00.loitering at the back. The riders can choose when there is a little

:23:01. > :23:05.surge of acceleration. They are thinking about conserving energy all

:23:06. > :23:09.the time and smoothing out the power profile to keep themselves as fresh

:23:10. > :23:15.as possible. You can see from the helicopter shot how they have slowed

:23:16. > :23:23.down, how steep this is. This is steep. It is an 18% gradient going

:23:24. > :23:30.around this corner. It really is quite steep. You see 1.3 kilometres

:23:31. > :23:40.and dismiss it, but you can do a lot of damage. The peloton on the

:23:41. > :23:43.cobbles. We have got a crash a bit further back and some remonstrations

:23:44. > :23:53.on the other riders. One might go down. We need to see who the rider

:23:54. > :23:57.is. It is one of the Turkish riders. Balkan fell earlier. Now his

:23:58. > :24:02.team-mate is down. I am not sure what his injury is, but he does not

:24:03. > :24:09.look in any kind of a rush to get up. The medics are quickly on the

:24:10. > :24:10.scene. He has taken his helmet off. We will get reports back to you on

:24:11. > :24:31.how he is. It is the backbone of the peloton

:24:32. > :24:36.and it was a touch of wheels. The surprise is that nobody else failed.

:24:37. > :24:44.They were spread out at this stage of the race. Mechanical problems, it

:24:45. > :24:50.is easy to bounce a chain of. We need to see which of the Australians

:24:51. > :24:55.that was, it was Richie Porte. The kind of things that were happening

:24:56. > :25:02.to him in the Tour de France, he has not had much luck. That's low real

:25:03. > :25:08.change cost him so much. Ian Stannard is monitoring things. He

:25:09. > :25:13.loves this bit, the cobbles. They have been practising all of July for

:25:14. > :25:19.this. They know how to deal with the sticky part of the race. Ian

:25:20. > :25:24.Stannard is good for 100 kilometres. Chris Froome is good at being more

:25:25. > :25:31.assertive on this sort of terrain. Yes, he has grown in confidence and

:25:32. > :25:37.rightly so. His riding in the Tour de France was really stylish. We

:25:38. > :25:41.enjoyed watching him, he was a complete rider. He has been called

:25:42. > :25:47.boring in the past, you certainly was not in 2016. You can see

:25:48. > :25:52.Stannard with the experience nipped over to the side to take advantage

:25:53. > :25:57.of that small piece of road. Cyclists like Stannard are

:25:58. > :26:06.invaluable, they can keep a tempo all day. Chris Froome is nicely

:26:07. > :26:16.positioned. No big panic. No point in spending energy. The crash

:26:17. > :26:25.earlier may have been caused by bottles coming out. When you hit a

:26:26. > :26:31.surface like this, when you hit that, it is a cylindrical surface,

:26:32. > :26:35.and you lose traction. Even though they are not riding hard yet, at the

:26:36. > :26:40.riders are fighting their way off the Stones, back onto the smooth

:26:41. > :26:43.tarmac surface. Fighting rather than floating. At the front they have

:26:44. > :26:51.eased into this and they are comfortable. It will be a few

:26:52. > :27:01.minutes before the back riders regain the main part of the peloton.

:27:02. > :27:06.Just look at what that short passage of rough surface has done to the

:27:07. > :27:17.make-up of this peloton. It may well have an influence later in the race.

:27:18. > :27:22.He might have had a problem. He won the tour of Poland a couple of weeks

:27:23. > :27:24.back. He is trying to get somebody else to close the gap, he is not

:27:25. > :27:45.doing it himself. The peloton is strung out in the

:27:46. > :27:51.sunshine. The temperature is going up all the time. It is still just

:27:52. > :28:03.after half past ten in the morning in Rio. We expect the temperature to

:28:04. > :28:07.reach about 29 degrees today. This is the crash from a different angle.

:28:08. > :28:18.There are at least half a dozen bottles bouncing around there. That

:28:19. > :28:24.was more shocked than anything else. It does not seem to be heading for

:28:25. > :28:32.any part of his body. No sign whether he is back up and racing. In

:28:33. > :28:40.case you are wondering, he is not a rider we expect to be in the end of

:28:41. > :28:45.the race. Here you can see what a pounding they are taking on the

:28:46. > :28:56.cobbles. They will be back on the cobbles before they know it. I would

:28:57. > :29:01.like to have seen the descent of the Grumari, but we did not see that. It

:29:02. > :29:09.was 7.3 feed the last time we saw the time check. Six kilometres

:29:10. > :29:16.before they start the next climb, it which is not as severe, but it is a

:29:17. > :29:27.little bit longer, two kilometres. Pantano leads the way. Stannard. He

:29:28. > :29:33.is OK. We talk about him as being a non-climber, but we need to put that

:29:34. > :29:37.in perspective, compared to the best in the absolute world in the Alps

:29:38. > :29:41.and Pyrenees. He can climb this kind of thing no problem at all and he

:29:42. > :29:49.knows how to look after himself as well. That was used to me as at the

:29:50. > :30:06.back of the peloton, the first rider from the United Arab Emirates.

:30:07. > :30:14.-- Yusuf Mirza. Ian Stannard is hauling himself and the rest of the

:30:15. > :30:21.peloton up this climate. Steve Cummings is towards the front.

:30:22. > :30:26.Unusual for him is that. He will be itching for an opportunity to get

:30:27. > :30:29.himself involved in this race. A late entry, but his form in the Tour

:30:30. > :30:33.de France could not have been ignored. It would have been an

:30:34. > :30:38.embarrassment if he had not been in the team. He earned his place. He

:30:39. > :30:43.can ride as an individual if he has that opportunity.

:30:44. > :30:53.This rider is from Rwanda. It's a steady surface we are getting here,

:30:54. > :30:59.neutral service. It looks like he's going for a bike change instead.

:31:00. > :31:05.He's a team-mate of Mark Cavendish with the Data Squad. Run San

:31:06. > :31:09.Sebastian last weekend. Yellow bombing going back to Steve

:31:10. > :31:12.Cummings, he has an opportunity here to ride for himself, if an

:31:13. > :31:16.opportunity arises. He's a great asset in an event like this, where

:31:17. > :31:22.he is not simply riding for somebody else. We mentioned Data Team as

:31:23. > :31:25.being good home for him, they haven't put pressure on him, they

:31:26. > :31:29.have let him ride round at the Bacchin stage races and let him

:31:30. > :31:35.choose how he wants to race and it has paid dividends. Hasn't the

:31:36. > :31:38.attitude of that squad helped Mark Cavendish. Something has worked, not

:31:39. > :31:42.one of the biggest teams but it has had some of the best results in the

:31:43. > :31:47.Tour de France. Look at this descent, it really is. And listen to

:31:48. > :31:52.the descent. As the cars trying to keep up with the bike riders. They

:31:53. > :31:57.go in and out of the shadows. If you look at the side of the road, there

:31:58. > :32:05.is no room for error at all. You drop down probably about 30

:32:06. > :32:09.centimetres if you go off the edge of the tarmac and you will not stay

:32:10. > :32:11.upright. You cannot afford to make a mistake. Hair raising stuff. Big

:32:12. > :32:14.gutters on the side of the road and on the other climes later on, with

:32:15. > :32:20.big concrete kerbstones. It's a concern for me that the rider

:32:21. > :32:25.safety, we can see sponging Juan Mata -- in one or two places but

:32:26. > :32:33.there's road furniture everywhere and sharp edges. I do hope everyone

:32:34. > :32:37.gets round safely. You can see, as expected, it is strung out, the

:32:38. > :32:40.peleton. At the front they cruise around these things, they picked

:32:41. > :32:45.their line, but further back it's like being in a traffic jam, the

:32:46. > :32:48.speed goes down and down and you have to rectify that when you get

:32:49. > :32:51.back on the straight and find yourself doing 70 kilometres an

:32:52. > :32:56.hour, when they are doing a steady 50 on the front. There's more in

:32:57. > :33:00.terms of activity than we might have expected, considering there is a

:33:01. > :33:03.long way to go. When you have three riders like that in the breakaway

:33:04. > :33:10.you have to take it seriously. We said with such people to chase every

:33:11. > :33:13.break all day has to be given respect and it's unlike any other

:33:14. > :33:18.race in that respect. It's good for the race, makes it interesting. It

:33:19. > :33:22.makes it more individual, it's about the class, the tactical ability of

:33:23. > :33:26.individuals. It's not frankly how much money you have to buy a

:33:27. > :33:29.fantastic team, let them do the work and carry you physically great

:33:30. > :33:34.riders to the line, you have to be everything. It will be interesting

:33:35. > :33:38.to see whether it's a gambler who wins, someone prepared to risk

:33:39. > :33:42.everything in order to try and win, those who keep their cards close to

:33:43. > :33:44.their chest for as long as possible, whether they can still stay in

:33:45. > :33:49.there, whether their caution might cost them on a course like this.

:33:50. > :33:56.Stannard seems to have found his standard, his standard position,

:33:57. > :34:00.riding on the front, regulating the breakaway and there's no better man

:34:01. > :34:03.to have forced up I have to say, he was a surprise inclusion in the

:34:04. > :34:09.British team for me because he's not a climber, but I think very wisely

:34:10. > :34:13.modelling with, the team manager, and one of the big influences in the

:34:14. > :34:18.selection panel, has said there's a lot than just climes in this course

:34:19. > :34:21.and somebody has to regulate it -- climbs. He had the courage of his

:34:22. > :34:26.convictions and stuck with Ian Stannard as one of the five riders

:34:27. > :34:29.and I think I got it wrong, frankly. Stannard is going to be a real

:34:30. > :34:34.attribute to the British team here. He has got a job to do. He is

:34:35. > :34:38.getting stuck into it right now. Look at this behind. We have some

:34:39. > :34:42.wind here. We were not sure whether we would see it strong enough today

:34:43. > :34:45.but look at the shape of the peleton, there's a strong crosswind.

:34:46. > :34:52.It's going to introduce some nerves into the group. They all know the

:34:53. > :34:54.kind of damage you can do when the wind is blowing from the side. It's

:34:55. > :34:58.early in the race, for sure. You cannot the very least spend an awful

:34:59. > :35:04.lot of energy keeping yourself on terms -- you can at the very least.

:35:05. > :35:08.They haven't got back on terms after those small climbs yet. It's

:35:09. > :35:11.starting to kick off, we are seeing that humility of effect that this

:35:12. > :35:18.first circuit is likely to have on the race. -- the cumulative effect.

:35:19. > :35:26.Never mind the second one on the coastline. The rider from Mexico we

:35:27. > :35:37.are looking at the back, Luis Lemus. Just in front of him, does it --

:35:38. > :35:46.Denys Kostyuk from Ukraine. Ian Stannard, third in line in the Navy.

:35:47. > :35:55.The prominent sunglasses. Brightly coloured, Steve Cummings behind him.

:35:56. > :36:01.And as the riders just take on some refreshment for the first time, the

:36:02. > :36:06.leading riders, sixth in all, still continue to hold their lead at over

:36:07. > :36:11.seven minutes over the peleton and this race, Hazel, have some way

:36:12. > :36:15.still to go. HAZEL IRVINE:

:36:16. > :36:19.It does, it's a beautiful brute of a rude, isn't it? It's going to

:36:20. > :36:23.provide some drama. As you say, it's going to be around another five

:36:24. > :36:26.hours worth of racing, we think approximately speaking. If you want

:36:27. > :36:30.to immerse yourself in the road race that's no problem, it's available on

:36:31. > :36:34.the Red Button right now. We will be dipping back in and out on BBC One

:36:35. > :36:37.but as you will appreciate there's so much significant action on this

:36:38. > :36:46.opening day all around this beautiful city in the Olympic Games.

:36:47. > :36:52.Katherine Grainger's four Olympic appearances have brought her three

:36:53. > :36:57.silvers and a breakthrough gold in London. Her fifth games get under

:36:58. > :37:01.way very soon. The first-ever women to play rugby at the Olympic Games

:37:02. > :37:06.at the seven aside version makes its debut in Rio. Britain are up against

:37:07. > :37:11.hosts Brazil shortly. We will be keeping check on the progress of

:37:12. > :37:14.that 150 mile men's Road race, the breakaway at the front, Great

:37:15. > :37:21.Britain's quintet in the chasing pack. But it's all about the great

:37:22. > :37:27.outdoors, so far here on this opening morning here in Rio. It's

:37:28. > :37:30.10:45am our time and it's the middle of your afternoon. It's an

:37:31. > :37:35.absolutely glorious day, and we're enjoying the views. We are lapping

:37:36. > :37:39.up the views all over the Olympic city, not least here at Copacabana

:37:40. > :37:42.Beach, down the two mile stretch down towards Sugarloaf Mountain.

