Preview 2024 Olympic time trial – men's category | 2022 or 2023 scenario for Evenepoel?

The Olympic time trial has been part of the globally renowned Games since 1996 (Atlanta). At that time, the IOC immediately had a big name as the winner with Miguel Indurain, followed by Viatcheslav Ekimov taking gold in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004). He won the latter after Tyler Hamilton was disqualified.

Fabian Cancellara also won the gold medal twice (2008 and 2016), while Bradley Wiggins took the gold in 2012 in his home country. The most recent winner of the gold was Primoz Roglic, who won at the COVID-affected Tokyo Games. Ahead of Tom Dumoulin, who took silver for the Netherlands, just like in 2016. Who will succeed Roglic, who will not be participating?

2020 Primoz Roglic
2016 Fabian Cancellara
2012 Bradley Wiggins
2008 Fabian Cancellara
2004 Viatcheslav Ekimov
2000 Viatcheslav Ekimov
2016 Miguel Indurain

While the road race course is fairly hilly, the time trial course is not. A classic flat course: 32.5 kilometers with only 88 meters of elevation gain. Along the way, the riders could enjoy numerous famous spots in the French capital, were it not for the full focus being on the race.

The riders start at the Esplanades des Invalides and then head to the Place de la Bastille. From there, the participants fly to the Jacques Anquetil Velodrome. This is also a well-known spot: here Jan Janssen won the 1968 Tour de France by striking in the final time trial.

From the velodrome, the course goes through the Bois de Vincennes, where they encounter the first checkpoint after 13.4 kilometers, at the Château de Vincennes. After making a loop through the mentioned park, the riders return to the Château, where the second and final checkpoint is located.

From here, there are still ten kilometers to go. The route goes straight through the city, via the Place de la Nation. From there, we once again pass the Place de la Bastille, from where we take the same route as the start (but in reverse direction). The finish is opposite Les Invalides on the Pont Alexandre III. In short: few turns, little elevation, and many straight sections. A course for the power riders.

Weather
We won't really get true summer weather in Paris on Saturday, as there is a chance of rain throughout the day. More rain in the morning than in the afternoon, and let's hope it stays that way. The temperature will be around 22 degrees Celsius, while the wind will not be too strong, coming from the northwest.

Times
Start: 4:30 PM (first rider)
Finish: 6:40 PM (last rider)

In every aspect, the 2023 World Time Trial Championship in Stirling, Scotland, was the test event for this Olympic time trial. Not only is this where the tickets for Paris were distributed, but there was also a showdown at the highest level. And that was won by Remco Evenepoel, the Belgian who just finished his first Tour de France in third place.

Evenepoel won on the nearly 48-kilometer course, beating INEOS Grenadiers riders Filippo Ganna (Italy, 12 seconds) and Joshua Tarling (Great Britain, 48 seconds), who complete the three top favorites for gold, silver and bronze. So, that's settled.

Just kidding, of course. For Evenepoel, it is also interesting to consider the 2022 World Time Trial Championship, when he went to Australia as the Vuelta winner. Back then, he did not have a great day in the time trial which was surprisingly won by Norwegian Tobias Foss, but Remco did win the road race a week later. Now, he did not have an ideal preparation due to the Tour, unlike Ganna and Tarling, who have been preparing for this one big day for months.

Among the outsiders, we first look at a compatriot of Evenepoel: Wout van Aert. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider had a seriously disrupted time trial preparation due to his crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen and didn't really manage to put himself in the spotlight in the Tour. But then again, van Aert is still van Aert, and you should never count him out for a big race.

The Americans and Swiss are also ready to step in if one of the top favorites has an off day. When it comes to the stars & stripes, top time trialists Brandon McNulty and Magnus Sheffield are competing, both of whom can come very close to victory on a good day. The same applies to regular time trial competitor Stefan Küng and also Stefan Bissegger, although the latter is having a somewhat lesser year.

The Anglo-Saxon countries are well represented, as Luke Plapp (Australia) and Derek Gee (Canada) are also aiming for top five/ten finishes. Mikkel Bjerg, Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark), Mathias Vacek (Czech Republic), Max Schachmann (Germany), Kévin Vauquelin (France), Alberto Bettiol (Italy) and Daan Hoole (Netherlands) will be satisfied with an Olympic diploma.

Top favorite: Joshua Tarling (Great Britain) and Remco Evenepoel (Belgium)
Outsiders: Filippo Ganna (Italy), Magnus Sheffield (United States) and Stefan Küng (Switzerland) 
Long shots: Wout van Aert (Belgium), Brandon McNulty (United States), Ethan Hayter (Great Britain), Tobias Foss (Norway), Luke Plapp (Australia) and Derek Gee (Canada)

Saturday's Olympic time trial will, of course, be broadcast through a variety of ways, in conjunction with the women's time trial (which will precede the men's). The NOS (NPO 1 and online), Sporza (VRT 1 and online) and Eurosport (main channel, as well as HBO Max and Discovery+) will all pay due attention to the men's time trial, from the start at 4:30 PM until after the finish at around 7 PM.