Remco Evenepoel wins gold medal in the time trial at the Paris 2024 Olympics

Exciting time trial at the Paris Olympic Games with the best in the world keeping us on the edge of our seats until the finish line. A rainy time trial in which Remco Evenepoel made the most of his good form after the Tour de France to achieve Olympic glory.

Predictions come true in the Paris 2024 time trial with Remco Evenepoel taking gold

He had a nearly perfect Tour de France, only surpassed by the two best Grand Tour riders of today, but Remco Evenepoel managed to use that fantastic form to achieve a hard-fought victory in the time trial at the Paris Olympic Games, where his rivals made him sweat until the last moment despite the apparent ease of his victory when looking at the timesheet.

The time trial covered a 32.4-kilometer course, common to both men and women, starting from the Esplanade des Invalides to the Place de la Bastille and leaving the city center to head towards one of Paris' lungs, the Bois de Vincennes. The first part had drawn criticism from Remco himself due to the poor condition of the asphalt, a second part through the mentioned park with some really tricky curves, and a final part back to the streets of Paris with long straights where they could unleash all their power. The course was affected by the intense rain that didn't give the cyclists a break.

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Benefits of training in the cold

Finally, after the tests he did in the previous training sessions, Wout van Aert took a risk by using both disc wheels on his bike. This gamble helped him beat the best times at each intermediate point, a time that would be surpassed by Filippo Ganna and Remco Evenepoel at the first timed point, although by a small margin. However, one of the other top favorites, British rider Joshua Tarling, who had prepared this time trial as his main goal of the year, suffered a puncture on his front wheel in the early stages, losing precious time.

With no incidents like falls in the tricky part of the forest, the second split of this time trial at the 2024 Paris Olympics left us with a timesheet where Wout van Aert was still holding his ground, only being surpassed by his compatriot Evenepoel, by a solid 22 seconds. Meanwhile, Filippo Ganna lost ground and conceded 5 seconds to Van Aert. Meanwhile, a strong Joshua Tarling was making a comeback with a spectacular pace, although the time debt due to his mishap was going to be very difficult to overcome.

As expected, at the finish line Wout van Aert set the best time and looked at the TV screen with the dream of the silver medal within reach, especially when he saw Filippo Ganna almost crashing on a straight section as his bike slipped on a tiled area.

A few minutes later, Joshua Tarling arrived at the finish line, unable to recover what he had lost and finishing just a few seconds behind Van Aert's time, which, considering Ganna's times, almost guaranteed him the bronze medal, a small reward for his great time trial.

But no one expected Filippo Ganna to have an absolutely stellar third section. We had to rub our eyes when, as he approached the final curve, the clock showed over 25 seconds of improvement over Van Aert, so at the finish line, he managed to beat the Belgian by 10 seconds, meaning he cut 14 seconds in the last 10 kilometers.

This feat added excitement to Remco Evenepoel's performance, who had a good time cushion until the second split, but this last part left us wondering if the Italian had managed to cut his lead. Finally, despite losing some of his advantage, he still had 15 seconds at the finish line to even raise his arms in celebration of a gold medal that surely tasted like glory... Olympic glory.

Men's Individual Time Trial Classification

1. Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) 36'12''
2. Filippo Ganna (Italy) +14''
3. Wout van Aert (Belgium) +25''
4. Joshua Tarling (Great Britain) +27''
5. Brandon McNulty (United States) +1'04''
6. Stefan Bissegger (Switzerland) +1'26''
7. Nelson Oliveira (Portugal) +1'30''
8. Stefan Küng (Switzerland) +1'35''
9. Maximilian Schachmann (Germany) +1'38''
10. Mikkel Bjerg (Denmark) +1'38''

Grace Brown flies on the wet asphalt of Paris

In the women's time trial, Australian Grace Brown left no chance for her rivals. From the first meter, despite the wet asphalt that caused numerous falls, she dominated the times at each of the two intermediate points.

Although in the first split it seemed that the battle would be fierce between her and the top favorite, American Chloe Dygert, in the most challenging part of the course, the passage through the Bois de Vincennes, Dygert crashed, losing all her chances of victory, which realistically she probably wouldn't have achieved anyway due to the outstanding performance of the Australian.

At the finish line, Juliette Labous set the provisional best time, exciting the present audience, but her joy was short-lived as Anna Henderson surpassed her time shortly after. The question was whether the French rider would be able to hold onto the podium position, which would depend on how much time Chloe Dygert had lost in her fall.

Meanwhile, Grace Brown arrived at the finish line, reducing Anna Henderson's time by a whopping 1 minute and 31 seconds at a spectacular average speed, especially considering the weather conditions, of 39 km/h. The only thing left to determine was the last step of the podium, which, in a final monumental effort, the American cyclist managed to secure by just 9 seconds. A small consolation after her crash and a disappointment for Juliette Labous, who narrowly missed giving the host country its first medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Women's Individual Time Trial Classification

1. Grace Brown (Australia) 39'38''
2. Anna Henderson (Great Britain) +1'31''
3. Chloe Dygert (United States) +1'32''
4. Juliette Labous (France) +1'41''
5. Demi Vollering (Netherlands) +1'51''
6. Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) +1'56''
7. Kim Dadzow (Australia) +2'07''
8. Elisa Longo-Borghini (Italy) +2'11''
9. Audrey Cordon-Ragot (France) +2'13''
10. Christina Schweinberger (Austria) +2'13''