:37:43. > :37:47.Sport is ingrained in the soul of this city, all along the beach you

:37:48. > :37:52.have volleyball, football, people working out, it's everywhere. There

:37:53. > :37:57.are work-out stations all down the two miles of this route, and you

:37:58. > :38:02.just strip strip off, you start working out and once you have

:38:03. > :38:09.tightened up those muscles you show them off. There is flesh aplenty on

:38:10. > :38:11.view here! At Copacabana Beach, it's a spectacular beach, everyone

:38:12. > :38:16.enjoying their Saturday morning by the sea. But if you were to go about

:38:17. > :38:23.two miles the other direction, slightly inland Ipanema beach, you

:38:24. > :38:29.will come to the rowing venue. Lagoa, it will provide us with some

:38:30. > :38:34.of the best images from these Games. There will be much to enjoy on the

:38:35. > :38:37.water, I'm sure. Steve and John, I don't know if you have found

:38:38. > :38:41.yourselves a parasol but it looks like you probably need a windbreak.

:38:42. > :38:46.It's getting choppy out there, isn't it? It is, on the subject of a

:38:47. > :38:52.parasol, we've secured the services of a highly paid, highly decorated

:38:53. > :38:56.parasol manservant in the shape of Sir Steve Redgrave. The conditions

:38:57. > :38:59.out there, a lot of people are thinking that we are getting close

:39:00. > :39:02.to the point where it's almost untraceable. It's horrible out

:39:03. > :39:08.there, as I'm trying to hold onto the windbreak, I might be doing a

:39:09. > :39:13.Mary Poppins in a minute. It's awful out there. I have spoken to some of

:39:14. > :39:16.our top athletes and from around the world and it's absolutely awful,

:39:17. > :39:23.even in the warm up, they are taking on so much water, it's becoming a

:39:24. > :39:26.bit of a joke. The women's single scholars, one or two athletes were

:39:27. > :39:31.suffering. Alan Campbell is the only British athlete to have completed so

:39:32. > :39:36.far and this was his verdict on how things are out there. Very shocking,

:39:37. > :39:41.to be fair. It was unexpected. I warmed up in flat, calm water and

:39:42. > :39:47.the first two heats went off without rough water but the wind came down

:39:48. > :39:51.off and onto the side and chopped up, they were difficult, they were

:39:52. > :39:56.tough, but to be honest British crews tend to do well in these

:39:57. > :40:01.conditions. Caversham is not always pleasant or kind to us. Our boys

:40:02. > :40:06.will do well later on, our girls as well in the later on races. In

:40:07. > :40:09.practical terms, tell us about the problems and issues you have to deal

:40:10. > :40:13.with when the water gets choppier than you were expecting? Your grips

:40:14. > :40:17.get wet, there's water coming into the boat and you are effectively

:40:18. > :40:21.walking on a tightrope full submits one of those things, you have to be

:40:22. > :40:26.able to rely on letting the oars touch the water a bit more and you

:40:27. > :40:30.have to keep moving, keep moving the whole time and that's the thing, no

:40:31. > :40:34.matter what you have to keep moving all the time, even if you catch a

:40:35. > :40:39.bit of bad water, we call it catching a crab, when you catch them

:40:40. > :40:42.all into the water, you dig it out, keep going and get going again and

:40:43. > :40:47.everything else. You can see, watching some of the girls' heats in

:40:48. > :40:50.the women's singles, some of the top girls are really struggling with it.

:40:51. > :40:55.This could play to the advantage of the British team. Allen was alluding

:40:56. > :40:59.to some of the competitors in the women's single scholars who are

:41:00. > :41:03.having issues. Does it become an issue of almost brute force? It

:41:04. > :41:07.comes down to survival, you have to use your brute force but you have to

:41:08. > :41:13.fight your way through it somehow. As I was saying, you can't give into

:41:14. > :41:17.it, keep moving and force your way through one way or another. In terms

:41:18. > :41:23.of driving the blades through the water, there's a good close-up from

:41:24. > :41:28.the New Zealand competitor, how much harder is it when the water is as

:41:29. > :41:32.rocky and choppy as that? If you think of a rowing machine in a gym

:41:33. > :41:39.and you are sliding up and down, it's on a stable platform. If you

:41:40. > :41:42.put it onto a rough sea, tipping away, as you slide forward you don't

:41:43. > :41:45.know where the water is going to be. The boat suddenly jars from one side

:41:46. > :41:48.to the other and it's difficult to be able to pick up the water

:41:49. > :41:56.cleanly, so you end up growing shorter and you go slower, it goes

:41:57. > :41:59.from bad to worse. What is, this is not the right phrase, what's the

:42:00. > :42:02.tipping point at which point somebody says do you know, we

:42:03. > :42:06.shouldn't be racing in these conditions? Because of the size of

:42:07. > :42:09.the lake, you keep saying how picturesque it is that it is

:42:10. > :42:13.wonderful pictures but it's not very good rowing water, certainly when

:42:14. > :42:16.it's like this. As it's the first day everyone gets a second chance.

:42:17. > :42:21.You either go through to the quarterfinals, semifinals or through

:42:22. > :42:24.the repechage and I'm guessing those who organise the Olympic regatta

:42:25. > :42:28.will say let's keep going as long as we possibly can because if we delay

:42:29. > :42:32.on day one we will get behind schedule and because of kayaking

:42:33. > :42:36.coming in afterwards we have no leeway of extending the days, we

:42:37. > :42:39.have to finish on Saturday. It's worth saying, I don't know if the

:42:40. > :42:46.cameraman can show it, because of the mountains by the very nature of

:42:47. > :42:50.the natural logistics -- logistics here, there will be wind that comes

:42:51. > :42:54.through the valley here. It's not a man-made, created late for the

:42:55. > :42:59.occasion. It's not like it's a surprise, it's blowing here, they

:43:00. > :43:02.knew what they were getting, but it's a compromise between having a

:43:03. > :43:05.setting like this that people will talk about in perpetuity in the

:43:06. > :43:09.context not just of rowing but of the Olympic Games, it's a compromise

:43:10. > :43:12.between that and if you like the integrity of the competition? It is

:43:13. > :43:16.and that's where we can get away with it a bit today and tomorrow and

:43:17. > :43:20.on Monday, but once we get through to the semifinals it has to be about

:43:21. > :43:26.the fastest crews getting through to the finals and the medals going to

:43:27. > :43:31.the right crews from that point of view. So it's fun to watch some

:43:32. > :43:34.people struggling, but the reality is they have to fight their way

:43:35. > :43:39.through to have a chance of a medal at the end of it. Nehra Alan

:43:40. > :43:43.Sinclair Rod Stewart Les Invalides men's pair, the second British crew

:43:44. > :43:51.in operation today, we have four more later -- Alan Sinclair and

:43:52. > :43:55.Innes. COMMENTATOR:

:43:56. > :44:01.This is going to be a real crunch here, four boats, the first go

:44:02. > :44:09.through to the semifinal, Alan Sinclair and Stuart Innes inlay

:44:10. > :44:12.number one. Romania will be in two, Germain Chardin and Dorian

:44:13. > :44:16.Mortelette in three, they were silver-medallists in the World

:44:17. > :44:20.Championships in 2013. They are also the Olympic silver-medallists from

:44:21. > :44:25.London four years ago. A push on them. Netherlands in their -- in

:44:26. > :44:32.lane four, Braas and Steenman, a good pair, one of the consistent top

:44:33. > :44:38.performing pairs through the season. Watch them inlay number four. Alan

:44:39. > :44:45.Sinclair and Stuart Innes, third at Poznan, a big step up for them but

:44:46. > :44:49.big expectations. James. They can live up to their expectations? What

:44:50. > :44:52.they've had throughout their season is a battle to get selected and that

:44:53. > :44:57.may have put more tension and now they know they are the British pair

:44:58. > :45:00.and it's their race against the rest of the world rather than the British

:45:01. > :45:05.opposition but the French and the Dutch are consistent performers. We

:45:06. > :45:11.are away and he two of the men's heavyweight pairs here Lagoa

:45:12. > :45:16.Stadium, Great Britain in one, Romania, France and the Netherlands,

:45:17. > :45:25.four boats, only three to qualify to the semifinal and Great Britain will

:45:26. > :45:30.go to win this thing. If they win the silver medal they will start

:45:31. > :45:35.winning the heats -- they have to start winning the heats. It will be

:45:36. > :45:41.the biggest shock of the regatta if they lost, you want to put yourself

:45:42. > :45:46.as the default second-place. Romania sitting in lane in two, taking the

:45:47. > :45:56.early stages, Palamariu in the stroke seat. 25 years of age,

:45:57. > :46:01.Palamariu from Romania. Taking the early lead. The first 500 Vitel,

:46:02. > :46:05.Vitel, everything in the bag as much as you can, so that we are not going

:46:06. > :46:12.to the like we saw in the single sculls, vast difference of dissent

:46:13. > :46:21.-- distance here but the middle 1000 will get choppy. Lehner one, the far

:46:22. > :46:27.side, we're watching the British crew, Sinclair and Innes. Romania

:46:28. > :46:31.lead, Palamariu in the stroke seat. Let me show you the difference. They

:46:32. > :46:36.were 11th at Poznan, the last World Cup regatta and this British crew

:46:37. > :46:41.were third. Here they are, they have stepped up, Romania, but inside

:46:42. > :46:45.them, Germain Chardin and Dorian Mortelette have stepped up with 500.

:46:46. > :46:54.Its one quarter down in this heat number two. The British are under

:46:55. > :46:57.pressure now. It's the French crew. Olympic silver-medallists out inlay

:46:58. > :47:03.number four, looks like Netherlands are starting to struggle. That's

:47:04. > :47:09.Steenman and brass. In the stroke scene we are looking across the

:47:10. > :47:13.course. The rate on the left-hand side, but -- Great Britain have 34,

:47:14. > :47:17.Netherlands 37. Great Britain cannot afford to come down below 34,

:47:18. > :47:21.because you have to keep the boat light, as light as you can. You

:47:22. > :47:29.can't have it heavy going into heavy water, just keep it light and

:47:30. > :47:35.lively. The French have discovered, they were civil medallists in 2013,

:47:36. > :47:39.European silver-medallists in 2015 and they have found their form and

:47:40. > :47:43.the two persistent performers during the season, arguably with the

:47:44. > :47:47.British and Dutch and they are at the back of the field. I think in

:47:48. > :47:50.the British case that their season may have taken more out of them

:47:51. > :47:54.because they are battling to get selected. They had to, they

:47:55. > :47:59.front-loaded their season a bit and they may not be able to have two

:48:00. > :48:02.massive spikes but what the French have done is peak for the big

:48:03. > :48:08.occasion, that said everyone is about to enter the minefield of the

:48:09. > :48:16.middle 1000. Alan Sinclair to your right Stuart in as for the stroke

:48:17. > :48:26.seat. The halfway mark. 1000 down, 1000 to go.

:48:27. > :48:33.It is sensational for an opening league by Chardin and Mortelette,

:48:34. > :48:42.they have kicked it on. In the third 500 they will be running into some

:48:43. > :48:49.difficult water. They are going to tap the water and you want to keep

:48:50. > :48:56.the tap to the water a minimum. That is quick. It is not just the fact

:48:57. > :49:02.they are a long way ahead, three minutes and 15 at half weight is a

:49:03. > :49:13.decent time. They are way inside the world record. The Brits have started

:49:14. > :49:17.to show the strength and depth there is in the British team and have come

:49:18. > :49:21.through the field to take second place. These guys finished in the

:49:22. > :49:39.bronze medal position last year. They are in second place position,

:49:40. > :49:43.this is OK, this is all right for Great Britain. Again, just staying

:49:44. > :49:50.relaxed, keeping it loose, making sure they put the pressure on

:49:51. > :49:55.Romania. Palamariu in the stroke seat. 11th in the World

:49:56. > :49:58.Championships last year. Great Britain should be better than the

:49:59. > :50:03.remaining crew. They should be better. They will be pleased with

:50:04. > :50:09.the distance they have caught on the Dutch crew, but they will be shocked

:50:10. > :50:20.about how far behind they are from the French. 500 remaining and

:50:21. > :50:24.Britain are in second place. Three of the four will go through to the

:50:25. > :50:28.semifinal. But when they came down here to race today it would have

:50:29. > :50:33.been on their mind that it is important to win the opening heat.

:50:34. > :50:37.It is not a personal statement to yourself, but to the rest of the

:50:38. > :50:41.world. They have been here for a week and they are have been training

:50:42. > :50:49.and they are looking forward to the race day. They want to make a mark

:50:50. > :50:54.and without presuming too much, New Zealand are the defending champion

:50:55. > :50:59.chips and they are undefeated since 2009. It is difficult to see how

:51:00. > :51:04.they will be beaten. If everyone is racing for silver, you want to be at

:51:05. > :51:10.the top of that and at the moment the French are looking very sharp.

