Individual time trial
The individual TT is the first cycling event at this year’s Olympics and will take place on Saturday, the 27th of July, just one day after the opening ceremony. It’s the purest test of cycling strength, speed, and stamina. And the cool thing is that many of the famous Tour de France riders are usually competing for top spots. Last year, it was Wout Van Aert, Primoz Roglic, Remco Evenepoel, and Geraint Thomas, among others, competing for gold. You can rewatch the race here.
And the women’s time trial was an impressive show of strength too with Annemiek Van Vleuten, Marlen Reusser, and Anna Van Der Breggen battling it out.
The TT course for 2024 is shared for both men and women and will consist of 32,4 km of mostly flat roads. It will favour pure time triallists such as Italy’s Filippo Ganna or Great Britain’s Josh Tarling. Primozž Roglič won’t be there to defend his title but you’ll see the world champion Remco Evenepoel and his fellow Belgian Wout van Aert putting up a fight. Among the women’s field, watch out for the following contenders: USA’s Chloé Dygert who’s the current world champion, Ellen van Dijk of Netherlands, and Australia’s Grace Brown.
The road race
The road race at the Olympics is a lot like the one-day classics: a long route with a lot of climbing and an exciting sprint finish. Last year’s route included a lot of climbing and fast descents and Richard Carapaz created something special in a stacked field with favourites such as Tadej Pogačar, Wout Van Aert and many other elite riders from the Grand Tours. You can watch him go in the breakaway here.
Riders and national teams aren’t allowed to use radios like they are used to in the Grand Tours. This caused quite a lot of confusion in the women’s race. The very strong Dutch team with Annemiek Van Vleuten, Marianne Vos, and Demi Vollering thought they were going for the victory. And other stars such as Lotte Kopecky or Kasia Niewiadoma were also there fighting. You can watch the drama unfold in the last 15 km of the race here.
This year, the men’s course is 273 km long with 2,800 metres of climbing and 13 named ascents. The race is planned for the 3rd of August and will feature many of the best from the Tour de France peloton. The fresh Tour’s champion Tadej Pogačar will be there as well as the 3rd in the GC Remco Evenepoel. The best sprinter and green jersey holder, Biniam Girmay, will also have a shot if he’s in the final sprint. And we have to mention Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, and Tom Pidcock as fan favourites too.
The women’s road race is 158 km long with 1,700 metres of climbing and 9 named ascents. The race is scheduled a day after the men’s, on the 3rd of August. It will have a strong Dutch presence as usual with Marianne Vos and Demi Vollering but Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky and Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma will have something to say about the final standings.
Cross country
Olympics cycling is not just about road bikes. Mountain bikers get their opportunity with a cross-country race held on the 28th of July and the 29th of July for men and women respectively. Get excited by rewatching the highlights from the 2020 Olympics for the men’s and women’s races here.
Tom Pidcock will be the big favourite in the 2024 Olympics as his biggest rival Mathieu van der Poel decided to focus exclusively on road racing this year. But he will still have to battle it out with Switzerland’s Mathias Flückiger who is currently first in the 2024 UCI XCO World Cup rankings, and many others.
France’s seasoned veteran Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will be one of the favourites with Jolanda Neff and Marlen Reusser both unable to compete as the result of health issues. But she will have tough competition in Switzerland’s Alessandra Keller who is currently first in the 2024 UCI XCO World Cup rankings.
BMX Racing
BMX racing is one of the newer cycling events at the Olympics and it makes for some spectacular viewing. There are 8 riders per race and it’s first to the finish line via jumps, obstacles and sharp turns over a short course of only a few hundred meters. If you’ve never seen this event, check out the amazing men’s and women’s performances from Tokyo 2020 to get excited.
In Paris, BMX Racing qualifications are planned for the 1st of August and the finals will be held a day later on the 2nd of August. Despite the sport’s relatively short history on the Olympic stage, some athletes have already made a name for themselves. The two-time Olympic gold medallist Mariana Pajón from Columbia and Tokyo 2020 champion and 2021 world champion Niek Kimmann from the Netherlands are the favourites to take gold.
BMX Freestyle
BMX Freestyle will make its 2nd appearance at the Olympics after a successful debut in Tokyo – and you don’t want to miss this one. BMX Freestyle runs are some of the most action-packed 60 seconds with spins, flips, tail whips, and riders flying in the air across ramps, jumps, and rails. But it’s better to see it than read about it. Here are the men’s and women’s finals from Tokyo 2020.
You can watch the qualification on the 30th of July and the finals on the 31st of July. Will Australia’s Logan Martin and USA’s Hannah Roberts defend their gold medals from Tokyo?
