The Paris Olympic Games is already upon us following the conclusion of the Tour de France, and the highway racing motion is first on the menu with the boys’s and ladies’s time trials each approaching the opening weekend (Saturday, July 27).
The cream of the crop of the world time trial stars have gathered in Paris for the uncommon alternative to tilt on the gold medal, with all of them tackling the identical flat 32.4km out-and-back course from Invalides to Pont Alexandre III by way of the Bois de Vincennes in France’s capital metropolis.
The time trial on the Olympic Games has been round since 1912, when South Africa’s Rudolph Lewis gained the 320km males’s check. It was shelved after 1932, nonetheless, solely making a return at Atlanta 1996, the place the ladies’s time trial was additionally launched.
Since then, names together with Miguel Indurain, Kristin Armstrong (3 times), Fabian Cancellara (twice), Annemiek van Vleuten, and Primož Roglič have triumphed.
Read on for our rundown on the highest favourites so as to add their names to the honour roll on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games time trials.
Remco Evenepoel (Belgium)
It’s no shock that the reigning world time trial champion Remco Evenepoel is among the many prime picks for Olympic gold within the time trial in Paris. The Belgian heads to the Games from his debut Tour de France, the place he raced to 3rd total in Nice.
He rounded off his trip with a 3rd place within the powerful hilly time trial over La Turbie and the Col d’Eze however powered to the stage win on the mid-race time trial in Gevrey-Chambertin, run on a flatter parcours.
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Earlier this 12 months, Evenepoel gained the flat 22km time trial on the Volta ao Algarve and the rolling 34km check on the Critérium du Dauphiné, whereas his Worlds win got here on a largely flat 48km course.
The primary factor that might rely in opposition to him is an absence of freshness, particularly in comparison with a number of of his primary opponents, who did not race the Tour.
For his Belgian teammate Wout van Aert, the alternative could also be true. The 29-year-old scored seven top-10s in the course of the Tour however wasn’t at 100%, so three weeks in France might have served as excellent preparation for Paris. (DO)
Chloé Dygert (USA)
As the reigning time trial World Champion, the USA’s Chloé Dygert would be the heavy favorite heading into the Paris Olympics, as she appears to have success on each the highway and observe in races in opposition to the clock. It’s a course that fits her, with the flat 32.4km heading east and again into the centre of Paris enjoying to the strengths of the highly effective American.
It’s set to be her third Olympics after racing the staff pursuit at Rio 2016 and Tokyo in 2021, additionally taking over the highway occasions in Japan the place she was thirty first within the highway race and seventh within the a lot hillier time trial. However, Tokyo was on considered one of her many returns from setbacks after a serious crash at Imola Worlds the 12 months prior noticed her out of motion for a chronic interval, with a bout of Epstein-Barr virus then present process surgical procedure to deal with supraventricular tachycardia in 2022 additionally pushing again her highway profession.
Since her gorgeous comeback to kind within the 2023 season, the place she took her first WorldTour win on the ExperienceLondon Classique and went on to be ITT World Champion in Stirling, Dygert has well-established herself because the favorite for Paris. She has a silver and bronze medal already however appears set to go one higher with gold in Paris.
However, even this season has been hampered by each damage and sickness, with an Achilles concern and COVID-19 all through the season leading to her not using a highway time trial for the entire season and her solely finishing three UCI race days.
Filippo Ganna (Italy)
Two-time world time trial champion and reigning Italian time trial champion Filippo Ganna might not be the unbeatable pressure he as soon as was within the self-discipline, however he heads to the second Games of his profession with an amazing probability of strolling away with a medal of some description.
Last day out, in Tokyo, he positioned fifth, lacking out on bronze by two seconds and silver by 5, however you’d wager on him to enhance on that exhibiting this time round.
Ganna has opted for a quiet build-up to Paris, taking over the four-day Tour of Austria this month, the place he confirmed his kind with a final-day stage victory. He’s constructed his complete season round Paris, the place he’ll additionally tackle the highway race and defend Italy’s gold medal within the staff pursuit on the observe.
This 12 months he has extra second locations in time trials and prologues (three) than wins, although these two victories on the Giro d’Italia and Italian Championships present that he’ll be a pressure to be reckoned with on the large stage on the Olympics. (DO)
Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands)
Ellen van Dijk has had a wild 9 months within the run-up to the Paris Olympics, her third Games after London 2012 and Rio 2016. From giving beginning to her first little one Faas in October to returning to racing with Lidl-Trek in March, breaking her ankle whereas coaching in June and at last saying earlier this month that she would be capable to take part in Paris.
Despite the previous couple of arduous weeks of restoration which she has known as “the toughest problem of her profession”, the three-time World Champion in opposition to the clock is to not be underestimated as a competitor for gold on July 27. Her final two titles got here back-to-back on flat programs 30km and 34km in size in Bruges and Wollongong from 2021 to 2022, just like the 32.4km flat effort due in Paris later this week.
Van Dijk may even be spurred on having missed out on the Tokyo Olympics, the place compatriots Annemiek van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen bookended the rostrum with gold and bronze within the hilly time trial. With Demi Vollering taking over the ITT alongside Van Dijk, the Netherlands might as soon as once more be dominating the rostrum.
Brandon McNulty (USA)
The USA’s medal hope Brandon McNulty has constructed a fame as a prime time triallist through the years, to the extent that he has as many wins within the self-discipline as anybody in 2024.
Victories on the UAE Tour, Tour de Romandie (forward of TT teammate Magnus Sheffield), and final month’s US Nationals put him even with Evenepoel on three triumphs this season. Last 12 months, he took his greatest time trial outcome with fourth place on the 48km course on the Glasgow Worlds, even when he was 1:27 off gold.