:51:11. > :51:23.Chardin and Mortelette I'm moving on. They know they have got this

:51:24. > :51:29.well and truly grabbed. The battle for second place is between Great

:51:30. > :51:33.Britain and Rumania. The key thing is to watch the French reaction when

:51:34. > :51:37.they crossed the line. I want to know if they knew that they were

:51:38. > :51:45.going to do that today or if it was a surprise for them. Over the line

:51:46. > :51:51.and France is first and Great Britain are still battling to hold

:51:52. > :51:59.onto second place. If they hold on, both Great Britain and Rumania will

:52:00. > :52:06.go through to the semifinal. Those three crews are safely through. What

:52:07. > :52:10.did you make of that? They survived and they beat one boat to get

:52:11. > :52:16.through to the next round and that is all you can really say about

:52:17. > :52:19.that. The French road through the water fantastically and controlled

:52:20. > :52:23.the conditions, which is what you have got to do. Whatever the

:52:24. > :52:27.conditions, you have got to be able to beat it and our guys struggled,

:52:28. > :52:35.but they are through to the next round. Practically everybody in this

:52:36. > :52:40.event is rowing for silver. Barring a plague of locusts, which is

:52:41. > :52:44.unlikely, Murray and bonds are going to win this. They have won 66 races

:52:45. > :52:51.in a row and we will be seeing them in a few minutes per. Is it possible

:52:52. > :52:57.to put into context how good they are and how good they still are.

:52:58. > :53:02.They are the best of the best. They are two dedicated individuals who

:53:03. > :53:06.get the most out of the boat. They sometimes look clumsy and awkward

:53:07. > :53:10.and you think it does not work, but it does work and it works extremely

:53:11. > :53:15.well and they repeated over and over again. They are slightly different

:53:16. > :53:20.personalities. One is a real driver and wants to take it to a new level

:53:21. > :53:26.and the other wants to cruise it a little bit, but between them they

:53:27. > :53:29.are amazing. The French think they will have a chance of being

:53:30. > :53:35.favourites to be silver medallists in a couple of days' time. From a

:53:36. > :53:39.British point of view may be bronze is the best they are looking at, but

:53:40. > :53:49.a lot can happen between now and the final. In terms of Murray and bond,

:53:50. > :53:54.they scare of everybody else. People who are good rowers, who might

:53:55. > :54:00.potentially be in the men's' pair, they are told there is no point

:54:01. > :54:06.because you will not be these guys and they put them somewhere else. We

:54:07. > :54:10.have got our best guys in the pair towards the last Olympiad and they

:54:11. > :54:15.got beaten by them every time, so they went back into the four and

:54:16. > :54:22.made the four the first boat and we have made the pair the weakest part

:54:23. > :54:24.of our rowing boats. Our parents still has an outside chance of

:54:25. > :54:30.getting a medal. That is what happens. Our best guys out in the

:54:31. > :54:37.four, but sometimes they go in the eight. Because we have been swapping

:54:38. > :54:41.over the last few World Championships nobody is sure if we

:54:42. > :54:50.are putting our best boat in the eight or the four. These two dies, I

:54:51. > :54:55.am not sure if you can bet on rowing events, but if you could there would

:54:56. > :55:00.be no odds on this. You would not get any odds at all. -- these two

:55:01. > :55:20.guys. There was a false start. If you pressed against it, an alarm

:55:21. > :55:43.goes off. For Eric and Hamish it is a

:55:44. > :55:47.continuation of a major record. We will go back to the odds on them and

:55:48. > :55:54.before I flew out I looked at the odds on the Kiwi pair. The odds on

:55:55. > :56:01.them winning our 1-50 on. You have got to put a fair amount of cash on

:56:02. > :56:10.to get any return. If you watched the men's singles heats earlier,

:56:11. > :56:19.Murray be one of the winners of those heats. They are strong and

:56:20. > :56:23.they are light and they row well. The difference between their best

:56:24. > :56:28.performance and their worst is very small. They are fast when they are

:56:29. > :56:29.good and they are fast when they are bad and that makes them very hard to

:56:30. > :56:40.race against. Individuals start Italy got out of

:56:41. > :56:57.the blocks pretty quickly. Their speed does not drop from the

:56:58. > :56:59.first and the second. By about 1000 they are clearly in the lead will

:57:00. > :57:27.stop they are hungry either European champions and

:57:28. > :57:45.they have got decent form for the year.

:57:46. > :57:48.Focused again. Coming under starter's orders for the second

:57:49. > :58:06.time. The eyes of the world are on lane

:58:07. > :58:14.three, the defending Olympic champions, undefeated since 2009.

:58:15. > :58:21.Eric Murray and Hamish Bond. To the right is Italy in lane one, Serbia

:58:22. > :58:28.in lane two and to their left are hungry. Three go through to qualify

:58:29. > :58:35.for the semifinals. The Lagoa Stadium, there is a wonderful view,

:58:36. > :58:42.but the conditions have not matched the setting. We will see Eric and

:58:43. > :58:46.Hamish go out reasonably quickly, but they are never the fastest out

:58:47. > :58:50.of the blocks. The Italians are doing what the Italians do best,

:58:51. > :58:56.they go out very quickly and they fly. Abagnale and Di Costanzo are

:58:57. > :59:05.new pair, put together at the last minute, following a suspension for

:59:06. > :59:17.doping offences from another row earlier in the season.

:59:18. > :59:25.The Italians leading the Olympic and world champions, but my guess is

:59:26. > :59:32.that will not be for long. They are already starting to inch back. They

:59:33. > :59:38.will be through and they will be off. Whatever the conditions get

:59:39. > :59:44.like, they will relentlessly powered through them. This should be a good

:59:45. > :59:48.race because New Zealand has won the World Championships and the Serbians

:59:49. > :59:52.were third, the Italians with a different crew were fifth and the

:59:53. > :59:58.Hungarians are world champions, so it should be fairly close.

:59:59. > :00:05.Stretching out in the first 500 metres.

:00:06. > :00:11.It's coming under the command of the New Zealand pair, all going

:00:12. > :00:14.according to plan. We beat them up occasionally, you guys do afterwards

:00:15. > :00:19.and interview them afterwards and say it was a slow 500, the only

:00:20. > :00:25.criticism we could find is they don't get out very quickly. They get

:00:26. > :00:28.going and then they have blistering speed. You can see the difference

:00:29. > :00:34.between going out fast and holding it, and going out too far and not

:00:35. > :00:37.being elder hold it because the Italians have not only let the New

:00:38. > :00:41.Zealanders through but they are getting pressured by Serbia as well.

:00:42. > :00:45.There's no point, it's a 2,000-metre race, being fussed over 500 metres

:00:46. > :00:49.is irrelevant if you can't hold it and at the moment the Italians are

:00:50. > :00:54.having more gas in their body and when it gets rough and the boats are

:00:55. > :00:59.getting wobbly and tension creeps in. Since 2009 in this combination,

:01:00. > :01:04.the most important part, the fascinating part for me is the next

:01:05. > :01:07.200 or 500 metres, how they deal with the conditions here, all their

:01:08. > :01:13.preparation, however dominant they have been, we have to see them be

:01:14. > :01:19.tested and this will be their first test in terms of conditions.

:01:20. > :01:25.Halfway, 1000 down, 1000 to go, the men's pair, the opening heat at the

:01:26. > :01:28.2016 Olympic Games by just over a length, New Zealand are defending

:01:29. > :01:34.and world champions leading the Italians, Serbia inlay number two,

:01:35. > :01:40.Savic and Bedik, we expect them to come through, the Hungarians are

:01:41. > :01:49.inlay number four. At the moment struggling with it. Simon and Juhasz

:01:50. > :01:54.in the Hungarian crew. They are down. Since going through halfway,

:01:55. > :02:00.there, the New Zealanders have slowed -- are slower than the

:02:01. > :02:04.French. The French are through in 3.15, New Zealand 3.16, so the

:02:05. > :02:08.French didn't just have a good row, they had a very good rail and if you

:02:09. > :02:11.look at the way the Kiwis are stretching out in the third 500,

:02:12. > :02:15.that's what the French are doing so they are recovering the 2012 form,

:02:16. > :02:20.the French, unfortunately it wasn't good enough to match these boys but

:02:21. > :02:23.what they do well and this is something that is really

:02:24. > :02:27.underestimated, is they are the ones that have to push the boundaries on,

:02:28. > :02:32.because no one is challenging. It's up to them to make the move forward.

:02:33. > :02:38.What they are doing very well is pushed training hard, they made the

:02:39. > :02:43.worst date training worse than any day in racing and in bad conditions

:02:44. > :02:46.that is what helps you. They have done nasty training sessions, they

:02:47. > :02:52.have to post the times to scare the opposition and that's what, they are

:02:53. > :02:58.hard solves all day everyday over four years and when it comes to like

:02:59. > :03:00.this they will eat them for breakfast. There was an early bit of

:03:01. > :03:04.pressure from the French going through the 500-metre mark, but 1000

:03:05. > :03:10.metres on as way going to last quarter that has been well and truly

:03:11. > :03:15.dealt with. New Zealand's Murray and Bond, Eric is 34 years of age,

:03:16. > :03:18.Hamish is 30 years of age, in the stroke seat, arguably the better and

:03:19. > :03:27.stronger, the drive of this crew here. It's taking apart this opening

:03:28. > :03:34.heat. The Italians have a good first 500, a great third 500. Really

:03:35. > :03:38.impressed with the Italians to withstand the Serbia. Serbia have

:03:39. > :03:45.fallen in, capsized! I've never seen that! I don't think this is what you

:03:46. > :03:55.would choose! That shows you how clever, how relaxed you have to be,

:03:56. > :04:01.they probably caught a buoy and stopped the boat dead. They have one

:04:02. > :04:05.on each side and if you mark-up, you will flip. I can honestly say I've

:04:06. > :04:12.never seen that in an Olympic Games! They will catch Italy, they have

:04:13. > :04:20.looked out! What happens in terms of the finish? I'm not sure, they can

:04:21. > :04:27.swim, get back in, or... For another chance. We're down to three boats

:04:28. > :04:32.that will qualify by virtue of the Serbians. Hungarians, I would buy a

:04:33. > :04:36.Brazilian lottery ticket because they were going to beat last at that

:04:37. > :04:43.point. They have had massive luck, they have got the semifinal and a

:04:44. > :04:49.day off. Over the line safely as we thought, dealt with the middle 1000,

:04:50. > :04:53.the defending champions have opened that 2016 Olympic account in fine

:04:54. > :04:57.form, the Italians in second place and by default more than anything

:04:58. > :05:01.else, Hungary are getting third. The Hungarians paddle up to the finish

:05:02. > :05:08.line. There it is, but the main focus after the humour of Serbia

:05:09. > :05:13.falling in is that Eric Murray and Hamish Bond open their 2016 Olympic

:05:14. > :05:19.account as they finished their 2016 World Cup campaign. Before that, who

:05:20. > :05:24.was working the hardest, the French New Zealanders? The French looked as

:05:25. > :05:28.though they were working harder. There was half a second difference.

:05:29. > :05:33.But the New Zealanders always look as if they are on it. They look

:05:34. > :05:38.ruthless in terms of being on it and that's the most important thing.

:05:39. > :05:43.It's all about scaring and New Zealand scared their opposition in a

:05:44. > :05:47.big way. That was bombed and Marie's 67th

:05:48. > :05:52.consecutive victory in a major regatta which is extraordinary --

:05:53. > :05:57.Bond and Marie. That will be the picture, that bit of footage will be

:05:58. > :06:02.in every montage of the opening day of the Olympic Games and when it's

:06:03. > :06:06.all over, in two Sundays time and Clare or Hazel say let's look back

:06:07. > :06:09.at the Olympics of 2016, that picture will be in there of the poor

:06:10. > :06:16.Serbian pair, upside down in the water. Gary surmised perhaps they

:06:17. > :06:19.had struck a buoy, could anything have happened, Steve?

