The girls’s after which males’s particular person time trials award the primary biking medals on the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday.
35 girls shall be in motion from 2:30pm CET, whereas 34 males will race from 4:32pm native time in France.
Great Britain’s Ethan Hayter pulled out of the time trial on Friday to concentrate on subsequent week’s monitor racing. 2021 males’s gold medalist Primož Roglič (Slovenia) is absent after his Tour de France crash. The Netherlands’ Annemiek van Vleuten received the ladies’s time trial in Tokyo however retired in 2023.
The favourites for medals in Paris embody the USA’s Chloé Dygert, Ellen van Dijk of the Netherlands, Australia’s Grace Brown, Filippo Ganna of Italy, Remco Evenepoel of Belgium and Great Britain’s Josh Tarling. All are skilled and highly effective time trialists.
These are the beginning lists and begin instances for the ladies’s and males’s time trials.
Here is Cyclingnews’ evaluation of the favourites for the time trial.
Rain, rain, go away, come again one other day
Unexpected heavy rain soaked everybody throughout Friday’s opening ceremony and the time triallists awoke to extra showers and gray skies in Paris on Saturday morning.
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The rain is predicted to clear within the afternoon when the ladies after which males compete, however the metropolis centre roads and particularly within the Bois de Vincennes park on the midway level, are anticipated to remain moist. Potholes and tough metropolis centre roads after which leaves on the roads within the park will add additional risks.
“If it rains, I solely hope that the circumstances are the identical for everybody and that not solely the final twenty riders must journey on a moist highway floor,” Evenepoel stated, after describing the opening and shutting 5 kilometres of the course in central Paris as ‘shitty’
“Fortunately, it isn’t a technical course and that helps. Although, there are some lengthy, quick corners and generally you possibly can slide out extra simply there than in a gradual nook.”
Double disc wheels for Wout van Aert?
According to Het Laatste Nieuws, Wout van Aert has determined to make use of a hardly ever seen double-disc wheel set-up for the time trial.
The Belgian was noticed utilizing the set-up throughout a reconnaissance journey on Wednesday, in one of many huge tech tales of the week, and stated a last resolution will depend on how windy circumstances are on Saturday.
Cyclingnews can affirm that there’s little or no wind in central Paris so the solutions that Van Aert will go for double discs, and take a calculated threat to attempt to acquire just a few seconds on his rivals, appears to be the case.
Giant chainrings, huge gears and excessive speeds
Time trial gearing has modified lately with increasingly more riders choosing greater gears and single chainrings that supply a extra aerodynamic set-up and a mechanically extra environment friendly straight chain line. The males are anticipated to race at a mean of 55 km/h and even sooner on some sections, the ladies will solely be a bit of slower and take equally as many dangers looking for very important seconds on their rivals
Ganna might use a 64-tooth chainring or go even greater and use a 68-tooth chainring. Tarling, who can even journey a brand new Pinarello Bolide bike, can also be anticipated to journey a large 68-tooth chainring.
Van Aert might additionally go huge, whereas Evenepoel will use a 64-tooth chainring.
“Ganna and Tarling usually are not alone,” Evenepoel stated, wanting throughout to Van Aert as they spoke on Thursday.
“What’s subsequent? A 70? That’ll be inconceivable, then you definately’d hit the bottom once you take a proper flip.”
“I’ll let you know on Saturday night whether or not I favored it or not,” Van Aert stated.