Paris Olympics 2024: Women’s Road Race History
The Women’s Road Race at the 2024 Paris Olympics surely can’t see a repeat of the last race in Tokyo. 3 years ago, Anna Kiesenhofer stunned the peloton by attacking from the start and being able to hold on, solo by the end, to the finish line to claim Olympic gold. It reignited her road career since then with the Austrian taking up more opportunities and racing in the Women’s World Tour. Annemiek van Vleuten celebrated as she crossed the finish line, thinking she had won, only to be told that Kiesenhofer had already finished ahead of her. She would get her gold medal in the time trial in Tokyo though.
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ToggleThe course at the Paris Olympics sees a nice profile for all-rounders. A lumpy route out will test the early legs and just thin the bunch a little bit before heading back into Paris and tackling the Montmartre climb repeatedly. It’s a tough finishing loop with limited numbers to control things. Compared to the Tokyo, the break will have its work cut out trying to stay away and it should come down to either a solo rider or a small group. Something similar to how the Glasgow Worlds were raced last year is likely to happen again.
Previous Winners
2021
Anna Kiesenhofer
2016
Anna van der Breggen
2012
Marianne Vos
Paris Olympics 2024: Road Race Profile
TV Coverage
Sunday 4th August 2024
Live on Eurosport/Discovery+/MAX
Local broadcasters like BBC, on the red button potentially
12:45-17:45
All times in BST
Twitter:#Paris2024
Startlist: FirstCycling
Paris Olympics 2024: Women’s Road Race Contenders
Lotte Kopecky will be the favourite here after a strong season which has seen her hit almost all of her goals. She was clearly in good form to challenge for GC at the Giro d’Italia Women, not quite able to beat Longo Borghini across all of the stages but able to take some stage wins there. The way she won her Worlds title in Glasgow feels like a blueprint for how she will win this. She gets some good, undisputed support from her Belgian teammates and they should go further in the race than most too. There aren’t too many riders who will be able to outsprint here either, so as long as she can shake off Lorena Wiebes or Marianne Vos, Kopecky will feel like gold is hers.
The Dutch are desperate to make up for their mishaps at Tokyo. They had a schism in the team and didn’t control the race and ultimately had to settle for silver despite an all-star team. The team dynamics are a little bit better this year with a close understanding between Demi Vollering and Lorena Wiebes. Marianne Vos might still be a wildcard but it will all depend on which riders are where near the finish. Demi Vollering’s route to victory will surely involve going solo, otherwise, the Dutch will be backing their chances in the sprint with Wiebes and Vos. Wiebes looks like she will be able to hang with the front of the race after making big improvements in her climbing this year. Marianne Vos is slightly more likely to manage it after a really strong 2024 year as well including wins at Omloop het Niewusblad, an infamous one at Amstel Gold Race and Dwars Door Vlaanderen. Wiebes, Vos and Vollering are favourites to secure 2nd to 4th according to the bookies but there’s probably only a situation that fits 2 of them making those spots together.
The Italian hopes will be behind Tokyo’s bronze medallist Elisa Longo Borghini. She’s in great form after a GC win at the Giro d’Italia Women recently and looks good on all but the most obvious of sprint finishes. The long flat run in here isn’t ideal then for gold unless she goes solo, so Italian hopes will rest of getting the front group as small as possible. Silvia Persico will be some elite support but has only shown flashes of form this year so should be riding purely for Longo Borghini. Elisa Balsamo is a solid option to have with a sprint coming but her form is not as high as rivals due to a crash at the Vuelta Burgos and and early departure from the Giro.
After getting the win drought monkey off her back, the Polish rider Kasia Niewiadoma will be in the hunt here. The clear leader on her team with a couple of good riders in support, she will look to her Tour de Suisse performance where she supported Neve Bradbury to a strong win and could’ve had a stage win if she hadn’t gifted to her teammate. For her, ideally, this would’ve finished on the climb and so she will need to make this as hard as possible. She can absolutely make the medals but I don’t see it being a gold one.
Grace Brown could be one to watch after the way she won the Olympics Time Trial this week. The Aussie was the strongest rider by far in the wet conditions and had the beating of all her rivals, even before they crashed. You have to look earlier in the 2024 season to Liège-Bastogne-Liège for a way that Grace Brown can win here. Able to go solo, she won that day by outsprinting the likes of Longo Borghini and Vollering a final sprint. The composition of the final group will be key to her chances. We might see Ruby Roseman-Gannon take on a sprint for Australia and she will have confidence after beating Wiebes and Kopecky in a sprint at the Tour of Britain Women, even if they were messing around a bit. Good on hilly courses with a fast finish, the top-10 in support of Brown is probably her ceiling.