:06:20. > :06:24.STEVE REDGRAVE: I don't think they hit a buoy, once

:06:25. > :06:27.you have that one or bouncing on your side of the boat you are only

:06:28. > :06:32.controlling the bounce on one side of the boat and when you get out to

:06:33. > :06:36.the catch, if you hit the water at that point it can flip you very

:06:37. > :06:41.quickly. As I said earlier, the pairs have more problems in this

:06:42. > :06:48.than the singles. I don't know if we can look all the way down the

:06:49. > :06:51.course, about 600 metres or so from the end, however far it was, they

:06:52. > :06:56.are still there and still swimming in the water. James alluded to the

:06:57. > :07:00.fact it's not the best water to be swimming in. Of the rules are

:07:01. > :07:04.supposed to be, they are supposed to get in the boat and finish the

:07:05. > :07:07.course, or they are not allowed to go through to the next round. They

:07:08. > :07:11.have to be helped back in the boat and finish the race, which delays

:07:12. > :07:14.racing again. Hopefully they will clear them off the course and let

:07:15. > :07:18.them in the repechage. A rescue boat has gone down to see them at the

:07:19. > :07:22.moment and it's not easy, without being silly, it's not easy getting

:07:23. > :07:29.back in one of those without assistance. It's not easy getting in

:07:30. > :07:32.them on the bank, on a pontoon! We suspect there will be delayed as a

:07:33. > :07:36.delay as the consequence to get the pair back off the course and whether

:07:37. > :07:42.that means they are able to go through to the semifinals, we will

:07:43. > :07:46.find out. Repechage. We will look ahead to what is happening in the

:07:47. > :07:49.next race, which is the women's double sculls and it features

:07:50. > :07:54.Katherine Grainger, one of the Golden girls of London 2012. This is

:07:55. > :07:57.her fifth Olympic Games here, it's been an interesting three or four

:07:58. > :08:01.years deciding whether she was going to return to the arena and compete

:08:02. > :08:04.here in Rio but finally, she did, here she is and we will see her in

:08:05. > :08:22.action very shortly. This is not the life I planned for

:08:23. > :08:27.myself, I didn't plan to be a five-time Olympic. The whole

:08:28. > :08:30.experience is phenomenal, the racing was intense, electric, the most

:08:31. > :08:34.exciting racing you'll get. The women's team had never won and

:08:35. > :08:40.Olympic medal in any colour, so to win a silver was just incredible. We

:08:41. > :08:41.were new -- we knew we were making history.

:08:42. > :08:46.COMMENTATOR: The best performance by a British

:08:47. > :08:50.boat ever. You get something tangible for all your efforts, your

:08:51. > :08:53.blood, sweat and tears. You get something to take home for the rest

:08:54. > :09:00.of your life and it changed women's rowing from that point onwards.

:09:01. > :09:03.Athens was special, in comparison to my first Games there was more

:09:04. > :09:07.expectation from ourselves as well. We knew if we got it absolutely

:09:08. > :09:10.right there was a chance. COMMENTATOR:

:09:11. > :09:15.The spirited row from Great Britain. We gave it the best race we had on

:09:16. > :09:18.that day. I don't think it was the best race we had ever done. It

:09:19. > :09:22.wasn't as joyful as Sydney because I'd been there and got silver

:09:23. > :09:25.already so there was a sense of it could go better and there was a

:09:26. > :09:29.chance you could come back with gold, so Athens is one of my

:09:30. > :09:36.proudest medals but it is tinged slightly with what might have been.

:09:37. > :09:42.COMMENTATOR: Is cool, calm and collected from

:09:43. > :09:49.Katherine Grainger. Beijing summed up how much in Britain our spook --

:09:50. > :09:53.world sport had moved on in eight years. In Sydney, in 2000, that

:09:54. > :09:56.medal was celebrated by everyone. In eight years on, it represented

:09:57. > :10:00.failure. COMMENTATOR:

:10:01. > :10:06.They have never won a gold medal, could this be the time? We led the

:10:07. > :10:08.field and to be rowed through in the dying stages in front of those

:10:09. > :10:15.incredible crowds was heartbreaking. It was why there were four broken

:10:16. > :10:19.women on that podium. The emotion is absolutely flooding out here from

:10:20. > :10:24.the British quad. To walk away with the result that you didn't go to

:10:25. > :10:28.achieve is... Honestly it took me months to come to terms with, it

:10:29. > :10:33.affected me personally as much as professionally. I remember thinking

:10:34. > :10:37.if I'm going to go again, I did not want to be driven by that ghost of

:10:38. > :10:42.Beijing. Going forward to London, it was never about proving something

:10:43. > :10:47.right -- or putting something right, for me, London was a whole different

:10:48. > :10:52.experience. I did sleep the night before. I did sleep. As soon as the

:10:53. > :10:57.alarm went off I knew instantly it was the Olympic final morning. Life

:10:58. > :11:01.to be defined in the next six and a half minutes. I knew we were where

:11:02. > :11:05.we wanted to be, the race was going off I wanted it to go. I did not

:11:06. > :11:09.connect that to the fact we would Olympic -- we would win the Olympic

:11:10. > :11:15.Games. Ladies and gentlemen, what we are seeing right now is that dreams

:11:16. > :11:19.do come true! Olympic champions, Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins.

:11:20. > :11:23.It was the dream come true for me, it was pitch perfect. All those

:11:24. > :11:29.experiences, those incredible highs, lows, tears, fighting back, going

:11:30. > :11:33.back again, every single agonising second was worth it for that moment.

:11:34. > :11:37.Most people assumed that would be the end, why would you go on beyond

:11:38. > :11:43.the perfect finished of the perfect story? If I was done, I would have

:11:44. > :11:46.been happy to walk away, but I'm not done. So she is not done, which is

:11:47. > :11:51.why she is down at the start right now for the first heat, for her and

:11:52. > :11:52.for Vicky Thornley in the women's double sculls. Let's go to James and

:11:53. > :12:01.Gary. COMMENTATOR:

:12:02. > :12:07.They are under starter's orders, Thornley and Grainger in lane number

:12:08. > :12:13.two. Here we go. Will it be a fairy tale ending to what has been quite a

:12:14. > :12:16.torrid comeback over last year and particularly since Christmas? For

:12:17. > :12:21.the defending Olympic champion, Katherine Grainger, in the stroke

:12:22. > :12:24.seat, backed up by Victoria Thornley, Great Britain are in lane

:12:25. > :12:30.number two and around them they have a world of experience. Lithuania in

:12:31. > :12:34.one, Great Britain two, Denmark and three, France in four, Germany in

:12:35. > :12:40.lane number five. On paper, Great Britain should be the better boat

:12:41. > :12:44.but the Lithuanians, first in Lucerne, they are the top on form

:12:45. > :12:48.boat going into this here. Conditions can change things

:12:49. > :12:52.enormously. But so too can the drive and the will to step on and that's

:12:53. > :12:55.what we are seeing now, Katherine Grainger and Victoria Thornley in

:12:56. > :13:00.the bow seat there, Great Britain half a length up in lane number two.

:13:01. > :13:07.Brilliant start. This is what we want, we want confidence affirming

:13:08. > :13:11.results now, racing heat, five boats, three to go through to the

:13:12. > :13:15.semifinal, but it's not good enough for Grainger and Thornley just to

:13:16. > :13:23.scraping and have excuses and ifs, Watts and buts, for Thornley as well

:13:24. > :13:27.as the top single scholar in the British team they want to come out

:13:28. > :13:31.here and make a big mark. They are doing it by now, coming towards the

:13:32. > :13:38.end of the first 500 mark. It's a great start for the British.

:13:39. > :13:45.They've had a bad season, from originally coming forth at the

:13:46. > :13:49.European Championships, then being trialled for the aid, not getting in

:13:50. > :13:53.the aid, finding themselves back in the double and this will give them a

:13:54. > :13:58.huge amount of confidence. If they can put themselves in this kind of

:13:59. > :14:02.position, going through halfway, because there's not a New Zealand

:14:03. > :14:06.pair in this event that's dominant, everyone is beating everyone else,

:14:07. > :14:12.so Catherine's reputation and her previous success, if she's in the

:14:13. > :14:15.mix with six, 700 or 800 metres left, other boats will think they

:14:16. > :14:19.are back in form and they will crack people but they have to be in the

:14:20. > :14:24.race and they are doing exactly that, stamping their authority on

:14:25. > :14:29.the heat. One crew to watch in the second 500 metres, Germany, Arnold

:14:30. > :14:32.and Adams, this is a crew that has been sacrificed for the greater good

:14:33. > :14:39.of the German women's quad coming into this, coming out of the World

:14:40. > :14:43.Cup season, there was a different combination. They have been

:14:44. > :14:47.reshuffled around to make sure that the women's quad in Germany goes a

:14:48. > :14:55.lot quicker. At the moment the German quad are up there but so too

:14:56. > :14:58.Lithuania, out on the far side. Vistartaite and Valciukaite in lane

:14:59. > :15:00.number one have the power and pressure, well and truly pressed

:15:01. > :15:11.against the stern of the British crew. The bow seat, 27 years of rate

:15:12. > :15:14.-- age, there were first in Lucerne, they are the form crew for this year

:15:15. > :15:23.and the British are leading them out.

:15:24. > :15:32.The British are stuck. They had a length and the Lithuanians have held

:15:33. > :15:36.them. There is a slight fragility in the mindset. But they are still half

:15:37. > :15:40.a length to the good and this is where they need to push on and

:15:41. > :15:53.reassert their dominance in the field. So, kicking in. Usually it is

:15:54. > :15:58.all about relaxation. For this double it is relaxation, but it is

:15:59. > :16:01.kicking on now. It is psychologically saying in these

:16:02. > :16:06.conditions we are the crew that can cope with them better and we are

:16:07. > :16:11.going to throw everything at this. But Lithuania are right on there.

:16:12. > :16:17.Into the second 500 they had the overlap and here they are sitting

:16:18. > :16:22.right on their shoulders. France, Germany and Denmark, all of these

:16:23. > :16:27.crews could do well. France were third at Poznan in the last World

:16:28. > :16:35.Cup regatta and Great Britain were fifth. Expect the French to come

:16:36. > :16:46.back through hard as well. The French as a nation have a good back

:16:47. > :16:51.third of race. The Italians go out hard. The British have started to

:16:52. > :16:57.hold the Lithuanians again. It will be interesting to see the battle. A

:16:58. > :17:02.lot will be gained by the British winning this heat, not just the draw

:17:03. > :17:08.for the next round, but mentally they will gain a lot if can lead and

:17:09. > :17:16.retain the lead. We are coming up to 1500 metres. That last shot just

:17:17. > :17:22.shows you that the British are holding off Lithuania, but they are

:17:23. > :17:25.having to fight to hold off. They come out of the significantly worst

:17:26. > :17:31.water and they come into some sort of cover a little bit and now the

:17:32. > :17:37.British have got to move again. This is only a heat, we are in the early

:17:38. > :17:43.stages of this regatta, but it is so important for Katherine Grainger. It

:17:44. > :17:46.is only a heat, but this is so important mentally. This could be

:17:47. > :17:51.the difference between mentally believing they can get a medal and

:17:52. > :18:00.delivering on a medal. The Lithuanians have gone through. This

:18:01. > :18:06.is a fight here. It should be about 400 metres and 300 metres and 200

:18:07. > :18:11.metres. The French court a crab on the left-hand side.

:18:12. > :18:14.Ravera-Scaramozzino in the stroke seat just caught a crab and that

:18:15. > :18:23.might be the end of them, but they are coming back again. It is 250 out

:18:24. > :18:28.and it is Lithuania over Great Britain with France coming right on

:18:29. > :18:33.us. There is no way third is going to be enough. What they have done

:18:34. > :18:38.now is they have let Lithuania have the mental edge and they need to

:18:39. > :18:45.keep storming back. They need to push them right to the line. All the

:18:46. > :18:51.experience that Katherine Grainger has and all the finesse that

:18:52. > :18:56.Thornley has in the bow street, it is about sprinting. Keep the length

:18:57. > :19:00.and heads up. It is one last push and they are in second place, but

:19:01. > :19:09.the French are coming at them with such speed. The French are up almost

:19:10. > :19:16.level. The Lithuanians are hanging on. It is Lithuania, Great Britain

:19:17. > :19:22.and France. On any other day that would be a final, but I remind you

:19:23. > :19:28.that is a heat, but it is an important heat for Great Britain to

:19:29. > :19:34.win. Let's not be too negative. In second place, James, should they

:19:35. > :19:39.have won that or is that OK? With second place if you had stopped the

:19:40. > :19:44.race at halfway, you would have said Great Britain would be disappointed

:19:45. > :19:48.not to have come first. If they had come back to lose by half a second

:19:49. > :19:55.it would be positive. Right now they have got the boat speed, but not the

:19:56. > :20:00.endurance. The first good contest we have had on the opening day of the

:20:01. > :20:04.competition. What did you make up what James was saying about the

:20:05. > :20:09.positives and negatives? They had to make a statement and they have not

:20:10. > :20:13.made a statement in the doubles for the last two years. They have got

:20:14. > :20:16.the capability and the pedigree and they have been medallists and number

:20:17. > :20:22.of times and they have to do it together. That was the first time we

:20:23. > :20:26.saw some fighting instead of going through the motions. You could see

:20:27. > :20:33.the great and the determination and in those conditions it is not the

:20:34. > :20:37.best to pull that off. It is a big positive because they have moved on,

:20:38. > :20:45.but they will still not be happy with that. Is that event one where

:20:46. > :20:49.anybody can beat anybody on the day? Near enough, everybody has beaten

:20:50. > :20:54.everybody earlier this season, but our girls have not beaten anybody,

:20:55. > :20:58.but at least they are in the frame. We have got three more British crews

:20:59. > :21:08.in action and we will tell you how they got on in a couple of moments.

