Having taken a five-month break in January, Tom Dumoulin cannot wait to get back into cycling action for the Netherlands as he lines up as one of the favourites in Tokyo.
Dumoulin took an indefinite break from cycling at the start of 2021 to understand his motivations for the sport, but the three-time Tour de France stage winner returned in June and will represent his country at the Games.
Usually a time-trial specialist, Dumoulin will compete in the combined road race and time trial as he looks to become only the second cyclist to win both events at a single Games.
The only cyclist to achieve this feat before is Dumoulin's compatriot Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel, who won both events at the Olympic Games Sydney 2000.
"I'm glad to be back. I had a couple of good weeks in June and the condition improved gradually. The most important thing is that I had fun on the bike again, and I took pleasure in working towards a goal again," the 2017 Giro d'Italia general classification winner said.
"I really want to go for it in the road race. It's a super-beautiful course and the heat normally suits me. I mainly prepared for the time trial, because that's my main goal, but that full gas on Saturday does not have to affect my [performance in the] time trial on Wednesday."
The Netherlands and Italy have won a joint-record nine cycling gold medals at the Games and Dumoulin believes he and his team-mates have another good chance of success on Saturday.
"We have Bauke Mollema as target man and that's logic. We have got a strong team, but not really a team to control the race.
"Dylan Van Baarle, Wilco Kelderman and me, we have free roles and the three of us hope to go a long way, but we will support Bauke wherever necessary.
"Yoeri Havik who combines the road race with track cycling [at Tokyo 2020], joins us to support the team in the first 100 kilometres."
Llori Sharpe claims historic gold for Jamaica at the 2024 Elite Caribbean Cycling Championships
Barcelona 3-1 Espanyol: Olmo brace sends Blaugrana nine points clear
Barcelona moved nine points clear at the LaLiga summit following a 3-1 victory over Espanyol in the Catalan derby.
Dani Olmo scored twice while Raphinha was also on target as Hansi Flick's side stretched their advantage over second-place Real Madrid, whose scheduled showdown with Valencia this weekend was postponed.
Barca broke the deadlock after just 12 minutes. Olmo latched onto Lamine Yamal's brilliant throughball with the outside of his boot, before beating Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia with a well-taken first-time finish.
The hosts doubled their lead 11 minutes later with Marc Casado finding Raphinha, who bravely lifted over the advancing Garcia.
It was 3-0 just after the half-hour mark, as Olmo received Alejandro Balde's pass before drilling home from the edge of the penalty area.
Espanyol, who saw two goals disallowed following VAR reviews, pulled one back when Javi Puado turned home Carlos Romero's cross in the 63rd minute.
However, it proved a consolation for the visitors, who suffered their sixth defeat in seven league games.
Data Debrief: Free-scoring Barca maintain derby dominance
Now unbeaten in 27 LaLiga derbies against Espanyol, Barcelona have now scored 40 goals this season; their second-highest tally after the first 12 games of a LaLiga season (42 in 1950-51).
Following Olmo's brace, which took his tally for the campaign to five, the Blaugrana are the only team with four different players to have scored at least five goals in Europe's top five leagues this term.
In setting up Raphinha's goal, Casado is the first Barca player from Spain to provide an assist in three successive games in all competitions since at least the 2014-15 season.
Zverev soars past Humbert to claim Paris Masters crown
Alexander Zverev soared to the Paris Masters title following a commanding 6-2 6-2 victory over home favourite Ugo Humbert in the final.
The German took just 75 minutes to seal his seventh career ATP Masters triumph, and second silverware of the season.
Humbert received a raucous reception as he aimed to become the first Frenchman to win this event since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008.
However, the crowd were silenced when Zverev broke in the third and fifth games on his way to taking the opening set.
The Italian Open champion also dominated the second set, dropping just five points on serve as he wrapped up a comfortable victory.
"I knew I had to play like this to win today," Zverev said. "Ugo is an incredible player, but here in Paris, he plays even better than he usually does, and I knew that.
"Once the crowd gets involved, it's going to be difficult. So, I had to take that away early, and I did, so I'm happy about that."
Zverev was also delighted to triumph in Paris, and demonstrate the strides he has made since suffering a horrifying ankle injury during his 2022 French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal.
"It was not 100% guaranteed that I would be back at this level," he added. "So, to win this title here in Paris means the world to me, and I'm sure it means everything to those in my box, because they have done so much for me."
Data Debrief: Zverev surpasses Medvedev and matches Sinner
Runner-up to Daniil Medvedev in 2020, Zverev went one better at the Accor Arena four years later, and will be seeded second at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.
The second German to win this event after Boris Becker, he surpassed Medvedev (six) with his seventh ATP Masters crown the outright most of any player born since the format's inception in 1990.
Zverev also matched world number one Jannik Sinner for the joint-most match wins in ATP Masters events this season with 28.
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