Likewise, Swede Lisa Norden, who eventually won the overall title, had a daunting task on her bike after returning from hospital with food poisoning yesterday morning. She stopped vomiting less than four hours before the start.
"Those hills were tough today, any other day I would've enjoyed it but that was probably the worst possible scenario," Norden said, summoning a weak chuckle as she recovered in a seat post-race.
Race winner Anne Haug welcomed the return of inclines to race courses: "The harder the better. It made for a tough bike course but I really liked it. I wanted to make others hurt a bit more."
New Zealand's Andrea Hewitt is also an advocate: "Hills and courses are good. I raced here last year and knew what I was getting into. That's why I didn't push as much at the front of my group because I knew they'd take a lot out of my legs. The hills suit me as an all-round athlete."
The sight of athletes going into lower gears also brought a gleam to the eye of former Olympic gold medallist Hamish Carter, who achieved his finest sporting feat on the hills around Athens.
"I thought there might've been more attacks on the bike," he said, "but, at the same time, you can't under-estimate 40km around that loop. It is tough and the athletes were quite cautious."