:21:09. > :21:17.Who is the first winner of a gold medal at the Rio Olympics? It has

:21:18. > :21:20.come in the women's ten metres air rifle and she is a 19-year-old

:21:21. > :21:28.student from West Virginia and she has beaten the last two Olympic

:21:29. > :21:37.champions from China. The London winner got bronze. Congratulations

:21:38. > :21:44.to Ginny Thrasher. That is a fact you have got to store away for the

:21:45. > :21:49.pub quiz. She will remember that. America have hit the top of the

:21:50. > :21:54.medal table and they are favourites to be at the top at the end of the

:21:55. > :22:03.games. They topped the table in London. In terms of total medals won

:22:04. > :22:08.they have not been knocked off their perch since 1992. If you are having

:22:09. > :22:13.a bit of trouble accessing the Red Button coverage of the road race,

:22:14. > :22:17.our apologies. It depends on the age of your technology. This comes from

:22:18. > :22:24.a woman who can hardly work your smartphone. It is available via any

:22:25. > :22:29.connected device online and on the app and on the BBC website and we

:22:30. > :22:37.will be going back to live coverage at 5:15pm on BBC One. Now it is time

:22:38. > :22:42.to talk about judo. Many of you will remember in London there was a

:22:43. > :22:49.thirst to quench a drought in judo and we did not win just one medal,

:22:50. > :22:52.we won two thanks to Gemma Gibbons and Karina Bryant. They are not here

:22:53. > :22:55.this time, but seven British athletes are on the first one in

:22:56. > :23:03.action is Ashley McKenzie from Surrey in the men's 60 K category,

:23:04. > :23:07.the lightest of all the weights. He is interesting because he got into

:23:08. > :23:19.judo after getting into a fight over a Pokemon, would you believe. Are

:23:20. > :23:30.you ready? Let's do it. I am loud and flamboyant, if that is the word.

:23:31. > :23:41.I am lovable, you know. I think I am a good boy.

:23:42. > :23:46.He is called the ban by Olympian. London was an experience for me.

:23:47. > :23:51.Ashley McKenzie's Olympic dreams and on the mat on his back. I spent all

:23:52. > :23:58.my years trying to get there, I had so much trouble for my behaviour and

:23:59. > :24:02.I got banned from British studio, but going into Rio is completely

:24:03. > :24:08.different. I am ready, stronger and more mature about things, as you can

:24:09. > :24:15.see. When you were growing at you had several health problems. I had

:24:16. > :24:20.quite a lot to be fair. I have OCD, I used to have hearing aid, I had a

:24:21. > :24:27.hole in my heart when I was born. My mum said she had to give me mouth to

:24:28. > :24:30.mouth. I said, what? I am a bit messed up, but those are the

:24:31. > :24:36.problems I had to deal with and some people do not know half of it. When

:24:37. > :24:45.they judge me, you better know your book before you read it. How are you

:24:46. > :24:50.here as an elite athlete? You know what, I have got drive, I want to be

:24:51. > :24:55.successful, my aim is to be an Olympian as many times as I can, and

:24:56. > :24:59.after that I want to be a businessman. I want to be the best

:25:00. > :25:01.of the best. Whatever I have got to do to get there, I am willing to do

:25:02. > :25:17.it. Simple. Describe how important judo is in

:25:18. > :25:21.your life? Judo has made my life. Where would I be without it today?

:25:22. > :25:25.Probably in prison, doing something I shouldn't be doing, shall I say.

:25:26. > :25:31.Judo made me. I wouldn't be nowhere without the sport.

:25:32. > :25:38.COMMENTATOR: It's all over, Ashley McKenzie wins

:25:39. > :25:45.the gold. It's good to see you have been winning medals since London,

:25:46. > :25:50.you've been prepared, how are you prepared to win a medal now? I'm

:25:51. > :25:58.ready, I'm aggressive. I'm mean that a fight. I want to have the gold

:25:59. > :26:00.round my neck I'm positive I will get a medal and that's the way

:26:01. > :26:10.forward, onwards and upwards. We have the picture, Ashley. He is

:26:11. > :26:13.fighting a Turkish opponent. Let's reacquaint you with the finer points

:26:14. > :26:16.of this sport that you probably don't see very often, maybe even

:26:17. > :26:31.once every four years. Judo was developed in the late 19th

:26:32. > :26:35.century in Japan and has been an Olympic sport since Tokyo in 1964.

:26:36. > :26:39.Each contest in judo has a duration of five minutes for men, or four

:26:40. > :26:44.minutes for women. If scores are level at the end of the contest,

:26:45. > :26:48.they enter golden score, where there is no time limit and the first score

:26:49. > :26:54.or penalty awarded will decide the contest. The highest scoring

:26:55. > :27:00.technique is it on, which instantly wins contest. It can be achieved in

:27:01. > :27:03.four ways, throwing an opponent with impact on their back with

:27:04. > :27:08.considerable force and speed, pinning and holding down an opponent

:27:09. > :27:14.for 20 seconds with selected holding techniques, when an opponent submits

:27:15. > :27:25.or gives up, or scoring two against the opponent.

:27:26. > :27:37.Waza-ari can be achieved in two ways.

:27:38. > :27:44.You can hold an opponent down for 10-14 seconds. It's a knockout

:27:45. > :27:48.competition, all the competitors are divided into two tables, the top

:27:49. > :27:51.eight athletes for each weight category will be seeded in line with

:27:52. > :27:52.their world rankings and the two finalists will compete for the gold

:27:53. > :28:11.and silver medals. McKenzie, Great Britain in white,

:28:12. > :28:20.Bekir Ozlu in blue. These are evenly matched. He's a totally different

:28:21. > :28:24.man, Ashley McKenzie, he has grown up a lot and put a lot of problems

:28:25. > :28:31.behind him. He had some brilliant judo and he can go left and right,

:28:32. > :28:34.he will score straightaway, scores with a right shoulder throw, he is

:28:35. > :28:42.more predominantly left but dropped right and took Bekir Ozlu over. He

:28:43. > :28:49.lost to Bekir Ozlu recently so that's a good start for Ashley

:28:50. > :28:55.McKenzie at this Olympic Games. They both finished with the same ranking,

:28:56. > :29:03.equal 17th, so on many levels, both 27 years of age, almost every level,

:29:04. > :29:07.so similar. Ashley will be one of the first to admit to you that he

:29:08. > :29:13.has had his problems and sometimes coping with the big one, the big

:29:14. > :29:16.event, he struggles, but here he is. He has given it his all and he can

:29:17. > :29:26.produce some absolutely brilliant judo. He's an outside medal champs

:29:27. > :29:30.despite being world ranked about 20. He absolutely is. If he can produce

:29:31. > :29:35.it and he can throw anybody, so anybody who can throw anybody, you

:29:36. > :29:42.just have to make sure you do it five different matches. So Bekir

:29:43. > :29:46.Ozlu looking for the inside attack and almost changes it to the other

:29:47. > :29:56.side there. McKenzie just manages to block it out. He has to just threw

:29:57. > :30:00.caution to the wind here, I think, McKenzie, and just fight to the best

:30:01. > :30:05.availability. I think that goes for Bekir Ozlu as well. I think we are

:30:06. > :30:09.looking at quite a few people, just that little bit of nerves, and you

:30:10. > :30:13.can see they are affected by it. It is the Olympic Games added to

:30:14. > :30:18.different event, that's all I can say to you. If you haven't done an

:30:19. > :30:21.Olympic Games, haven't walked out there, I call it the Olympic Tunnel

:30:22. > :30:28.syndrome but if you haven't done it it's something else. It's an out of

:30:29. > :30:33.bodies experience. Maybe later in the week I'll ask you what it's like

:30:34. > :30:38.to win two silver medals but we'll continue. I'll be glad to, it was

:30:39. > :30:47.losing two goals actually, but it really was that! We will talk about

:30:48. > :30:52.it later. -- two goals. You can tell them not to talk and give them a

:30:53. > :30:57.ringside seat, both coaches, as all the coaches, are having plenty to

:30:58. > :31:01.say. In fact Bekir Ozlu is not only listening but looking over at his

:31:02. > :31:05.coach so maybe eight tactical change here. It's a really good point,

:31:06. > :31:10.actually, a lot of people saying that, they want to be able to shout

:31:11. > :31:15.all the way through the match. But they have professionalised the game

:31:16. > :31:19.and this professional circuit they have for Olympic qualification, it

:31:20. > :31:23.looks clean and good, there's a lot of different martial arts following

:31:24. > :31:26.our lead, so that's a good thing. Now, Ashley McKenzie that almost

:31:27. > :31:33.came unstuck, tried to counter Bekir Ozlu back, Bekir Ozlu almost counted

:31:34. > :31:46.him backwards. Penalty goes up to McKenzie. But he is still winning by

:31:47. > :31:51.that yuko score. Halfway through, balance is important. You can

:31:52. > :31:55.absolutely with the score of -- with the power of these lads, maintain

:31:56. > :32:01.your balance on one leg. Not only that you can turn the line... It was

:32:02. > :32:05.accidental. McKenzie questioning his opponent but the referee not getting

:32:06. > :32:10.involved. It was an accident I think. You can turn the points of

:32:11. > :32:15.balance. It's all about balance, a power sport. The referee talking to

:32:16. > :32:20.the Turkish coach, he has had enough of him commentating. If he does it

:32:21. > :32:24.one more time he will you removed from the chair and he won't be able

:32:25. > :32:31.to go back in that chair for the rest of the time. It's pretty

:32:32. > :32:37.serious. The rest of the under 60 kilograms. The rest of the day. We

:32:38. > :32:43.have got one point apiece. Maybe the video referee getting involved do

:32:44. > :32:50.you think about? No? McKenzie got the score, it is two yukos upon the

:32:51. > :32:57.board before Turkey. The Turkish coach doesn't like it at all. So

:32:58. > :33:02.McKenzie dominating this, extreme left against extreme right and

:33:03. > :33:14.trying again there. The Turkish coach says that it should be an

:33:15. > :33:17.ippon to Bekir Ozlu. I think that's ambitious, personally. You have to

:33:18. > :33:21.get some kind of drive. The change in direction is important if you

:33:22. > :33:28.want to get the counter attacking, certainly if you want to get it

:33:29. > :33:39.scored. One minute and ten seconds, Ashley McKenzie, two yukos up. Now

:33:40. > :33:43.the coaches can shout. You called it, he is out of here, ladies and

:33:44. > :33:48.gentlemen. The Turkish coach has had plenty to say and continues to come

:33:49. > :33:52.of course! He is unlikely to close his mouth now, waving his arm in

:33:53. > :33:56.protest! What does this do? You don't want to see that, it's a

:33:57. > :34:02.different story, but what does it do to this man? He is on his own, it

:34:03. > :34:06.can do an awful lot depending on how much work you have done with your

:34:07. > :34:10.coach. It makes a massive difference and of course even now if Bekir Ozlu

:34:11. > :34:13.winds through, say he does, and then comes through to the later rounds,

:34:14. > :34:19.he will be out there on his own. He is not allowed back. Pretty serious

:34:20. > :34:22.stuff and the International judo Federation, the governing body, take

:34:23. > :34:29.it very seriously. It is interesting when you have that prime position,

:34:30. > :34:33.you have to cover you mention these terms a lot, you have to respect it,

:34:34. > :34:36.the whole sport is about respect and the athletes have to be full on

:34:37. > :34:42.discipline, well sadly the Turkish coach not showing the same level of

:34:43. > :34:48.that. It's edging towards a Great Britain victory here. I think it is

:34:49. > :34:53.and you can see he is clearly on the defensive now, but he has three

:34:54. > :34:57.yukos on the board and Ashley McKenzie, in his first match at this

:34:58. > :35:02.Olympic Games here in Rio doing a good job of it. Just picking his

:35:03. > :35:07.opponent off and Bekir Ozlu obviously affected by his coach

:35:08. > :35:11.being told to leave, but credit to Ashley McKenzie because he is doing

:35:12. > :35:17.a good job here. Good, solid tactical match and just doing enough

:35:18. > :35:23.technically. Right and left, you can see he's doing the left, it's a left

:35:24. > :35:28.shoulder throw, very, very low. Bekir Ozlu doesn't know what to do

:35:29. > :35:31.with him and it's going to be all over. He is lost without the coach

:35:32. > :35:37.there, it's only a small thing but when that's the way you perform it

:35:38. > :35:42.is a massive change. You do feel for him now. The referee getting

:35:43. > :35:47.involved just as the clock came, he is saying we are all good. He gets a

:35:48. > :35:51.penalty for dropping but it doesn't make any difference, that. He

:35:52. > :35:55.doesn't overrule the three scores he gets. He will go through to the next

:35:56. > :36:02.round, a good performance there from Ashley McKenzie of Great Britain.

