Mens Event
Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) will likely enter this competition as favourite. Now a contender in some of the biggest road races, he’s the reigning Olympic and World champion. Mathieu van der Poel has chosen to concentrate on the Road Race, so will not be competing in Paris. Nino Schurter (Switzerland) is a legend of mountain biking. He has a full set of Olympic medals, winning gold in 2016. He has won ten world titles in total and in 2023 won bronze at the World Championships. In between Schurter and Pidcock was Samuel Gaze (New Zealand) who added silver to his 2022 Commonwealth gold. The 2022 World Championship silver medalist was David Valero (Spain). He also has an Olympic bronze from Tokyo and won two World Cup events in 2022. Luca Braidot (Italy) also won two World Cup events in 2022 and won bronze at the 2022 World Championships. Victor Koretzky (France) took bronze in 2021 and came close in 2023 when he finished fourth. He also won in the 2023 test event. Compatriot Jordan Sarrou (France) is a former world champion after winning the crown in 2020. He also won a 2023 World Cup event on his way to finishing second overall. Mathias Fluckiger (Switzerland) was third overall and also won an event. He won Olympic silver in Tokyo and is a three-time World Championship silver medalist, most recently in 2021. Alan Hatherly (South Africa) has improved from eighth to seventh to sixth over the last three World Championships and has looked good in the World Cup this season, winning the most recent event. Christopher Blevins (United States) won in Mairipora whilst Simon Andreassen (Denmark) took a win in Araxa before coming third in Les Gets. Luca Schwarzbauer (Germany) came fourth in the 2023 overall World Cup, whilst Ondrej Cink (Czech Republic) came third in 2021.
The course has been designed by the same man who designed the courses for the last two Olympics and it should challenge riders in all ways. Pidcock remains the most intriguing competitors, but it remains hard to judge how their form will translate and whether this event will suffer due to not being prioritised. Schurter will contend but is surely on the decline. Fluckiger, Gaze and the French pair feel the other likeliest contenders. I think I expect Pidcock to take gold, despite the road race potentially offering a distraction, as his priority entering the Olympics is clear and he has been so impressive in the big events. I think the time has come for Fluckiger to finish ahead of Schurter. I think Koretzky can win bronze with home support and his course form showing his comfort at home.
🥇Tom Pidcock 🇬🇧
🥈Mathias Fluckiger 🇨🇭
🥉Victor Koretzky 🇫🇷
Women’s Event
It was a historic clean sweep of medals in Tokyo for Switzerland. Gold medal winner Jolanda does not return. Silver medallist Sina Frei (Switzerland) does return. She was bronze medalist at the 2021 World Championships and 2023 European Games. Instead, Alessandra Keller (Switzerland) is perhaps the Swiss competitor with the greatest chance. She won the World Cup series in 2022 and silver in the World Championships that year. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (France) has won four of the last five world titles, the only exception coming as Evie Richards (Great Britain) took the 2021 World Championship, but she’d only finish fifth and then sixth in 2022 and 2023 respectively. A second former Olympic champion Jenny Rissveds (Sweden) will be in the field after her victory in 2016. She had a particularly strong World Cup in 2022 with four seconds and a third. Puck Pieterse (Netherlands) was the form rider on the 2023 series and will only be 22 for the Olympics. She won three events, as well as the European Games and bronze in the 2023 World Championship. Ahead of her, winning silver, was Loana Lecomte (France). She won the 2021 World Cup series and won two events in the 2022 series. She also won the European Championships in 2022 and the Olympic Test event. Also winning three events in the 2022 World Cup was Rebecca Henderson (Australia) on her way to finishing second in the World Cup series. She was a twice World Championship bronze medalist in 2019 and 2020. Haley Batten (United States) was the 2022 bronze medalist and won a World Cup event in Araxa this season. Compatriot Savilla Blunk (United States) has been on the World Cup podium twice this season. Martina Berta (Italy) had two podiums in 2023. Anne Terpstra (Netherlands) has twice finished third in the World Cup series whilst she got silver in the 2021 World Championship. Austria also has a couple of potential contenders. Laura Stigger (Austria) has twice finished fourth in the World Cup, including in 2023 and finished second in the test event. Compatriot Mona Mitterwallner (Austria) finished third in the 2023 World Cup, winning two events. She also came fourth in the 2023 World Championship and second in the European Games. Kata Blanka Vas (Hungary) returns after finishing fourth in Tokyo.
It is a rolling, physical course without too many chances to recover. The French pair both showed their liking for the course when performing well in the test event. Pieterse, the Austrian pair, Keller, McConnell and Rissveds are probably the biggest contenders although several riders will be hoping to medal. Ferrand-Prevot has to be favoured given her ability to perform on the biggest stage. Behind her, I think it comes down to Lecomte and Pieterse who was so impressive last year. I have to give Pieterse the edge solely on that form with Lecomte pushing her all the way.
🥇Pauline Ferrand-Prevot 🇫🇷
🥈Puck Pieterse 🇳🇱
🥉Loana Lecomte 🇫🇷
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