This will be the first time in Olympic history that the men's and women's time trial events will use the same course, with women's individual time trial taking place on Saturday, July 27, 2024, from 14:30 to 16:00 Paris time. and the men's individual time trial taking place immediately after from 16:30 to 18:00 Paris time.
The time trial starts at the Esplanade des Invalides in Paris, where riders will head out to the Bois de Vincennes and then return to finish on the Pont Alexandre III bridge, with riders expected to complete the course in 35-40 minutes. The course heads east along Boulevard Saint-Germain Crosses the Pont de Sully Passes the Place de la Bastille Loops through the Polygone de Vincennes.
The course spans 32.4 kilometers and is nearly entirely flat. There is a small 150-meter ascent, which adds a minor challenge to the otherwise flat terrain, but the route will benefit riders who tend to do well at top speeds without factoring for climbs or technical descents.
There is a tight left and right near the Vélodrome Jacques Anquetil, but the route ends with a long, straight 5-kilometer finishing stretch which means that pure time trialists with the ability to match a sprinters finishing push will benefit from the set up of the route.
On the men's side, Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) is a strong contender in great form, coming of a recent third overall finish and Best Young Rider at the 2024 Tour de France. Fellow Belgian Wout van Aert is another top favorite, who is historically a strong time trialist. Although van Aert had a quiet 2024 Tour de France, this may be a result of him holding back to have additional energy to capture gold at the Olympic time trial. Joshua Tarling (Great Britain) is also a strong contender. Tarling, at only 20 years old, is a two time World Junior champion in the individual time trial, who also bested the field of the elite time trial at the 2023 European Road Cycling Championships when he was only 19.
On the women's side, Chloe Dygert (USA) is a rider to look out for to capture the gold medal in Paris. Dygert is the current world champion in the women's individual time trial, having taken her second title at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships. Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) and Grace Brown (Australia) are two other riders to keep an eye on at the start of the day at the 2024 Olympic time trial.
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