:36:03. > :36:10.Bekir Ozlu of Turkey fought hard, his coach fought for him, they both

:36:11. > :36:14.lost and now Ashley McKenzie survives and is very happy about

:36:15. > :36:20.that, looks up to the sky and departs into the next round in the

:36:21. > :36:39.men's's 60 kilograms division. HAZEL IRVINE:

:36:40. > :36:42.Well played, Ashley, he goes on to face someone from Kazakhstan. In

:36:43. > :36:46.each category in which their event is taking place the whole thing

:36:47. > :36:48.takes place on the same day so that's when the preliminaries but

:36:49. > :36:49.all the medals will be awarded by the end

:36:50. > :36:54.all the medals will be awarded by the end of the day. History is being

:36:55. > :36:58.made in the Deodoro sportscaster and north of here, because it's the

:36:59. > :37:02.first time that Rugby sevens will be played at the Olympic Games. We will

:37:03. > :37:08.be going very shortly to see Great Britain in their first match against

:37:09. > :37:12.the hosts, Brazil, but they have recently just come down from the

:37:13. > :37:15.Olympic village there to make their preparations for their first match

:37:16. > :37:18.and to give you an idea of what it's like in the village we send Ore

:37:19. > :37:24.Oduba YouTube have a look around. You Ly-macro here we are, the

:37:25. > :37:28.athletes' village, around 10,000 athletes from 200 countries around

:37:29. > :37:34.the world, this is their first step to winning an Olympic gold, not

:37:35. > :37:40.least for our friends from TB -- Team GB towers. Let's go and look at

:37:41. > :37:50.how they are getting on. MUSIC

:37:51. > :37:55.I've got the shot. Rugby sevens girls are in the house. They seem in

:37:56. > :38:02.pretty good spirits as well, why wouldn't they? They have a Union

:38:03. > :38:05.Jack deckchairs down here. Mark, I love what you have done with the

:38:06. > :38:10.players. The great thing about an Olympic villages you get the space

:38:11. > :38:16.and you have the allotment to do what you like with. Who let Mark

:38:17. > :38:21.Gleghorne in? Give us a way, guys, good to see you. Haven't you got

:38:22. > :38:25.work to do? Oh, brilliant, we will see you in a jiffy. Spirit is the

:38:26. > :38:32.really good. It's a great buzz, everyone is excited and pleased to

:38:33. > :38:35.be here. Welcome to Rio. How are you finding it? Good, really good, the

:38:36. > :38:39.accommodation is brilliant, the place is amazing. We are getting

:38:40. > :38:41.started in a few days and we're looking forward to it. See you down

:38:42. > :38:50.there, take care. What's great about the villages is

:38:51. > :38:54.that you ever get lost just follow the flags. Check it out, we have

:38:55. > :38:59.Canada backing -- back there looking loud and proud and taking up that

:39:00. > :39:03.tower block, over here we have the Scandinavian quarter including

:39:04. > :39:08.Denmark, Finland and Sweden, who are very welcome. Over here we have

:39:09. > :39:17.Portugal down low and up top Slovenia feeling the love. Very

:39:18. > :39:29.good. That is what it is all about. Bring on the Great. It looks good on

:39:30. > :39:34.the tush. Lovely, out you get. I'm sure you are hoping it's a sport

:39:35. > :39:40.that will get used by the Team GB contingent. Certainly, we have set

:39:41. > :39:43.it up with 12-15 beds. We will have over 10,000 minutes of treatment

:39:44. > :39:51.through the day as we get into the Games is all the sports are

:39:52. > :39:55.encouraged to use it. This way. Look, there's a person in here!

:39:56. > :40:04.Looks, a person, you never know who you will find. Hello? OK. There they

:40:05. > :40:08.are. Good to see you. Thank you. I have to ask you about these guys,

:40:09. > :40:13.look at them, your team, your Olympic Rio 2016 team, it's a tight

:40:14. > :40:17.group you have here? Yes, it's great, we train together, compete

:40:18. > :40:21.together, we have been for years. This is our sixth trip out here as

:40:22. > :40:26.an Olympic squad, so we have been bonding really well full stop so far

:40:27. > :40:34.we haven't had any major issues. All right, here we are, I have got to,

:40:35. > :40:40.haven't I? Do you mind? Be my guest. It's been changed today, nice and

:40:41. > :40:44.clean. It's now tainted. If it's anything like London you will

:40:45. > :40:48.probably see a lot of the athletes with these. Team GB will take their

:40:49. > :40:56.bed sheets home with them, we shall see, we shall see. So they do have

:40:57. > :41:00.it, the village in all its glory, and by the sounds of it according to

:41:01. > :41:07.the athletes Team GB is definitely ready for Rio.

:41:08. > :41:11.He's incorrigible, taking a few liberties in the Team GB

:41:12. > :41:17.headquarters but loving every minute of it. I'm sure Emily and her team

:41:18. > :41:21.of rugby seven women are really looking forward to their debut here.

:41:22. > :41:26.Incidentally, you may have caught the fax five of them took off all of

:41:27. > :41:28.their clothes and women's magazine to promote healthy body

:41:29. > :41:32.consciousness just ahead of the Games, all delicately done of

:41:33. > :41:35.course. They are very happy to wear the entire team strip for their

:41:36. > :41:43.first match. Let's meet Emily and the Team GB women's rugby sevens

:41:44. > :41:50.team. Ewan-macro sevens is a game of speed, of pace and agility, but it's

:41:51. > :41:59.also about the power. How did that look? The game is brutal, to be

:42:00. > :42:04.honest. It's one of those games that is fast-paced, you have the normal

:42:05. > :42:08.15 game, the contact, scrums and line-outs but they are smaller. You

:42:09. > :42:12.have to be fast, agile and be super fit to play sevens. Some people

:42:13. > :42:18.think about rugby players and think about bulk, maybe. That isn't me,

:42:19. > :42:22.definitely not! I wasn't going to make personal comments, but you are

:42:23. > :42:30.quite slight. The quite a lot of sevens players are quite slim. It's

:42:31. > :42:34.a fast game, sprinting, fitness. You don't have to be big to play sevens.

:42:35. > :42:41.I seem to be the only one falling over. In your sport, what's the big

:42:42. > :42:45.rivalry? I don't know, Wales and England? That's not relevant on this

:42:46. > :42:49.occasion, you are all in one team. Absolutely not, we came in and

:42:50. > :42:57.bonded all so well, they are also welcoming. Obviously you have the

:42:58. > :43:00.rivalry between England, Scotland and Wales and one of the things

:43:01. > :43:04.coming in was how will the interaction of the squad be like,

:43:05. > :43:08.but it's been accepted -- it's been excellent. They are great friends

:43:09. > :43:12.now and it helps the process along. Rugby sevens is brand-new to this

:43:13. > :43:15.year's Olympic Games. It's a wonderful opportunity for the sport

:43:16. > :43:22.to be seen by millions worldwide and Team GB women are really up with a

:43:23. > :43:25.chance for medals. We are playing in the World Series throughout the year

:43:26. > :43:32.building to the Olympics at the end, won tournament, a couple of thirds.

:43:33. > :43:35.The girls are in a good place. If we get everything right and we put our

:43:36. > :43:39.planning in place and execute the best of our ability I think we have

:43:40. > :43:42.a great chance to medal and be right up there challenging with everyone

:43:43. > :43:48.else. It's a great, inclusive sport and to be put alongside great events

:43:49. > :43:51.of the Olympics. Do you think you might get gold? We are thinking

:43:52. > :43:54.about trying to get there but everything is on the table. There

:43:55. > :44:01.are some phenomenal sides but anything can happen. You can back

:44:02. > :44:05.Team GB, definitely. Finding out how committed the

:44:06. > :44:09.British women not because there. It was the full 15 aside version that

:44:10. > :44:13.is made its appearance at the Games in 1924, but the seven aside

:44:14. > :44:16.version, which originated in the Scottish Borders is making its debut

:44:17. > :44:26.at the Olympics as of today. Let's remind you of the basics.

:44:27. > :44:34.For the first time in the Olympic Games, rugby sevens will be a medal

:44:35. > :44:38.sport at Rio 2016. Played by both men and women, rugby sevens is

:44:39. > :44:41.contested by two teams of seven people. It involves teams carrying,

:44:42. > :44:45.passing, kicking and running with the ball with the aim to score as

:44:46. > :44:49.many points as possible. However, players are not allowed to pass the

:44:50. > :44:52.ball forward during play, only backwards, although they can pick

:44:53. > :45:00.the ball forward. There are different ways to score but a try

:45:01. > :45:02.scores five points when a player touches the ball down, on all beyond

:45:03. > :45:06.the opposing team's goal-line. After a try is scored the team also gets

:45:07. > :45:09.the chance to score for another two points with a conversion kick. If a

:45:10. > :45:13.foul is committed a penalty can be awarded and the team can choose to

:45:14. > :45:18.drop kicked the goal for three points. Drop kicks and conversions

:45:19. > :45:21.must bounce on the ground before the player kicks it. Matches are played

:45:22. > :45:25.over two hearts of seven minutes, with the exception of the medal

:45:26. > :45:29.matches, which are ten minutes per half. In the pool phase of the

:45:30. > :45:32.competition the top-ranked teams advance to the knockout phase

:45:33. > :45:35.Querrey scores level after regulation time, five minutes of

:45:36. > :45:39.extra time will be played. If there is still no winner a second period

:45:40. > :45:41.of extra time displayed but this is sudden death so as soon as one team

:45:42. > :45:53.scores, play ends. It is certainly not just kicking, it

:45:54. > :46:00.is running and a lot of tries and it is fast and furious and it is

:46:01. > :46:04.brilliant to watch. Those of you who watched it in the Commonwealth

:46:05. > :46:16.Games, where it made its debut, it was one of the standout attractions.

:46:17. > :46:23.It will be interesting to see the uptake in terms of the spectators.

:46:24. > :46:29.Brazil was given a place because it is the host in this competition,

:46:30. > :46:34.that there is not a strong tradition of rugby in the South American

:46:35. > :46:38.countries. Matthew Pinsent is up there, all ready for the start of

:46:39. > :46:43.this, and there has been some significant action. The uptake and

:46:44. > :46:51.the tickets, explained that and how well it has been going so far. The

:46:52. > :46:55.Diadora Stadium has a capacity of 14000 and you are seeing MPC is

:46:56. > :47:03.behind me, but do not be put off by that. I would say there are about

:47:04. > :47:10.5000 - 7000 in the stadium. -- empty seats. It is a reasonable uptake so

:47:11. > :47:15.far and we are hoping it will fill up through the afternoon and into

:47:16. > :47:21.the evening. All right on ticket so far. How highly regarded and ranked

:47:22. > :47:27.is the British team in comparison to some of the power hitters? I would

:47:28. > :47:33.hope that Britain are ranked fourth in this competition and I would hope

:47:34. > :47:39.they have enough to get past Brazil in the match we are about to watch.

:47:40. > :47:43.If they get out of the group, we are into the big-time. New Zealand got

:47:44. > :47:48.50 points in their opening pool match against Kenya, no surprise.

:47:49. > :47:53.You are thinking New Zealand and Australia and when we face them, it

:47:54. > :47:57.will be a different kettle of fish. We are looking forward to it and we

:47:58. > :48:02.are going to join Eddie Butler and Sir Clive Woodward for a history

:48:03. > :48:10.making match in Rugby sevens for Great Britain. Over to you.

:48:11. > :48:17.You mentioned the 1924 final, Hazel. There might be a contrast. That was

:48:18. > :48:20.15 aside and it was men and it was a brutal affair between the United

:48:21. > :48:26.States of America who beat France in the final. There was a crowd

:48:27. > :48:31.invasion at the end of the match and the French players had to protect

:48:32. > :48:36.the USA gold medallists from the onslaught of the French crowd.

:48:37. > :48:42.Different times. This is the Diadora Stadium. It is a beautiful, sunny

:48:43. > :48:46.day here and it is very hot. Sir Clive Woodward is alongside me and

:48:47. > :48:56.we have been enjoying New Zealand so far. New Zealand were fantastic. The

:48:57. > :49:03.athleticism of the girls and the power of the girls. France were not

:49:04. > :49:05.too far behind. This will boil up into a wonderful tournament,

:49:06. > :49:11.especially with the New Zealand team. This is what we have waited

:49:12. > :49:16.for, a wonderful moment for Team GB and the host nation Brazil. The

:49:17. > :49:21.Great Britain team have had time together. The men's team have not.

:49:22. > :49:27.They are brand-new to playing together. But the women have had a

:49:28. > :49:37.chance to amalgamate. It is basically the English team plus

:49:38. > :49:46.Jasmine Joyce of Wales. Five World Cup winners from two years ago. Plus

:49:47. > :49:50.we have got Jasmine Joyce from Wales. I saw them train against

:49:51. > :49:56.France a few weeks ago and they were in great condition and they have

:49:57. > :50:01.worked very hard. It is a very tough spot. With the amount of running you

:50:02. > :50:05.do you have to be incredibly fit and athletic and I am looking forward to

:50:06. > :50:09.this because I have got to know these girls over the last few weeks.

