Paris Olympics 2024: Women’s Individual Time Trial Race Preview

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Paris Olympics 2024: Women’s Individual Time Trial History

The Women’s Individual Time Trial at the Paris Olympics 2024 builds on a rich but relatively short history of women’s Olympic time trials. The event, taking place on a challenging 32 km course through the streets of Paris, continues a tradition that began at the 1996 Atlanta Games. The previous edition, held at the 2020 Summer Olympics on July 28, 2021, around the Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture, saw 25 cyclists from 20 nations compete. Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands won the gold medal, setting the fastest times at both intermediate time checks and finishing in under 31 minutes. Van Vleuten’s dominance was clear as she won by 56 seconds over silver medalist Marlen Reusser of Switzerland. Anna van der Breggen, also from the Netherlands, secured the bronze medal.

Before the last edition, Kristen Armstrong had dominated the event with victories in 2008, 2012 and 2016 to be the most successful rider in the discipline. Before her, Leontien van Moorsel won the race in both 2000 (as her maiden name, Leontien Zijlaard) and also in 2004. This run between the pair meant that only 2 riders had the Olympic gold in the ITT over a period of 20 years! Annemiek van Vleuten has retired since the last Olympics, so we are guaranteed a new victor in the Paris Olympics in 2024. We’re also missing Marlen Reusser who would’ve been a medal favourite. The Swiss rider has been suffering with infections and has made the decision to pull out and reset, rather than race whilst not fully fit.

Previous Winners

2021
Annemiek van Vleuten
2016
Kristin Armstrong
2012
Kristin Armstrong

Paris Olympics 2024: Women’s Individual Time Trial Profile

TV Coverage

Saturday 27th July 2024

Live on Eurosport/Discovery+/MAX
Local broadcasters like BBC, on the red button potentially

13:15-16:10
All times in BST

Twitter:#Paris2024

Startlist: FirstCycling

Paris Olympics 2024: Women’s Individual Time Trial Contenders

The big favourite for the the Olympic time trial title this time round is Chloe Dygert. The course is flatter than the Tokyo Olympics and suits the American. There are, as always, caveats about where her form is after a series of injuries this year. She only has 3 UCI race days under her belt from back in March and a series of niggles has disrupted some of the preparations. Recently though, she said she was back hitting numbers she hasn’t seen before and we’ve kinda been here before when she won the Worlds TT last year. Her teammate Taylor Knibb is a triathlete who spent a bit of time on the Trek team. She qualified by winning the US Nats this year after coming 4th the year before. She puts out big watts but isn’t quite as aerodynamically dialled in as rivals. She has an outside chance to medal though at the Paris Olympics thanks to the course.

The Dutch will obviously be in the hunt once more. No Van Vleuten this time obviously but in Ellen van Dijk and Demi Vollering they have potential medal winners for sure in this year’s Olympics time trial. If Van Dijk hadn’t fractured her ankle a few weeks ago, she’d probably be the out and out favourite. She’s won all of the time trials she’s taken part in this year, albeit not always against the strongest opposition. Her ankle fracture threw a spanner in the works but she has said she is back to fitness now despite that.
Demi Vollering is a great GC time trialler but in a one-off race isn’t necessarily always on the same level. With a Tour de France Femmes time trial happening in a few weeks too, she will be in her top form against the clock too. She can medal but I think I’d be surprised if it was a gold one.

Grace Brown also has a good shot at a medal at the Paris Olympics. The Aussie won the TT at the Bretagne Ladies Tour and just missed out at the TT in the Giro by a single second to Elisa Longo Borghini on what was a tough, technical end to a time trial course. We saw her finish 2nd by only 6 seconds to Dygert in the Worlds last year, which featured a stiff climb at the end. There’s a bit of climbing on this course but it’s by and large flat. That may see her being behind the likes of Dygert and Van Dijk.

It feels like Lotte Kopecky can do anything at the moment but the Belgian doesn’t quite have a top-level time trial yet. She’s very very good and has podium spots at the Tour de France Femmes time trial and a win at the Simac Ladies Tour TT towards the end of 2023 as well. This year’s she’s the national champion once more but was slightly below par in finishing 5th at the Giro d’Italia Women TT. There’s maybe a chance of a medal on a strong day and top 5 certainly.

The home fans in Paris will be looking at the chances of french hopes Audrey Cordon-Ragot and Juliette Labous. We didn’t get to see them go head to head at the nation championships this year as Labous focused on the road race (a good call as she won her first RR title). Cordon-Ragot won the nationals TT to back-up the decision of her spot here after some doubts when it announced due to the form of Evita Muzic. Cordon-Ragot was well back on Van Dijk earlier in the season at Omloop van Borsele whereas Juliette Labous wasn’t too far away from the likes of Kopecky at the recent Giro d’Italia Women time trial. I’d be surprised to see either medal but there’s a chance for a top-5.

Mieke Kröger is a wildcard at the Olympics this time around. The German has pretty much given up road racing this year to focus on the Olympics, both in the TT and on the track. She made some huge gains at the German national championship compared to the same course in 2023. Elevation will always work against her and whilst this course isn’t perfect, it does give her a small chance to medal. Fellow German Antonia Niedermaier is a young rider to keep an eye on but making the top-10 would be a result for her here. We know she has a big engine and has some good results against the clock this year but they’ve generally been on tough hilly courses. At the Giro she finished a bit down and we might have to wait 4 more years before she’s near the top end at the Olympics.

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Elisa Longo Borghini

Elisa Longo Borghini is a rider who can certainly get in the mix and be on the podium in this year’s Paris Olympics 2024: Women’s Individual Time Trial Profile. The Italian should’ve been the national champion again this year but got time deducted because her following car was too close. She was up there in the mountain TT at the Tour de Suisse and managed to win the Giro d’Italia Women time trial by just 1 second over Grace Brown. In theory she’s slower than the Dutch pair and Dygert but along with Kopecky, there’s not a massive amount of difference between her and Demi in particular on certain days. The Italian may medal this year, especially if she’s still on her Giro winning performance high.

Brits are probably going to have their work cut out to get a medal in this cycling discipline. Anna Henderson can be good and is the reigning national champion at the moment. She was 2nd in the TT at the European Championships last year, a fair bit behind Marlen Reusser but at the front of a small gaggle of riders like Lotte Kopecky. She could sneak into the top-5 on a strong day but the lower end of the top-10 feels likely. Pfeiffer Georgi isn’t quite as strong at time trials, despite being the U23 national champion in 2022. Her performance in UCI races blow hot and cold and very much depend on the race situation. A top-10 would be a good result for her.

Emma Norsgaard might be hitting the top-10 for Denmark after a history of being just outside of that mark at major championships. Because of the nature of the Olympics and fewer athletes from major countries, the Dane has a chance to sneak in here. The only TT she’s raced this season was the national championships, which she won convincingly enough. Her ceiling is a little bit limited given the opposition but she can make it into the fastest 10 to finish.

It’s a similar boat for the road winner winner at the last Olympics, Anna Kiesenhofer of Austria. She was 6th in the European Championship last year, which feels like the best that is possible here as well. 15th at the Worlds, she’s a little bit course dependent on what she might do. She started winning the smaller one-off time trials like Chrono des Nations last year but is a level below the very best at it at the moment. Christina Schweinberger was a nice surprise on the podium at the European Championships last year and is regularly in and around the same placings as Kiesenhofer. She was 3rd in the Thüringen Ladies Tour time trial stage this year but the lead 2 that day aren’t racing here. Similar to Kiesenhofer, making the top-10 would be a solid result.

Top 3 Prediction