He has Olympic expertise, having taken on the highway race final day out in Tokyo, racing to sixth place. This might be his Games time trial, debut, nonetheless. Paris is his greatest aim of the season, with each time trial and highway race on the menu right here.
He’s one other rider who heads into the Games with contemporary legs in preparation for the twin assault, having not raced because the US Nationals again in mid-May. (DO)
Grace Brown (Australia)
Australia’s Grace Brown is the best finisher from Tokyo collaborating within the time trial, with Van Vleuten and Van der Breggen each retiring and silver medallist Marlen Reusser lacking out as a consequence of lingering sickness. She’s proved to be one of many best possible riders in opposition to the clock within the peloton, having additionally completed runner-up on the earlier two World Championships in Wollongong and Stirling.
She’s managed a prime 5 in her previous 16 time trials and is in good kind in 2024 after taking wins on the Australian nationwide championships and Bretagne Ladies Tour, solely dropping out on the opening stage of the Giro d’Italia by one second to Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy.
It’s additionally set to be the ultimate Olympics of Brown’s profession having introduced she’s going to retire on the finish of the season to return to Australia for good so she will be able to calm down and revel in household life which she has missed as a professional.
“Let’s see if I can log out in fashion,” Brown mentioned after saying the top of her biking profession. Paris is the proper alternative.
Josh Tarling (Great Britain)
Great Britain’s hope for gold, Josh Tarling, is the most recent massive identify on the time trial scene, having shot to the highest of the self-discipline after turning professional straight from the junior ranks final 12 months.
Still solely 18, he kicked off his skilled profession with a podium spot on the Etoile de Bessèges time trial, then repeating the feat after his nineteenth birthday on the UAE Tour. In June he blitzed the time trial on the British Championships earlier than occurring to even better issues – elite bronze at his residence Worlds after which wins (beating Stefan Bissegger, Wout Van Aert, and Remco Evenepoel) on the European Championships and Chrono des Nations.
This season, he defended his nationwide title with ease with one other minute-plus margin to second place, additionally successful the opening TT at O Gran Camiño. His racing summer season has been a lightweight one, with the Critérium du Dauphiné (second to Evenepoel within the time trial) and two days on the Nationals his solely outings.
Like Ganna, then, he’ll be contemporary as he heads to Paris for the primary Olympic outing of his profession aged simply 20. Former junior world time trial champion Tarling has already proven that he likes the large events, so it would not be a shock to see him among the many medals once more right here. (DO)
Demi Vollering (Netherlands)
The Dutch are inclined to dominate the favourites checklist for any girls’s races as the highest nation throughout most disciplines, so it’s no shock that Demi Vollering makes this checklist even with Van Dijk seeming the stronger choice.
Vollering is the perfect GC rider in girls’s biking and that doesn’t come with no sturdy ITT in her arsenal, though she isn’t as sturdy within the self-discipline because the likes of Van Dijk and Dygert, who’re pure time trial specialists and greatest go well with the flat, energy course by means of Paris.
While she didn’t win the Dutch nationwide championships, dropping out to Riejanne Markus in June, this did arrive after an enormous block of stage racing in Spain and Switzerland, when she gained 4 WorldTour stage races in a row together with the Vuelta, Itzulia, Burgos and Suisse.
In the latter, she additionally gained her first time trial because the 2021 Women’s Tour, albeit on a mountain ITT, however she has managed a number of podium finishes in races in opposition to the clock since then. A medal appears possible ultimately for Vollering.
Expect her to be contemporary heading into the Olympics, with the time trial and highway race each on her menu earlier than she heads residence to the Netherlands for the Grand Départ of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes the place she’s going to defend her title from final 12 months. (JM)
Stefan Küng (Switzerland)
Stefan Küng has notched 20 time trial wins all through his profession, together with two European titles and 6 nationwide titles. But the Swiss hope has garnered a fame as an almost man on the large time trial events.
In his debut Olympics outing in Tokyo, he took fourth place, fractions of a second away from bronze, whereas 10 time trial outings on the Tour de France have seen him end 5 occasions within the prime 10 together with two second locations. At the World Championships, he is scored third, fifth, and second (by simply three seconds) locations in 9 begins.
After the near-miss three summers in the past, the 30-year-old might be decided to return away with a medal this time. He has one time trial win in 5 makes an attempt this season, the only real triumph coming over a minute forward of Paris teammate and fellow contender Stefan Bissegger on the Swiss Nationals.
Since then, he is raced 19 days of the Tour de France which included a tenth place within the hilly mid-race time trial. Paris is presumably Küng’s remaining probability at choosing up an Olympic medal in his profession and he’ll be decided to undo the frustration of Tokyo. (DO)
Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy)
Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini is heading into the Olympics proper from an emotional and thrilling first total triumph on the Giro d’Italia Women, 13 years after she first rode her residence Grand Tour. Spurred on by this, she appears like a doable medal contender in each highway occasions.
Time trialling has gone effectively for the Italian lately having gained the stage 1 time trial on the Giro en path to taking her total victory. It was additionally in opposition to a powerful discipline with each Brown and Lotte Kopecky taking over the Giro, with Longo Borghini narrowly beating the Australian by one second into Brescia.
It wasn’t as flat a course as might be taken on in Paris, nonetheless, Longo Borghini has been on a scorching streak of kind in 2024 after returning to the height of her powers from an damage and illness-riddled 2023 season, the place crashes, COVID-19 and sepsis have been among the many hardships she confronted.
Longo Borghini has completed tenth and fifth within the time trial on the previous two Olympics however she does have two bronze medals from the Rio and Tokyo highway races. Could Paris 2024 be the 12 months she lastly strikes silver or gold? (JM)
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