:50:10. > :50:12.There will be a lot of nerves today, but they have a chance of doing well

:50:13. > :50:30.in this tournament. The referee is from Spain. The start

:50:31. > :50:40.is all important. Straight into the arms of Team GB. Brazil

:50:41. > :51:36.Heather Fisher with a thumping tackle. Emily Scarratt is the Great

:51:37. > :51:44.Britain captain. Relief for Team GB. They started off well from a poor

:51:45. > :51:46.kick off from Brazil. They do a lot of work on their set pieces. This is

:51:47. > :52:11.Natasha Farrant. -- Natasha Hunt. Emily Scarratt is a wonderful

:52:12. > :52:15.player. Heather Fisher will be disappointed with that. A nervous

:52:16. > :52:22.start from Team GB. They have just got to settle in. I am sure they

:52:23. > :52:23.will get through this game, but they have got to be a little bit more

:52:24. > :52:32.patient. 2004 was when the Brazil team first

:52:33. > :53:03.started playing. That was another knock-on. That is a

:53:04. > :53:14.shame, the two knock-ons by Heather Fisher. I think Team GB are playing

:53:15. > :53:20.correctly. If you cannot get the pass away, hold on and recycle. Stop

:53:21. > :53:26.giving the ball away. Heather will be disappointed, that is two big

:53:27. > :53:28.errors. She has got to calm down a bit and keep possession of the ball

:53:29. > :53:54.and the tries will come. Excellent defending, Emily Scarratt

:53:55. > :53:57.with the tackle. It is just as well that past did not work, but there is

:53:58. > :54:26.no knock-on. Heather Fisher and the turnover for

:54:27. > :54:49.Team GB. And out of a period of extreme

:54:50. > :54:54.pressure Britain come away and they score the first try of their Olympic

:54:55. > :54:59.history, Joanne Whatmore is the scorer. They will be hugely

:55:00. > :55:05.relieved. The Brazilians have started really well. But they have

:55:06. > :55:15.got some real pace, if they just hold the ball, they will be fine.

:55:16. > :55:21.Joanne Watmore was the top goal-scorer in the last World

:55:22. > :55:25.Series. The coach will be saying, calm down, girls. Keep hold of the

:55:26. > :55:31.ball and we will put the Brazilians away. That must be a big relief for

:55:32. > :55:37.them because it has been a bit of a nervous start for Team GB. They have

:55:38. > :55:43.got a try and hopefully they will start to play to their strengths and

:55:44. > :55:45.stop giving the ball away. Katie McClain as the two points and she

:55:46. > :56:41.will restart. Brazil steal the ball and when the

:56:42. > :56:49.penalty. I thought Team GB could move the ball a little bit more away

:56:50. > :56:59.from contact. It was a great kick off, right on the money. The skill

:57:00. > :57:11.of the Brazilian team so far and the passing off the left hand has been

:57:12. > :57:18.impressive. Sometimes you wonder why teams do that. You have got the ball

:57:19. > :57:31.and you kick it 20 yards for a line-out. I do not understand why

:57:32. > :57:40.they do that. This is a big team, so I hope they win it. The first

:57:41. > :57:56.driving maul of the competition. But it has gone a bit loose.

:57:57. > :58:06.McClain has to let go and she did not. Brazil are very much in the

:58:07. > :58:15.attacking force, but trailing to Great Britain. The Brazilian team

:58:16. > :58:19.are giving Team GB a lot of stick when they have the ball and there

:58:20. > :58:29.are a lot of Brazilians at this game.

:58:30. > :58:42.That was a good intervention by Joanne Watmore.

:58:43. > :58:47.Team GB have got to hold on here. It is almost half-time, they have got

:58:48. > :59:09.to hold on in this half. Well covered by Emily Scarratt. It

:59:10. > :59:18.has been a very testing first half for Team GB, but that has saved

:59:19. > :59:23.them. Not the offside, the tackling! They have got to get some air in

:59:24. > :59:35.their lungs, it is very hot here, they are looking a bit tired and it

:59:36. > :59:40.is a set play. That was wonderful defence by Emily Scarratt, but this

:59:41. > :59:44.is a big moment. Brazil are going for the penalty. It is a breather

:59:45. > :59:57.all around. And it is the final kick of the

:59:58. > :00:03.first half. Great Britain have not had it their own way by any means.

:00:04. > :00:07.Hats off to Brazil, they are ninth seeds. They are certainly playing a

:00:08. > :00:16.lot better than I thought they would do. Team GB are making some errors.

:00:17. > :00:23.It was a popular school, but that could be the right decision, because

:00:24. > :00:26.Brazil will try to get to the third position in the group, every point

:00:27. > :00:30.is vital and that will give them a big boost to score against TG --

:00:31. > :00:35.against Team GB. Simon Middleton will have a few choice words, it has

:00:36. > :00:40.to be hold onto the ball, calm down and play on. The occasion has got to

:00:41. > :00:45.a few of these players and they need to go back to their real top skills,

:00:46. > :00:52.hang onto the ball and they will be fine. It is said that the sevens

:00:53. > :00:58.trend of the moment is to make it more physical. Of course, it was

:00:59. > :01:02.invented as an antidote to 15 aside crash and bash, but there is an

:01:03. > :01:08.element now of real contact and perhaps Team GB have got a little

:01:09. > :01:14.drawn into too much contact. I think so, to be honest just two bad knock

:01:15. > :01:21.As, where we could have scored we were through and it wasn't a great

:01:22. > :01:25.pass. Possibly I think it was Heather on both occasions, Heather

:01:26. > :01:29.Fisher, who allowed it to bounce. Beautiful conditions, you don't have

:01:30. > :01:32.to keep going for the ball. We are playing OK, we turned over the ball

:01:33. > :01:37.too many times and they have to rely on their fitness now. They have

:01:38. > :01:41.towels, it's hot out there, we need all 12 players on this. That was

:01:42. > :01:48.really draining. Also the game went on for nine minutes because the game

:01:49. > :01:52.went over two minutes so they played quite a lot of rugby there. You need

:01:53. > :01:58.cool heads here, girls, get this window and move on. A great

:01:59. > :02:01.second-half coming up. Brazil have really surprised me, they have been

:02:02. > :02:11.a better team than I thought they would be. Paula Ishibashi has been

:02:12. > :02:16.amazing, a key player so far, and it has been interesting watching her

:02:17. > :02:26.play. Can we get the ball at the restart? So important. Can either

:02:27. > :02:29.Joanne, -- Joanne Watmore or Emily Scarratt get the ball? Going Emily

:02:30. > :02:41.Scarratt's way, on the right. Another error, Brazil with all the

:02:42. > :02:44.options now. If you were the coach she would be going nuts with that,

:02:45. > :02:48.you have all the practice and you give them a free ball on the halfway

:02:49. > :03:02.line when you kick it out. Away we go. Switch to the playmaker, Paula

:03:03. > :03:15.Ishibashi to Raquel Kochhann. Natasha Hunt at the back there. A

:03:16. > :03:21.chance to tap and go. Well taken. It is loosened its scrappy still. It's

:03:22. > :03:31.handed possession back to Brazil. Edna Santini. Quickly taken by Katy

:03:32. > :03:38.McLean. It was a really poor pass by Alice Richardson. Again, the passing

:03:39. > :03:49.not good, Emily Scarratt had to stop and take it into contact. Offside.

:03:50. > :03:57.Off we go. It's going to be more relief for Great Britain and it is

:03:58. > :04:02.relief. It just shows you have to go quick, you have to go quick, well

:04:03. > :04:05.done, Natasha. Natasha Hunt the try scorer, but it hasn't really

:04:06. > :04:13.improved in the second half, but another try comes. Yes, an important

:04:14. > :04:18.score for Team GB but I'm comparing with the skills I'm seeing with the

:04:19. > :04:24.New Zealand team before, before Alice Richardson, a really poor

:04:25. > :04:28.pass. We have to absolutely start to get the basics back together again

:04:29. > :04:36.for stock that should cede Team GB hopefully with a nice, version from

:04:37. > :04:40.Katy McLean, can we get the restart back and start playing as well as I

:04:41. > :04:43.know this team can play. They will be disappointed their basic skills

:04:44. > :04:49.have let them down a bit but we have a good lead, 14-3. Natasha Hunt the

:04:50. > :04:53.try scorer, Katy McLean with a conversion and this restart, it

:04:54. > :05:06.would be nice to chase and win. Emily Scarratt does exactly that.

:05:07. > :05:16.Finally it comes away, to Katy McLean. What more -- Joanne Watmore

:05:17. > :05:23.on the outside. The final pass not good enough. Joanne Watmore Van der

:05:24. > :05:30.Garde deeper, we have the numbers, we could be scoring tries that will

:05:31. > :05:34.but we are playing -- overplaying it slightly. Alice Richardson will be

:05:35. > :05:38.very disappointed with that patch. We haven't seen from the other two

:05:39. > :05:42.top teams, France and New Zealand, their passing skills have been

:05:43. > :05:46.better. I have seen this team play better than this. It's early days,

:05:47. > :05:48.they have to get this game out of the way and calm down, keep the

:05:49. > :06:10.ball, we have a good team. There's a replacement, Tais Balconi.

:06:11. > :06:11.Julia Sarda has gone off. Brazil up to seven, three players in the

:06:12. > :06:29.scrum. Well played, just to get the ball

:06:30. > :06:35.back into the hands of Emily Scarratt. Joanne Watmore, much

:06:36. > :06:45.better by GB. The chase is fantastic. Britain are denied their

:06:46. > :06:52.third try. They have given possession away. Brazil offside

:06:53. > :07:00.though. It's what counts -- this won't count. Again, great chasing

:07:01. > :07:05.back from Brazil, in a very hot climate it would have been easy to

:07:06. > :07:11.see Joanne Watmore walk away in scoreboard great cover back. A free

:07:12. > :07:16.kick. That's the quality of the Team GB set play. There's a bit of the

:07:17. > :07:23.gap on the right, Natasha Hunt. It's too simple, they were... There was

:07:24. > :07:31.nobody in front of her. A try. That's naive. That was a walking. I

:07:32. > :07:36.was a bit disappointed, Brazil have played really well, defended really

:07:37. > :07:42.well, and that was a tap and go. When you are watching from home,

:07:43. > :07:47.sevens is a simple game. You have to be accurate. The accuracy of Team GB

:07:48. > :07:51.has not been quite there. When we are accurate and keep the ball, we

:07:52. > :07:56.will be a much with the New Zealand team and Australian team, the bigger

:07:57. > :08:00.teams to come -- we will be a match. Hopefully the last two or three

:08:01. > :08:03.minutes we will get some quality and no more errors in the last couple of

:08:04. > :08:07.minutes which will put us instead for the next game. Emily Scott is on

:08:08. > :08:16.for Britain, she will take the restart.

:08:17. > :08:23.Team GB have unloaded their bench completely now, we have a different

:08:24. > :08:32.team on. Abbie Brown chases the restart, makes the tackle.

:08:33. > :08:55.Away comes Edna Santini. This is Beatriz Futuro Muhlbauer, one of the

:08:56. > :09:10.originals from the first Brazil team of 2004.

:09:11. > :09:18.From the scrum, we want to see the ball in and away really cleanly, for

:09:19. > :09:28.Natasha Hunt and Brazil still making changes. It's very hot out there.

:09:29. > :09:46.Natasha Hunt feeds. Can't find Emily Scott. This is the flying Jasmine

:09:47. > :09:53.Joyce, of Pembrokeshire in Wales. She has great wheels, she has been

:09:54. > :10:02.the one representative from Wales in Team GB. She has real pace. Brazil

:10:03. > :10:07.haven't given up, that's a well taken try, well done young Jasmine

:10:08. > :10:13.Joyce. Excellent. The score is looking better, 24-3, but lots to

:10:14. > :10:17.work on for Team GB. They have calmed things down the last few

:10:18. > :10:24.minutes. No conversion added, but they will be a whole lot better now.

:10:25. > :10:32.Four tries Jasmine Joyce, Claudia Teles can't make the tackle.

:10:33. > :10:44.Good height on the restart. Abbie Brown did well. Amy Wilson-Hardy

:10:45. > :10:50.gets it back. Heather Fisher played scrum-half and now goes in just to

:10:51. > :10:55.do a bit of clearing out. It's coming the way of Jasmine Joyce

:10:56. > :11:02.again. It's a good little break instead. By Emily Scott.

