The 2024 Paris Olympics Women’s Road Race will bring the curtain down on the road cycling events in this year’s Olympics. Held on the streets of Paris, we’ll be treated to the sights of the Moulin Rouge on the crucial climb on the finishing circuit and an iconic finish with the Eiffel Tower in the background. The race is set to be a battle between Belgium and the Netherlands with pre-race favourite Lotte Kopecky looking to take Belgium’s 3rd gold medal in the road cycling events. Her team will be working solely for her with the Dutch plan a bit more obfuscicated with so many stars. They’re stacked with stars but unlike in Tokyo, where they let the move of Anna Kiesenhofer slip through the net, they do have an elite domestique this time in the form of Ellen van Dijk instead of 4 star leaders. Lorena Wiebes has been given the Plan A leader status with the likes of Marianne Vos and Demi Vollering able to either help or make their own moves as they see fit.
Other nations will be in the mix but have been off the radar slightly with so much focus on the lead pair of nations. Italy’s Giro d’Italia Women winner Elisa Longo Borghini is a long-range option and Elisa Balsamo is a solid option in the sprint as well. You also can’t rule out the likes of Great Britain, Poland, Australia, Switzerland and the home nation of France.
Unlike the time trial, the city streets will be dry and the cobbled sections won’t pose the same issue as they did on the time trial bikes. That said, there are plenty of twists and turns and on the limit, there is always the opportunity for mishap. We also saw a reasonable number of punctures and mechanicals in the men’s road race and there’s a chance the race can be flipped on its head at any point with a bit of bad luck.
Live Coverage
The race starts at 1:10pm today
Live on Eurosport/Discovery+ and BBC
All times in BST
