More than a jersey on the line for Armstrong

As a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the reigning women’s U.S. national time trial champion, you would think that Kristin Armstrong’s path to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil would be relatively smooth. But as she awaits the selection committee’s decision in June, Armstrong isn’t about to sit up in what has become a real life race against the clock.

It all began a year ago, when the twice-retired Armstrong announced she would seek one last shot at Olympic glory. With the prospect of an automatic spot on Team USA up for grabs with a podium at Richmond worlds, Armstrong began working her way backward. How does a 42-year-old, retired time trialist assure herself a spot on perhaps the most coveted worlds squad in American history? By winning nationals, of course. And that’s just what she did.

Richmond didn’t go quite as smooth, however. While Armstrong took top honors among Americans, she failed to land herself a podium, dashing her hopes of an automatic Rio ticket. Since, she has walked what she describes as a perilous tightrope, racing throughout the spring of 2016 with little margin for error.

“It’s been really hard. I will be straight up,” she said. “I feel that I have to go out and win at everything that I do. It’s like I always have to be on. Whether it’s a regional race, a Women’s WorldTour race, or a national championship — none of which are written into the criteria as Olympic qualifiers, incidentally — I just feel like I always have to go out with the expectation that one mishap, one failure, could sink my chances.”

And so with three …

continue reading in source velonews.competitor.com