:11:03. > :11:08.Well played. Emily Scott, just to put the seal on the performance,

:11:09. > :11:14.Great Britain getting better and better as the game progressed. Yes,

:11:15. > :11:19.she deserved that. She deserved that from the kick-off. A wonderful kick,

:11:20. > :11:23.to get the ball back. It was a great restart for Emily and again showing

:11:24. > :11:29.some real gas out there and her aunt Jasmine Joyce have some real pace

:11:30. > :11:33.when these two have come on -- and Jasmine Joyce. Well done to them. It

:11:34. > :11:38.will do her confidence the world of good. It shows the importance of the

:11:39. > :11:42.restart. We have the kick, we have the ball, we keep possession, we

:11:43. > :11:45.score. It's a fundamentally simple game, it has real athletes, real

:11:46. > :11:53.fitness and the score now looks pretty healthy. First obstacle

:11:54. > :11:55.overcome for the British team. They have beaten Brazil 29-3. They play

:11:56. > :12:08.later this afternoon against Japan. Great Britain will be up against

:12:09. > :12:11.Japan and 9pm your time this evening for the second of those matches. In

:12:12. > :12:15.fact, their next two opponents because they play Canada in the

:12:16. > :12:18.final group game tomorrow, Canada and Japan will be playing very

:12:19. > :12:23.shortly so we will be back to try and suss out the opponents. We are

:12:24. > :12:26.going boxing, the very first bout of the Olympic programme is in the

:12:27. > :12:34.men's light flyweight and it features Great Britain that's

:12:35. > :12:39.competitor from Birmingham. He has a real pedigree, his family has, his

:12:40. > :12:47.two brothers have both boxed professionally. He boxed for Britain

:12:48. > :12:51.in the Beijing games in 2008. It will look different this time

:12:52. > :12:58.because the men are not wearing head guards for the first time since the

:12:59. > :13:01.Moscow games of 1980. We have our commentators revved up for rate

:13:02. > :13:15.commentary marathon, they will be in action in all 16 days of the games.

:13:16. > :13:24.COMMENTATOR: He's trying to re-establish himself.

:13:25. > :13:33.A cracking start for the second round. He has upped the tempo a bit.

:13:34. > :13:38.He has a problem, a fault, when he delivers the backhand of his,

:13:39. > :13:42.occasionally his rear leg comes round and he becomes square on. You

:13:43. > :13:49.walk onto shots, the house where the feet are and you are open to attack.

:13:50. > :13:59.Your target area is full on. He has to keep his back leg in that rear

:14:00. > :14:05.position without ringing it through. A good left hand from Yafai. Good

:14:06. > :14:12.right left combination from his opponent. Terrific mid range punches

:14:13. > :14:24.from Yafai. Good work to the body, a good book

:14:25. > :14:29.to the right from Fotsala. Very aggressive, competitive boxer and

:14:30. > :14:34.Yafai happy to engage in trade but it brings Fotsala into the contest.

:14:35. > :14:38.His mouthpiece has been dislodged. The referee intervenes immediately.

:14:39. > :14:44.Rather than waiting for a break in the action. That came through in the

:14:45. > :14:49.course of a toe to toe exchange. A lapse in concentration from Yafai.

:14:50. > :14:53.He decided to hold and trade, hold his feet and trade and you don't

:14:54. > :14:57.want to be doing that against Fotsala, who is strong, flat-footed,

:14:58. > :15:02.he needs you in front of him to deliver those more powerful shots.

:15:03. > :15:06.Yafai made the wrong decision there, just to stand in trade. You must

:15:07. > :15:38.keep it in and move him, the way he boxed in the opening round.

:15:39. > :15:46.Take a step back occasionally and bring him on because this fellow

:15:47. > :15:51.will fall short. If you hold your feet, it allows him to land the

:15:52. > :16:05.shots. The better quality work is definitely coming from Yafai. The

:16:06. > :16:12.Cameroon boxer is trading well. He comes here as part of a four strong

:16:13. > :16:19.boxing team. There is a round of applause from the crowd here. He is

:16:20. > :16:24.really loading up again. Look how his right foot ended up in front of

:16:25. > :16:31.his left leg turning him into a southpaw stance. More quality work,

:16:32. > :16:40.but Fotsala allowed to come into it by forcing trades. Into the third

:16:41. > :16:46.and final round. Yafai took the opening round across the board.

:16:47. > :16:52.Fotsala got a share from one judge in the second round, so this is in

:16:53. > :16:59.the balance. Look at the aggression being exhibited by Fotsala. A good

:17:00. > :17:06.right hand to the body and he turned it into an uppercut. A very

:17:07. > :17:16.aggressive start to this final round as Fotsala looks to stay in this

:17:17. > :17:24.opening round of the losing the first round. A fast start from

:17:25. > :17:30.Fotsala. The box a lot better in the second round than in the first. Just

:17:31. > :17:35.coming forward and walking onto a shot, mainly because his hands have

:17:36. > :17:48.dropped. He is relaxing a bit more, but he has relaxed a bit too much.

:17:49. > :17:56.But he has got better boxing skills. A good right hand by Fotsala once

:17:57. > :18:03.again. Again the mouthpiece of Fotsala has been dislodged as he ran

:18:04. > :18:14.onto a punch delivered by Yafai. It is very similar to when he beat

:18:15. > :18:17.Samuel Carmona. He outboxed him in the first round, but then allowed

:18:18. > :18:25.the little Spaniard to get back into the contest and it is a similar

:18:26. > :18:29.display here. Fotsala has had moments of success by virtue of

:18:30. > :18:35.aggression. Yafai is occasionally holding his feet. When he boxes and

:18:36. > :18:46.moves he is the governor inside the ring. If Fotsala comes forward, he

:18:47. > :18:50.has to switch to left uppercut to bring him onto the short range

:18:51. > :18:59.punchers. But the priority for Yafai has got to be long-range work. The

:19:00. > :19:05.referee will maybe have a word with the corner and they could take a

:19:06. > :19:12.point off for that. If the mouthpiece is repeatedly dislodged.

:19:13. > :19:15.There it is. It can be used as a tactic to gain advantage if a boxer

:19:16. > :19:22.is under pressure or feeling fatigued. Fotsala is in real

:19:23. > :19:26.trouble. That warning will mean one point off his points scorer in round

:19:27. > :19:30.number three. If he gets another one, it is already a difficult

:19:31. > :19:35.position, but now it is an impossible mountain to climb.

:19:36. > :19:41.Fotsala will have to knock his man out and put him on the canvas

:19:42. > :19:45.because he has been given two warnings in the third round because

:19:46. > :19:50.the mouthpiece has been dislodged four Times in total and that can be

:19:51. > :19:59.used by boxers to gain an advantage if they are under pressure. That is

:20:00. > :20:08.terrible preparation. You have to have a mouthpiece that fits

:20:09. > :20:27.properly. It was a feature between the base between Diego Costa Alice.

:20:28. > :20:33.Surely Yafai has booked his place through to the second round? We have

:20:34. > :20:35.to wait for the official announcement which should see him

:20:36. > :21:00.through to the second round. He opens his Olympic account in Rio

:21:01. > :21:06.2016 with a unanimous points decision victory. Fotsala boxed very

:21:07. > :21:15.effectively in the opening round and showed flashes of his ability to hit

:21:16. > :21:18.and move. But in the third and final round with the mouthpiece being

:21:19. > :21:28.repeatedly dislodged, it really sealed his fate. A great start, and

:21:29. > :21:36.we have seen a good start for Great Britain in the women's sevens event.

:21:37. > :21:42.This is Japan and Canada. Let's suss out the opposition. The top two in

:21:43. > :21:49.each group go through. Eddie and Clive, how has this been shaping up?

:21:50. > :21:59.Straight from the kick-off Canada scored. Japan have been awarded a

:22:00. > :22:04.free kick from the free start and they are in possession for the first

:22:05. > :22:20.time. That was an outstanding tackle. Hello, Clive.

:22:21. > :22:30.The Canadian ladies will be the team that Team GB have got to beat.

:22:31. > :22:38.Wonderful play. That is Canada's second try. The Canadians are

:22:39. > :22:48.looking pretty ominous. They are ranked three and Team GB are ranked

:22:49. > :22:52.four. The game between them will settle back and whoever wins that

:22:53. > :22:55.game will stay away from Australia. They are the favourites. This is a

:22:56. > :23:10.very strong start by the Canadian team. This is a big game and a very

:23:11. > :23:14.impressive start by the Canadians. Canada has started strongly and New

:23:15. > :23:21.Zealand started brilliantly. Great Britain eased their way into the

:23:22. > :23:31.game. They had a very sticky opening patch, but they did end up scoring

:23:32. > :23:34.tries. There were smiles at the end, but these restarts are very

:23:35. > :23:59.important in this game and that was a great restart.

:24:00. > :24:07.Canada try number three in no time at all. There are only concern is

:24:08. > :24:21.one of their players involved in everything is looking a bit wounded.

:24:22. > :24:31.The athleticism of these ladies. This is a very powerful Canadian

:24:32. > :24:39.team just watching the restarts and watching them from here. You would

:24:40. > :24:40.not want to be standing underneath that ball to see the Canadians

:24:41. > :24:51.coming at you, especially Jen Kish, the

:24:52. > :25:24.captain. She is clean through, so it is a

:25:25. > :25:30.second try for the obvious Canadian playmaker. Japan are ranked ten in

:25:31. > :25:36.this tournament, just a little bit out of their depth against a very

:25:37. > :25:42.strong Canadian ladies team. Unlike team GB, this team has started very

:25:43. > :25:56.well. They're handling has been good and they are blowing the Japanese

:25:57. > :26:00.wide full Landry has got great pace and great athleticism. This is the

:26:01. > :26:01.team we have got to get past if we have a chance of getting that gold

:26:02. > :26:20.medal. Landry again. They are all pretty

:26:21. > :26:56.much based in Victoria in British Columbia.

:26:57. > :27:05.Japan need to get the ball away from these breakdown situations or this

:27:06. > :27:17.will happen. More good work from Karen Packer. This is a big Canadian

:27:18. > :27:23.team and the Japanese team are not and they have been very heroic. They

:27:24. > :27:29.have to play quick, quick, because the Canadians have got the power and

:27:30. > :27:34.the pace. Japan have got to somehow put this ball in and took it back

:27:35. > :27:40.very quickly and try and get away from the big Canadian forwards.

:27:41. > :27:58.There you go, they do get it away quickly.

:27:59. > :28:14.Is it going to be a try? It is the physical advantage that wins Canada

:28:15. > :28:20.the ball, although they have to blast the ball into touch on the

:28:21. > :28:24.stroke of half-time. Canada lead. That last pass played by the

:28:25. > :28:30.Japanese was wonderful. The slate of hands was wonderful. Great

:28:31. > :28:38.possession from the Japanese ladies. But the Canadians put in their power

:28:39. > :28:40.game and blasted them off the park. You will see some changes made to

:28:41. > :28:59.the Canadian women's team. We have a breezy, Clive, but it is

:29:00. > :29:07.very hot. For a draining spot, it will be interesting to see what toll

:29:08. > :29:11.it will have taken by day three. The women will have trained really hard

:29:12. > :29:17.for this event. It is at our event, but it is an aerobic event as well,

:29:18. > :29:24.the yardage you cover in those ten minutes is colossal. They will be

:29:25. > :29:29.very fit. But it is whether they have taken into account the heat.

:29:30. > :29:34.The recovery will be very important. Who can recover quickly? Behind the

:29:35. > :29:40.scenes they will be doing all sorts of stuff to get their bodies ready

:29:41. > :29:44.for the next game. But that is why we love it, it is a great event for

:29:45. > :29:46.women and I have really enjoyed the games I have seen so far this

:29:47. > :30:00.morning. The break is short. Canada women,

:30:01. > :30:11.coached by John Tait, who played a lot of rugby in the UK. Cardiff

:30:12. > :30:18.Blues, second role -- second row. Would he have played much sevens? He

:30:19. > :30:28.could certainly run! He was a loping Buckfast second row. -- loping, but

:30:29. > :30:36.fast, second rows. Canada, one of the standout group teams of this

:30:37. > :30:41.morning session. Everybody will be keeping a close eye on things and in

:30:42. > :30:51.goes Jen Kish, battling for possession. Battling work by Suzuki.

:30:52. > :31:09.The Canadians awarded the penalty and up steps Kayla must give. The

:31:10. > :31:14.referee of Fiji. They have great wit, the Canadians, two women either

:31:15. > :31:21.side of the pitch so no one knows which side it will go -- great

:31:22. > :31:28.width. Back into contact through Kelly Russell. A great pass by

:31:29. > :31:32.Ghislaine Landry. Britt Benn can't get the pass away at first but does

:31:33. > :31:38.the end. It's the second try for Bianca Farella. Great team try for

:31:39. > :31:46.the Canadians. Kelly Russell is a very powerful lady. She took out

:31:47. > :31:50.about three of the Japanese team who set it up. Great hands from the rest

:31:51. > :31:54.of the Canadian team. They are looking good. Certainly the best

:31:55. > :32:01.team we have seen so far, outside the New Zealand team. They have won

:32:02. > :32:05.tournaments, they will be very disappointed but they have clearly

:32:06. > :32:08.come to the Olympic Games ready to go, fully prepared, and every single