Chris Boardman muses on the BBC television coverage that Shara Gillow's move might be a staging post for the Australian team, getting some help up the road so that one of their favourites can go for home from further out than their rivals might expect.

You can get more of Boardman's pearls of racing wisdom on the live coverage at the top of this page.

The Australians are still taking it to the rest of the field. Shara Gillow has gone and gone hard at the front. It is still England who are policing the upstarts and Laura Trott heads off after her.

The pair of them are 11 seconds up the road. New Zealand get on the front of the main bunch to try and reduce the arrears.

Hayley Jones of Wales is one three retirements from the race so far.

Victoria Pendleton
BBC Sport cycling expert, on Radio 5 live

"England are just trying to share the workload and keep everybody in the bunch. They will chase anything that goes down and stop them getting too far ahead of the main peloton. Australia have got a couple of pure sprinters, Chloe Hosking is a really great sprinter so they should be watching out for her."

Image source, Getty Images

Australia are determined to animate this race. The green and gold riders take it in turns to surge off the front, trying to throw the best-laid plans of their rivals off track.

There is not a lot of appetite from any of the other teams to assist them in making a break stick.

England's Laura Trott helps bring the Aussies back to the rest. The Aussies have a quick pow-wow among themselves. Are they going to revise this aggressive approach?

Chris Boardman
Olympic cycling champion and BBC Sport summariser

"An interesting move from Australia's Melissa Hoskins.She seems absolutely determined to force a breakaway but she has played her card very early.

"Hannah Barnes of England is matching her, but Barnes' instructions would have been to ride for Lizzie Armitstead. Maybe England will change those tactics as the race goes on. I don't think that will be the last we see of Hoskins."

Hannah Barnes' heart is not in this breakaway at all. She is merely marking time alongside Melissa Hoskins, keeping alongside the Australian and trying to convince her that it would be foolish to go solo with more than 75km to ride.

Australia have a little probe off the front, testing the enthusiasm of the rest of the leaders for a chase. Katrin Garfoot has a pop and then team-mate Melissa Hoskings kicks hard enough to open up a gap.

England's Hannah Barnes takes responsibility for going after her, making it back up to her wheel.

Hoskings is pushing hard around the twists and turns, using up every inch of tarmac, and Barnes almost comes to grief, wobbling as she takes a similarly tight line.

Victoria Pendleton
BBC Sport cycling expert, on Radio 5 live

"They are all trying to control the race, pick up speed slightly and judge what they have to do for the rest of the race. There are a lot of sharp corners and more technical riders are going to be at an advantage."

Chris Boardman
Olympic cycling champion and BBC Sport summariser

"A lot of the favourites to win this have been riding at the front of what is quite a small peloton now - they know this is the kind of race where it is worth expending that extra bit of energy to remain in a good position.

"The lead group of about 40 is just backing off a little bit now because they have removed a lot of riders already. There is a big variety in terms of ability in this race and that can make the better riders nervous because they want to avoid crashes and stay in groups of riders they trust."

Lap one of seven done. Hannah Barnes of England is first across the line in a time of 23:20 and she has Dani King, Emma Pooley, Laura Trott and Lizzie Armitstead in close attendance.

All the leading contenders are together.

Image source, Reuters

He may only have clocked up around 20 seconds of relay anchoring on the track during the Games, but it is never just about the running with Usain Bolt.

The Jamaican did the business on the track last night, bringing home gold for his nation in a surprisingly close, until he got the baton at least, 4x100m relay final.

Either side of that run it was about the rest of what he does. Tartan bunnet, high-fives, soft-shoe shuffles, selfies, hugs, kisses - a one-man PR offensive that charmed the life out of Hampden Park.

You can enjoy his antics right here.

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland cyclist Alistair Rutherford:, external "This women's road race is going quite hard going by the number of riders dropped. Prediction: 1st Lizzie Armitstead, Katie Archibald 2nd."

Four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson:, external "400 runner Amantle Montsho positive for banned substance at Commonwealth Games. Is it fair if people associate all of her career with drugs? Majority of you say it's fair. I agree. If athletes know all of their accomplishments will be tainted it may serve as another deterrent."

It is not quite San Francisco, but there are plenty of short, sharp climbs to get the quads burning in this Glasgow course.

England are prominent on the front of the peloton with New Zealand putting in a decent shift as well.

The pace is stringing out the field around the city streets. The lead group is down to 20-25 riders from the 63-strong starting field. Isle of Man's Laura Wasley is the latest to head out the backdoor.

You can watch the race on the live coverage tab at the top of this page.

Chris Boardman
Olympic cycling champion and BBC Sport summariser

"Already we have got more than a dozen riders in trouble here. The short sharp climbs are proving very difficult and you can see how steep they are - some of them are getting on for a 20% gradient."

Mark Cavendish,, external 25-time Tour de France stage winner: "Early start in Glasgow for the women's Commonwealth Games road race. Proud to be here with our little Isle of Man team. Good luck ladies!"

Laura Wasley 30, and Anna Christian, 18, are competing for Isle of Man this morning. Cavendish, 29, injured his shoulder on the opening day of the Tour de France in Yorkshire and is unable to race in the men's event later today.

The tight twists and turns of the course are already in evidence as the leaders head along Buchanan Street past the discount clothes emporium and highstreet chemist. It is going to be a test of bike-handling as much as stamina.

There are plenty of riders already being left behind by the leaders with Kenya's Joyce Mwangi, who was whizzing round in a ridiculously low gear for the first few hundred metres, already off the back and with little hope of getting back on. And she is soon joined by a pair of Swaziland riders.

Victoria Pendleton
BBC Sport cycling expert, on Radio 5 live

"Lizzie Armitstead is bound to be the one, Emma Pooley is going to be there to try and stop any breaks. They'll be making sure the race stays together and turns out the way Lizzie wants. I don't think anyone will go for a long solo attack, they will try and keep it together as a team, but who knows?"

Chris Boardman
Olympic cycling champion and BBC Sport summariser

"England's Lizzie Armitstead is the hot favourite and that means she will be really heavily marked, but there are lots of little ramps on the course and that might help her out a bit.

"Tiffany Cromwell is the one Australia are touting as their leader, at least nominally - they have got a lot of strong and clever riders. Likewise New Zealand's Linda Villumsen, who won the time trial, would be very difficult to catch.

"Scotland's Katie Archibald fought hard in the time trial on home soil, she is clearly on form and both she and Elinor Barker of Wales have an opportunity to show what they can do. We might find all the favourites concentrate on marking each other, allowing lesser fancied riders to slip away."

The riders are massed on the startline and on the front row England's Dani King is doing a bit of diplomacy, chatting happily with a New Zealand rider.

England will be well marked by the rest and might need a few allies among the rest of the peloton if their plans are to come to fruition.

Victoria Pendleton
BBC Sport cycling expert, on Radio 5 live

"You can have up to six riders per nation so definitely teams will have a lead rider. It's going to be a great race and right now it's just about dry. As the course is quite technical, dry would be great, but these guys can deal with anything."