Cyclists climb into the Athens inferno Irish in action

As the site for the original city foundations and still crowned by the unmistakable pillars of the Parthenon, the Acropolis was destined to feature as part of the Athens Olympics. Turns out the best they could do was to haul the road-race cyclists up Lycabettus Hill towards the old ruins, but enough times to make sure the whole world noticed - 17 times in fact.

So that's what awaits the Irish duo of Ciarán Power and Mark Scanlon later today, with the men's road race set for 12.45 local time. Temperatures will hit at least 37 degrees and they won't find much breeze around the crowded city streets. It's the event that provides the first three medals of the Games and none will be harder earned.

By lapping the 13.3km route enough times to make them dizzy, the cyclists will complete 224.4km. They're not expected to finish until 6.40. They'll pass other such landmarks as the Odeon of Herodus Atticus and the National Archaeological Museum, but that's a hell of a lot of sightseeing for one day.

Yet both Irish cyclists pronounced themselves reasonably satisfied with the course. Power, in fact, seemed the more animated, as the tight, curvy streets seemed the more familiar.

"It's a real city-criterium course," said the Waterford man, "like where I'd do a lot of my racing in America. Training has also gone very well in Cyprus over the past weeks, where it was probably even hotter than it will be here."

One of Power's best results this season came on a similar course, when he won the Highland Park Criterium in New Jersey.

The field of 153, though, won't all want to leave it to a sprint, with Jan Ullrich and his German team-mate Andreas Kloden among those seeking a winning breakaway long before the finish.

Scanlon described his test run over the course on Thursday as "very good", but there is a fear the demands of the Tour de France last month might still be in his legs. The 23-year-old Sligo man has already turned down an offer for a place in the time trial, partly fearing over-exertion with several weeks of his professional season still remaining.

Power and Scanlon are just two of seven Irish competitors in action today - including the real medal prospect in boxer Andy Lee. And after yesterday's draw for the 75kg middleweight contest Lee had every reason to believe he could yet be boxing for an Olympic medal.

According to his coach, Billy Walsh, it was as good a draw as they wanted with the exception of a bye. So at 7.30 this evening Athens time Lee will enter the ring at the Peristeri Boxing Hall to take on the Mexican Alfredo Angulo Lopez, a 22-year-old from Mexicali.

Lopez is nicknamed Perro, the Spanish for dog, because it's said he's always looking for a fight. He is renowned for his attacking style, a real scrapper, and is clearly not afraid to hit, and yet appears to lack some of the class and even experience of the 20-year-old Lee.

First of the Irish in action though is the Longford shooter Derek Burnett, set for the clay-pigeon shooting range at Markopoulo, mostly man-made into a hillside. A veteran of the Sydney Games, Burnett has been focused on this moment for the past four years, and as the fifth-place finisher in the World Championships in 2002 carries high aspirations.

He goes in the fourth qualification section, which includes the Australian gold medal hope Michael Diamond.

That qualification continues tomorrow, with the two-day totals then combined to give an overall ranking.

The remaining three Irish in action today take to the coast south of Athens, and the Agios Kosmas Sailing Centre. David Burrows has his first race in the men's Finn at 1 o'clock, with a current ranking of 26th in the world.

The forecast should make all the sailing tricky, with low pressure coming in off the Balkan peninsula expected to alter the breeze patterns of recent days, when most boats have been out practising.

In action the same time as Burrows will be Gerald Owens and Ross Killian in the first race in 470. Like Burrows, their world ranking has been improving.

Central to the Irish interest tomorrow will be the rowing events out near the Schinias beach. Sam Lynch and Gearóid Towey set off in heat four of the lightweight double sculls at 9.30 local time, against Belgium, the Ukraine, the US and the Czech Republic. Only the winners are guaranteed a semi-final place.

The lightweight men's four of Richard Archibald, Eugene Coakley, Niall O'Toole and Paul Griffin are growing in quiet confidence about their chances of making the final. They take to the water at 10 am in heat three alongside the US, Australia and Russia, but with the knowledge that only one team is eliminated.