The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris starts on Friday 26th July. One of the first events in the Paris Games is the Road Cycling Time Trial. It is hosted on Saturday 27th July from 2.30pm CEST. The Olympic Road Race, follows the following week on 3rd and 4th August.
With three of the four winners from the previous Olympics not returning to defend their titles, there are going to be new champions crowned, so it’s going to be fascinating to see how the races unfold on the streets of Paris.
Time Trial course
For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, the 70 men and women will race on the same 32.4km course, starting at ‘Esplanade des Invalides’ and finishing on the ‘Pont Alexandre III’ bridge.
Riders will start at 1 minute 30 second intervals. The route is relatively flat with 150 meters of elevation and riders will pass by some of Paris’ historic sites during the race. This includes ‘Place de la Bastille,’ which is a square in Paris where the Bastille prison once stood. The ‘Vélodrome Jacques Anquetil,’ which was the finish line of the Tour de France from 1968 to 1974 and then the course enters the ‘Bois de Vincennes’ which is the largest public park in the city and built by Emperor Napoleon III. The riders will head to ‘Place de la Nation’ before returning to ‘Place de la Bastille’ following the same route, finishing on the ‘Pont Alexandre III’ bridge over the river Seine.
Time Trial competitors
Primož Roglič will not be defending his title this is because he suffered a lower back fracture during a crash in the recent Tour de France.
The flat course will favour World Time Trial Champion, Remco Evenepoel, racing for Belgium. Looking to shakeup the status quo will be British rider Josh Tarling. He will be wanting to beat his INEOS Grenadiers teammates, American Magnus Sheffield and Italian, two-times World Time Trial Champion, Filippo Ganna. If he finishes ahead of his teammates, he will be sure to earn a medal.
In the women’s race, American Chloé Dygert can be considered one of the top contenders for the gold medal, having won both the United States National Time Trial Championships and the World Time Trial Championships in 2023. Australian Grace Brown who came second to Dygert in the 2023 World Championships, will be wanting to secure a medal after coming fourth in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Road Race course
The Olympic Road Race course the men will race first on 3rd August is different to the women’s who race the following day. The men ride a total distance of 273km, whilst women will ride a total of 158km. The men’s course has more elevation will include 2,800 metres of ascent, whilst women will have 1,700 meters to contend with. However, both races will begin and end at the ‘Trocadéro,’ in Paris.
There will be a processional start where they will pass historic monuments such as the Eiffel Tower and racing will get underway on Rue Gay-Lussac, in the 5th arrondissement.
The riders will leave Paris and pass famous locations like the ‘Château of Versailles,’ which they will revisit later in the day.
The course contains 14 steep climbs for men and 9 for women, one notable one is a climb up to Montmartre, a picturesque district in Paris famous for Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s paintings. The riders will complete two rounds of a course that includes an ascent up ‘La Butte Montmartre’ when the race returns to the heart of Paris, meaning they will see this brief but steep 6.5% hill three times in total. This is the location of one of Paris’ most popular tourist destinations, the majestic Basilica of the Sacré-Coeur.
As well as the climbs, riders will also have cobbled streets to push through with, which will favour the Classic riders who are accustomed to them. Therefore, there is distinct advantage for riders like Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert.
Overall, this is a technical course.
Road Race contenders
Previous winner and recent Tour de France King of the Mountains winner, Richard Carapaz has not been selected by Ecuador’s national cycling federation. Instead, they have opted for Jhonatan Narváez. Also missing from the start line will also be recent Tour de France winner, Tadej Pogačar. The Slovenian Olympic Committee (OKS) made the announcement with Pogačar noting that “fatigue” being a factor. Pogačar has ridden and won two consecutive Grand Tours, the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, a remarkable achievement with Italian Marco Pantani being the last person to complete this double, 26 years ago in 1998. By completing the Giro-Tour double, he now sits alongside Marco Pantani, Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault as a winner of both races in the same season.
With two big names missing from the start list, there will be those who may fancy their chances, such a Britain’s Tom Pidcock. He will be defending his mountain bike title from Tokyo 2020, and also tackling the men’s road race, hoping to win a medal in each.
Out to stop him will be two-times World Champion Julian Alaphilippe. The Frenchman will be racing on home roads and will be motivated to put in a strong performance.
It could however be a battle between the Belgium and Dutch teams for victory with current World Champion Mathieu van der Poel competing against Belgians Wout van Aert and Remco Evenpoel.
For the women’s race, Austrian Anna Kiesenhofer will be on the start line to defend her title, but it is the Dutch who have a formidable team that consists of serial winner, Marianne Vos. Could she repeat her 2012 Olympic gold medal? Demi Vollering has had a particular standout year winning the Vuelta España Femenina, could she come out on top? Making up the team is Lorena Wiebes and Ellen van Dijk. On paper, the Dutch certainly look like they have multiple riders who could win, but it’s cycling and victory for the Dutch isn’t nailed on with recent Giro d’Italia winner Elisa Balsamo of Italy, in with a chance, along with Lotte Kopecky, the current World Champion from Belgium.
With so many high quality riders, so closely matched, it’s going to be a fascinating watch and it’s anyone’s race to win.
Paris 2024 Road Cycling Schedule (CEST)
Day 1: 27th July 2024
Start: Invalides, Paris
Finish: Pont Alexandre III, Paris
14:30 – 16:00 Women’s individual time trial
16:30 – 18:00 Men’s individual time trial
Day 2: 3rd August 2024
11:00 – 18:15 Men’s road race
Day 3: 4th August 2024
14:00 – 18:45 Women’s road race
Overview
It is disappointing that the recent Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar is not participating. Given his dominance at the recent Tour de France, he would have been a good bet for a medal, not just in the Road Race but in the Time Trial. However, his absence will not make the racing any less exciting, after all, there is something extra special about the Olympics. Given the quality of the field and the nature of the course, everyone must be dreaming of a medal and writing their name in the history books and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
