Date: 27 July Location: Paris, France (Pont Alexandre III) Distance: 32.4km Elevation gain: 150m Women’s time trial: 2:30pm (CET), 1:30pm (BST), 8:30 (ET) Men's time trial: 4:30pm (CET), 3:30pm (BST), 10:30 (ET)
Paris Olympics time trial route
For the first time in the history of the Olympics, men and women will race the same course, over an equal distance, in the time trial. The organisers have laid on a lavish route to mark the occasion, too. Starting and finishing by Pont Alexandre III, the city’s most ostentatiously golden bridge, the riders will trace a 32.4km loop east, along the south bank – or rive gauche – and out into the Bois de Vincennes. They won’t need to look up from their tucked positions to hear the bells of Notre-Dame – which they’ll pass twice – but should they afford themselves a glance at their surroundings, they’ll see the towering column of the Place de la Bastille, the former royal residence of the Château de Vincennes, and the outdoor Vélodrome Jacques Anquetil, which hosted the 1900 and 1924 Games.
(Image credit: UCI/IOC)
When GB’s gold medal hopeful Josh Tarling visited the French capital for a recon in June, together with teammate Anna Henderson, he was taken aback by how city-based the course is. "When they said it was in Paris, I didn’t know if it was going to be sort of near it, but it’s proper central, and it’s definitely fast," Tarling told Cycling Weekly. "I think it could suit me, but I think it could suit two other guys as well. Well, more than two other guys…"
The course is designed to be a true test of speed, favouring those with the fastest engines. There are no hills to tackle, just 150m of minor lumps, and a sparse spattering of obstacles. The biggest challenges will be navigating the twists of the Vincennes Forest, and the drain hole covers peppered throughout the inner-city streets.
At 32.4km, it will be the longest time trial distance the women have faced at the Olympics, and the shortest ever for the men – a far cry from 1912, the first men’s Olympic time trial, which stretched 320km.
(Image credit: UCI/IOC)
Paris Olympics time trial favourites
Neither of the two defending champions will compete in Paris, following the retirement of Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) and the non-selection of Primož Roglič (Slovenia).
A total of 69 riders – 34 men and 35 women – will race against the clock for medals. Here are a handful of the favourites among them.
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Remco Evenepoel (Belgium)
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The world champion will no doubt be the favourite for gold in the men's race in Paris. Known in his native Belgium as the ‘Aero Bullet’, the 24-year-old rides like he was born to race on a time trial bike. So much so, in fact, that he has been said to have "fast skin", according to a report in Het Nieuwsblad last year. The finding came during wind tunnel testing, when results showed there to be less airflow resistance when he was bare-armed, compared to when he was wearing long sleeves. His confidence will be boosted by his victory in the first time trial at the Tour de France.
Filippo Ganna (Italy)
(Image credit: Getty Images)
No rider is as synonymous with time trialling as Filippo Ganna. The Italian has ruled against the clock in recent years, with 26 of his 33 professional wins coming in the discipline – that’s 79%. He’s a master of short, powerful hit-outs, thanks to his track pursuiting background, but can sustain longer efforts, as evidenced by his Hour record, which he shelved in October 2022. Ganna missed out on a medal by just two seconds in Tokyo. Gold, to match his team pursuit spoils from 2021, would solidify his status as the greatest time trialist in history.
Josh Tarling (Great Britain)
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Asked by Cycling Weekly what his ambitions are for the Olympics time trial, Josh Tarling responded with one word: "Win." The European champion, a product of his local Wednesday night TT scene, has had unprecedented success in his young career, winning five of his last nine individual outings against the clock. Since he was 12 years old, he has been yomping across 100-mile courses, and feels at ease hunched over his handlebars. Still, he’s keen to point out, he doesn’t see himself as a favourite in Paris. "Any pressure will be put on by me to do my performance rather than being a favourite," he says. "I just want to win."
Chloé Dygert (USA)
(Image credit: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
A double world champion, Chloé Dygert has been through so much in the curtailed Olympic cycle since Tokyo in 2021 that she doubted if she’d ride again last season. An Epstein-Barr virus diagnosis in early 2022 was followed by heart surgery to treat dangerously accelerating beats. Few riders are as resilient as Dygert, though. Many will know her name from the crash she suffered at the World Championships in 2020, when she flipped over a metal barrier and lacerated her thigh. Today, her left leg is an inch smaller in circumference than her right one, but has still powered her to a TT world title.
Grace Brown (Australia)
(Image credit: Getty Images)
"If I come fourth, I’ll be disappointed," Grace Brown recently told The Guardian. It’s easy to understand why. Since the last Olympics, the Australian has contested 10 individual time trials, and only finished off the podium once. This year will be her last pop at an Olympic medal, with her retirement announced for the end of the season. That doesn’t mean she’s lacking firepower, though. Fans only have to watch back her win at April’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where she spent the day in the breakaway, then won the sprint against fresher legs. Now she’s after an Olympic crown to close her career.
Anna Henderson (Great Britain)
(Image credit: SWPix.com)
The reigning British champion has quietly established herself as one of the peloton’s most consistent time trial performers over the last few years, even exceeding her own expectations. Ahead of last summer’s World Championships she told her coach she’d be "over the moon" with a top-10 placing, before going on to finish fourth. Henderson then backed up the result with second place at the European Championships the following month. Fun fact: her victory in this year’s National Championships marked the first of any rider wearing Giro’s spaceship-like Aerohead 2.0 helmet.
Other riders to watch
(Image credit: Getty)
It seems a shame that neither of Slovenia’s two fastest sons, Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar, will compete in the time trial in Paris, meaning the former, the champion in Tokyo, will not defend his title. Instead, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Jan Tratnik has received the nod to use Slovenia’s single ticket to the event, a rider perhaps better suited to the flat terrain.
Still, heavier, more powerful riders are likely to fare the best on the Parisian course. This is where the likes of Stefan Küng (Switzerland), the two-time European champion, and Wout van Aert (Belgium), one of his generation’s great all-rounders, are expected to come into their element.
In the women’s event, Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) would ordinarily be among the favourites, but the triple world champion’s form is unknown after she broke her ankle in a training crash in June, and hasn’t raced since. Denmark’s Emma Norsgaard could be a surprise package in her second stab at the Olympics. The 24-year-old has won her country’s national championships the last four years running, on flat routes not dissimilar to that built for Paris.
Keep an eye out, too, for the USA’s Taylor Knibb. The 26-year-old will be competing in both the triathlon and the time trial at the Games, having earned her spot in the latter by taking a shock victory in the national championships. Her speciality is longer distances, though; she has won the last two Half Ironman world titles, which count 90km of cycling.
How to watch the time trials at the Paris Olympics
For those in the US, NBC is the official broadcaster of the Olympics, and all cycling can be viewed via NBC's live streaming service, Peacock.
If you're in the UK, the BBC is the official broadcaster of the Olympics, and will provide live TV coverage on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer of all events including cycling.
However, the BBC will not air every 2024 Olympic cycling event and session. You'll need Discovery Plus (£6.99 per month) to watch all of the cycling from the Paris Games in the UK and across Europe. Likewise, Peacock TV will host live streams of all the Olympic cycling in the US. Subscription costs $7.99 per month.
Tom joined Cycling Weekly as a news and features writer in the summer of 2022, having previously contributed as a freelancer. He is the host of The TT Podcast, which covers both the men's and women's pelotons and has featured a number of prominent British riders.
An enthusiastic cyclist himself, Tom likes it most when the road goes uphill and actively seeks out double-figure gradients on his rides.
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