Road Cycling Paris 2024 Olympic Review

Men’s Road Race

An early breakaway formed but it was not a race defining move. The first attack from expected medal contenders came from Ben Healy (Ireland) and Alexey Lutsenko (Kazakhstan). The race was turned on its head by Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) who accelerated through the field. Only Valentin Madouas (France) could follow but on the final climb up Montmarte, Evenepoel accelerated away. A scare came inside the last 10km as he wrestled with a puncture, but a quick change meant he was able to move away comfortably to claim gold.

🥇Remco Evenepoel 🇧🇪

🥈Valentin Madouas 🇫🇷

🥉Christophe Laporte 🇫🇷

Prediction analysis; 0 Medallists correct

The Olympic road race is a graveyard for favourites! I would have really struggled to get that podium with 100 guesses. Evenepoel was surely too tired given his other exploits. The French pairing were clearly inspired by a loud home crowd. 

Men’s Time Trial

Wet conditions made for a treacherous time trial, as there were multiple crashes. One of the favourites, Josh Tarling (Great Britain) had an early front wheel puncture so had to swap his bike. Despite this, at the first checkpoint he was one of six men within fifteen seconds as Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) led. At the second checkpoint, it was down to four riders. Evenepoel led Wout Van Aert (Belgium) by ten seconds with Filippo Ganna (Italy) and Tarling within ten seconds of him. Van Aert was the first of the leaders to cross the line and he led by over a minute. Tarling followed and was two seconds behind Van Aert, despite the bike change. Ganna was the next to come and despite a wobble, was ten seconds ahead of Van Aert. Finally, Evenepoel stormed home with an incredible ride, fighting his fatigue from the Tour De France to take gold. 

🥇Remco Evenepoel 🇧🇪

🥈Filippo Ganna 🇮🇹

🥉Wout Van Aert 🇧🇪

Prediction analysis; 2 Medallists correct, 1 perfect prediction 

I felt good about this. Tarling would have been on the podium without a bike change. Evenepoel shocked me given his busy schedule, I still cannot believe he managed it. 

Women’s Road Race 

Again, the peloton was happy to let the early escapees get away. Several attacks were made with none sticking. With 50km to go, a crash involving Chloe Dygert (United States) and Lotte Kopecky (Belgium), caused splits in the peloton. Soon, there was a group of ten at the front. After plenty of squabbling, Lizzie Deignan (Great Britain) attacked, only for a counter attack by Blanka Vas (Hungary) and Marianne Vos (Netherlands) to drop her. Soon, the chase group shrank to five and then just Kopecky and Kristen Faulkner (United States) looking to catch up with the front runners. They were able to catch them with about 4km to go, with Faulkner surging past the leading group. Vos and Kopecky were able to sprint away from Vas to take other medals. 

🥇Kristen Faulkner 🇺🇸

🥈Marianne Vos 🇳🇱

🥉Lotte Kopecky 🇧🇪

Prediction analysis; 1 Medallists correct

Kopecky will maybe felt she could have won this without the crash, however that is road cycling. I mentioned I expected a Dutch medal but went for the consistently stronger Vollering. 

Women’s Time Trial

The conditions were among the worst of the Olympics, as the roads were soaking. This led to numerous falls with Taylor Knibb (United States) particularly struggling. One of the early leaders was Kim Cadzow (New Zealand). Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands), my pre-event pick, was still struggling with her injuries and could only finish eleventh. Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) was the first go ahead of her but the fastest ladies were still yet to come. Grace Brown (Australia) was leading at both time checks, with Chloe Dygert (United States) second and Anna Henderson (Great Britain) in third. Dygert would suffer a fall. Juliette Labous (France)went into the lead first but when Henderson arrived she was ten seconds ahead of Labous. Brown was the next person to take the lead, finishing with a massive gap of 91 seconds. Dygert followed over the line but could only come third, less than a second behind Henderson.

🥇Grace Brown 🇦🇺

🥈Anna Henderson 🇬🇧

🥉Chloe Dygert 🇺🇸

Prediction analysis; 2 Medallists correct

The injuries or lack of race fitness felt key here. Van Dijk nor Dygert seemed 100%. I did mention Henderson as a contender to compete.