In a special double-sized Olympic preview issue that hit newsstands July 25, Sports Illustrated magazine made its medal picks for every event at the upcoming 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In women’s mountain biking, top riders from France, Denmark and Switzerland were tabbed for the podium.

There was no mention of Team USA’s Lea Davison - which surprised the 33-year-old pro rider from Jericho. After all, she beat two out of three of Sports Illustrated’s medal “favorites” on her way to capturing silver at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, less than three weeks prior.

“I guess Sports Illustrated didn’t get the memo,” Davison said with a laugh.

Davison said her runner-up finish at the World Championships is proof that she can reach the Olympic podium in Rio on Aug. 20 — and she has no problem flying under the radar to get there.

“There is a lot of focus on medal, medal, medal,” she said. “But if I put everything together and have the race I know I’m capable of — a race I can be proud of — the results will be there at the end.”

No one has a better view of Davison’s potential than her longtime on-bike coach, Andy Bishop of Williston. Bishop said that during their training block Sunday — two hours of trail riding, followed by nearly three hours of motorpacing on dirt roads between East Barre and Chelsea — he witnessed a drive that will be tough to beat in Rio.

“It was, without a doubt, the best training I have ever seen her do,” Bishop said. “In all the years I’ve worked with Lea, it’s the most focused I’ve ever seen her, mentally and physically.

“She’s going to these Olympics to win a medal, and not just any medal. She’s going after the big kahuna. And I would say she has as good a chance as any of the top women of bringing home that gold.”

Art of the comeback

Davison’s darkhorse status likely stems from her 11th-place finish in her Olympic debut at the 2012 Summer Games in London. Caught up in a frustrating logjam of riders at the onset of that race, Davison finished the start loop on the Hadleigh Farm course in 17th place and could only pick off a half-dozen more riders before she crossed the finish line.

“That’s just one of the results of mountain biking: sometimes, starts can be chaotic,” she said.

But the Lea Davison who clips into her pedals in Rio is a different rider, she says. In the four years since London, she has transformed herself into a more offensive force on the course, with better ability to battle back into contention after a rough start.

“I’ve put in a lot of work to become a more powerful rider,” Davison said. “I’m able to consistently push myself and go faster for an entire race. I can keep attacking, for the full hour and a half.”

This year’s World Championships provided evidence of that. A third-row starting position put Davison behind the proverbial eight ball before the race even began, and she narrowly avoided an early crash that occurred right on her heels.

The distraction kept Davison from making an early push toward the front of the pack. By the time the dust settled, she had an all-too-familiar hole to climb out of.

“My goal had been to go into the first singletrack in the top three,” she said. “I was 27th.”

Rather than mounting a chip-away comeback as she did in London, this time Davison came after the race’s leaders with a vengeance.

“I really focused and put my head down,” she said. “I said to myself, ‘in order to be in contention, these next two laps need to be the laps of my life.’ And I did it.”

Overtaking one competitor after another, Davison came roaring back into the top five by the start of her third lap. Fortune then seemed to favor the bold, as two riders in front of Davison suffered punctured tires to leave the door open for her second-place finish.

“That was awesome,” Davison said. “I finally had the race I’ve been waiting for. Things fell into place, and I had luck on my side.”

Luck is an ingredient often tacked onto the end of winning formulas in sports, but it is especially important in mountain biking. Whereas medal picks in other sports are based simply on who has proven to be the best, a mountain bike racer can see even the biggest lead disappear in an instant via a crash, a flat tire or even a slipped pedal.

Since the Olympics consist of only a single race, victory requires a perfect storm of performance and circumstance, much of which is beyond a rider’s control.

“On any given day, any three riders from the top 15 could end up on the podium, depending how the race unfolds,” Davison said.

Davison’s silver medal run in Nove Mesto saw just such a convergence of factors, though there were indications it was coming. It was a new high point in an upward arc of results that started two years before, following her recovery from the second of two hip surgeries.

She won bronze at the 2014 World Championships in Hafjell, Norway, then captured World Cup silver in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, in July 2015 — the best finish by a Team USA rider in five years.

“By winning those championship medals, I gained valuable experience of what it takes,” said Davison, who wrapped up the 2015 World Cup season as the No. 3 ranked female rider overall.

When she thinks ahead to Rio, Davison doesn’t waste time daydreaming about looking down from the Olympic podium — instead, her mind’s eye stays focused on the view over the handlebars at the challenge of the race itself.

In fact, she spent many a morning this past winter performing high-cadence spins — turning the pedals over as quickly as possible — on a stationary bike, while watching YouTube video of the Rio course and planning her Olympic run.

“It’s a high-speed course, with some technical features that make it extremely challenging,” said Davison, who got a first-hand look at the Olympic course during a test event last October. “It’s a course that definitely plays to my plan, because there is very little recovery; you need to attack the entire course to do well and ride it properly.”

Sublime shock

Davison expects her familiarity with the Olympic experience to also help her perform better in her second Games. She won’t be as wide-eyed in Rio as she was in London.

“The first time was a shock, but it was the best kind of shock,” Davison said. “You don’t know what to expect, and then you get there and it’s bigger than you could ever imagine.”

Even the smallest of everyday details — such as meals and lodging — come with a learning curve, and the adjustment also extends to aspects that can affect performance. For example, Davison learned that she wasn’t allowed to warm up by riding on the roads around Hadleigh Farm prior to the 2012 race; she had to work up her initial layer of sweat on a stationary bike instead.

“Just knowing what to expect makes a big difference,” she said.

No fear of Zika

Despite widespread media attention on the potential threat to Olympic athletes of infection from the Zika virus while in Rio, Davison said she never considered sitting out the 2016 Games.

“I’m going to take all the precautions necessary in terms of Zika,” Davison said, including wearing insect repellent and sleeping with her windows closed at night. “I’m going to be smart, but I’m not going to stress about it.”

Health officials in Brazil said Sunday that athletes’ risk of infection at the Olympics is low, and that the number of reported cases in the country has dropped significantly in the months leading up to the Games.

Davison praised the efforts of the national and international Olympic committees in response to fears about Zika.

“I think they are taking all measures possible to keep the athletes safe and sound,” she said.

Wave of support

As always, Davison has at her back the Little Bellas — the mentoring group for young girls she co-founded with her sister, Sabra.

A special commemorative t-shirt with an image of a passport stamp from Rio was made available for pre-order on the Little Bellas website. Those shirts will be out in force at Burlington International Airport on Aug. 14, when a send-off party is planned for Lea Davison as she embarks for the Games.

The group is also promoting a “Lea Cheer Challenge” video contest, encouraging fans to show their support for the Vermont Olympian via social media using the hashtag #GOLEA.

“The level of support I’ve received here at home has been mind-blowing,” said Davison, a graduate of Mount Mansfield Union High School and Middlebury College. “Knowing that I’m going to the Olympics with the Little Bellas and all of Vermont behind me gives me a lot of energy, and helps me go that much faster.”

Adam White can be reached via email at adamwhite.vt@gmail.com