Olympic Games Paris 2024: more battles on Parisian roads

Weekend of road races through Paris

A week after the individual time trials (ITT), road cyclists are back in action at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 this weekend for the road races.

Newly-crowned ITT Olympic Champions Grace Brown (AUS) and Remco Evenepoel (BEL) both boast an impressive record in one-day road races. Can they double up and succeed Anna Kiesenhofer (AUT) and Richard Carapaz (ECU), crowned in the road races in Tokyo 2020? Many stars align in both the men’s race (Saturday 3 August) and women’s race (Sunday 4 August).

Versailles, Chevreuse, Montmartre: a flamboyant and punchy course

Both races start from the Trocadéro, in front of the Eiffel Tower, and head west, soon facing the famous Côte des Gardes (1.9km at 6%) and visiting Versailles and the Essonne department before they return to Paris with a series of short climbs that are sure to set the stage for an intense finale.

With a longer opening loop (225km) exploring the Chevreuse Valley, the men will also ride by the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome (home of the track events at the Olympic Games Paris 2024) and the castle of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Their course is 272.1km, with 2,800 metres of elevation. The women will race over 157.6km, with 1,700 metres of elevation.

As the riders re-enter Paris, they will face the last 50km of the race with an exciting circuit (18.4km, to be covered three times), both in terms of views and sporting challenges. The Louvre and the Opéra Garnier will guide the athletes towards Montmartre, with a cobbled climb (1km at 6.5%) to be summited 9.5km from the finish, back on the Trocadéro.

Competition for Kiesenhofer

Competitors from 56 nations, with up to four riders per country, are gearing up for the Olympic Games challenge, with a few favourites and a lot of hopeful contenders, well aware that anything can happen in the road race, as illustrated by Anna Kiesenhofer’s extraordinary ride to the gold medal three years ago in Japan. The Austrian will be at the start in Paris and faces plenty of competition.

Toyko 2020 runner-up Annemiek van Vleuten retired at the end of 2023 but Dutch power is always aiming for the highest positions, with stars such as Marianne Vos, Demi Vollering, Lorena Wiebes and Ellen van Dijk.

Look out also for Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini, who stood on the third step of the podium in Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016. She has shown form this season, notably with her recent win in the Giro d’Italia Women.

The list of contenders goes on, in line with a very open 2024 campaign that has highlighted the talents of Kasia Niewiadoma (POL), Elisa Balsamo (ITA), Pfeiffer Georgi (GBR)… And even though Lotte Kopecky (BEL) will not be wearing her rainbow jersey as the reigning UCI World Champion, everyone knows she is the force to be reckoned with so far this year.

Women’s road race entry list

Who will succeed Carapaz?

For the men’s race, riders represent 55 nations (with up to four riders per nation) dreaming of glory, three years after Richard Carapaz made history for Ecuador. His countryman Jhonatan Narvaez is tasked with defending the Olympic title, no easy feat with the star-studded field lining up in Paris.

Silver medallist in Japan, Wout van Aert (BEL) has put a major focus on the Olympic Games Paris 2024. His bronze medal in the ITT, alongside Evenepoel’s gold, shows he’s ready to battle, and the addition of Tiesj Benoot and Jasper Stuyven make the Belgians hot favourites to claim victory in the road race as well.

Will it be enough to contain Mathieu Van der Poel? The Dutch UCI World Champion is having an extraordinary 2024. Many eyes turn to him but a former wearer of the rainbow jersey also attracts lots of attention: Julian Alaphilippe, crowned UCI World Champion in Imola (Italy) in 2020 and Flanders (Belgium) in 2021, now has an Olympic Games rendezvous with the French crowds and he’s done everything he can to be at his best, including skipping the Tour de France to prepare for a circuit that suits him well.

France can also count on Christophe Laporte, Valentin Madouas and Kevin Vauquelin. Will it be enough to resist the likes of Mads Pedersen (DEN), Biniam Girmay (ERI), Michael Matthews (AUS)…? The French also know they have to be wary of Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock after he narrowly got the better of France’s Victor Koretzky to win the mountain bike Olympic title on Monday.

Men’s road race entry list