Blazin' Saddles: Who will win the cycling road time trial golds at the Rio Olympics?

If the course looks familiar, that's because the riders will tackle the same hilly Grumari circuit that featured in the road races on the previous weekend. Both men's and women's time trials take place on Wednesday August 10 with the men tackling the course twice – meaning the winner will be the man who gets over four climbs in little under 60km in the quickest time.

First, a quick recap of the Grumari circuit on which the medals will be decided.

Having rolled down the start ramp on Pontal beach the riders will negotiate the flat 3km sea-side apron before two small kickers get the circuit under way. The first proper climb is the short-but-sharp Grumari which twists up over 1.2km at an average gradient of 7% and a maximum gradient of 13%. The following Grota Funda climb is a gentler, big-ring affair of 2.1km at 4.5%.

The riders will be pleased to know that the 2km cobblestone section tackled in the road race will be bypassed thanks to a strip of fresh tarmac laid on one side of the road.

After the descent there's a small kick up before the men either continue on for another lap or, following their second circuit, ride on to the finish like the women. It's a fast 2.5km return leg. Distances for the men's time trial seem to vary from 54km to 58.8km to 59.6km so let's just say it's a tiny bit shy of 60km – making it quite an undertaking. For the women, the course is either 28.5km or 29.8km depending on who you believe.

So, who's going to win? Let's take a look at the favourites for both races against the clock...

Ask this question a few weeks ago and the answer would have been Tom Dumoulin after the Dutchman won the lumpy opening time trial in the Tour de France in convincing fashion before posting the second best time in the more mountainous second time trial.

But a subsequent crash in the Alps saw Dumoulin retire from the Tour with a broken radius – and although he is back in training, the pressures applied to forearms in time trials (especially a course as demanding as this one) are huge. It would be a miracle if Dumoulin could get over this obstacle and win gold – but stranger things have happened.

Assuming that Dumoulin's injury proves too much, then the bookmakers' favourite instantly becomes Chris Froome. The Briton trailed Dumoulin by over a minute in the Tour's opening ITT and that was merely 37.5km. But he has the all-round ability to generate the requisite watts to win gold in Rio – and it would take a madman to bet against him matching Bradley Wiggins' feat from four years ago (when, it's worth noting, Froome took bronze after himself finishing runner-up in the Tour).

Other major contenders emerging from the Tour are Portugal's Nelson Oliveira and Australia's Richie Porte – although Porte's team-mate Rohan Dennis may struggle over the demanding terrain. The likes of chrono specialists Tony Martin (Germany), Taylor Phinney (USA) and Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) can never be discounted – although the course does not best suit their huge Diesel engines.

Winner of the hilly 40km time trial in the Giro d'Italia, Slovenia's Primoz Roglic is an interesting preposition, as is France veteran Jerome Coppel, Luxembourg's Bob Jungels and, perhaps at a stretch, the Sky duo of Wout Poels (the Netherlands) and Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland).

With defending champion Kristin Armstrong now 42 the best chances of another USA gold come from Evelyn Stevens, who earlier this year set a new women's Hour Record. In the recent Giro Rosa, Stevens also beat Anna van der Breggen (the Netherlands) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) – two riders who will also be targeting a medal in Rio.

Germany's medal prospects come in the shape of Lisa Brennauer and Trixi Worrack while both the USA and the Netherlands have other contenders in Megan Guarnier and Ellen van Dijk respectively.

Swedish time trial champion Emma Johansson is one to watch, while British hopes rest with Emma Pooley. Linda Villumsen, the Danish-born New Zealander, won ITT gold at the Richmond world championships last year but has done few time trials since and so must be seen as an outsider for Rio.