The home favourite will be Juliette Labous who just missed out on a medal in the time trial. Normally a solo winner, she showed at the national championships this year that she can win in a different way too, outsprinting Verhulst-Wild to the line there. She was solid enough at the Giro d’Italia Women, finishing 5th in GC there after a consistent week. It feels like that was the earliest part of her form peak with the Olympics and Tour de France Femmes coming. She could top-5 but the medals feel tough. Victoire Berteau is a nice attacking option for the French team as well, and she’s done very well in one-day races this year. It will need something Kiesenhofer-esque to happen for Berteau to make the medals as well.
The climbs don’t feel tough enough or long enough for Mavi Garcia to really excel at the Olympics this year. She’s still Spain’s best option but doesn’t have any punch that’s required to distance herself on the Montmartre climb in particular. She will doggedly hang on in there but having no sprint will also work against her at the end.
Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio has had a brutal season but will line up at the Olympics after recovering from a vertebrae fracture. She hasn’t raced since early June and this will be very much honouring the place that she helped South Africa qualify for. Unfortunately for her, she probably won’t be in the mix at all here this time around.
After a slow start to the 2024 season because of a stress fracture, Liane Lippert showed that she was back with a stage win at the Giro d’Italia Women a few weeks ago. We’ve steadily seen improvements from the German as the race legs have come back and she’s an outsider here with a medal ceiling if she’s having a really strong day. Teammate Antonia Niedermaier is another great option to have, either in support or to use as an attacking card. She doesn’t necessarily have punch for the climbs but we’ve already seen last year at the Giro what she can do if given a gap to exploit.
British hopes lie with Pfeiffer Georgi and Olympic time trial silver medallist Anna Henderson. Georgi has had a good stint of racing recently. Holding onto her British national title with another strong uphill finish was followed up by 2nd in GC at the Baloise Ladies Tour behind the dominating Lorena Wiebes. She can just about make it into the same tier as the Belgians, Dutch and Italians but medals are going to be tough. Anna Henderson will be absolutely full of confidence after getting a result she says she didn’t see coming in the time trial. She can definitely do some of these punchy climbs and has a good finishing kick but I don’t think she’ll go as deep into the race as Georgi can.
Kim le Court has been improving all season long. The Mauritian has made a storming return to road cycling this year and after doubling up at her national championships was able to take a memorable win at the final stage of the Giro d’Italia Women. She was able to get into the right break and see it through the end, holding off her rivals to sprint to the win. She may suffer here with a lack of support, being the only rider from the Indian Ocean island, but the top-10 might be possible.
It would take a minor miracle for lightning to strike twice and Anna Kiesenhofer to win again this year. The Austrian became the double national champion in the lead-up to the Olympics but was a victim of the rain in the time trial and suffered an injury to her elbow. She should therefore be riding in support of Christina Schweinberger who has turned into a very strong one-day racer in the last 12 months. We might see her near the bottom reaches of the top 10.
Olivia Baril of Canada likes a punchy climb and has 3 victories in 2024. Her issue though is that it seems she is specifically good at the Spanish climbs and that doesn’t always translate to racing elsewhere. Aside from nationals, almost all of her top-10 results this year have come in Spain with the Trofeo Alfredo Binda over in Italy an exception.
Arlenis Sierra will be an interesting one to keep an eye on. The climbs here shouldn’t cause too much issue, but if the very best do decide to go hard then the Cuban will struggle slightly to maintain the front group. She’s notoriously quick at the end of a tough race though and that works here. She’s another for whom being the solo rider on the team might prevent her from a truly good result.
Denmark will be doing very well to seriously contest here. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig was starting to come back nice at the Giro d’Italia Women with 8th in GC in her comeback from a fractured sacrum. Her time trial this week was a tough experience in the race, a race derailed her chances and then left her with a bit of recovery to do. Peak Cille would be in the hunt for a medal but I’m not sure it’s possible. Emma Norsgaard is a nice option to have but might struggle to match the punch coming from the likes of Kopecky here. We’ve seen Emma do it all though, sprint to wins, going long like her Tour de France Femmes stage win and so she will have options to impress.
The parcours isn’t perfect for either Kim Cadzow or Niamh Fisher-Black of New Zealand with both ideally wanting longer, tougher climbs. We saw Fisher-Black take a stage win at the Giro d’Italia Women in an otherwise fairly quiet week, that was very much a summit finish though. Kim Cadzow was a threat on the rolling climbs at the Tour de Suisse though and probably will get the higher finish. Maybe some of the technical city streets won’t suit her and making the top 10 would be a big deal for the Kiwis.Â
Ingvild GÃ¥skjenn will be doing well here to make the top 15 or so. The Norwegian had a really strong part of the season at the end of the Ardennes classics and the Vuelta. She took 3rd at the Amstel Gold Race and then 5th on a Vuelta stage but has been a bit quiet since as her form peak dropped off.Â
Swiss hopes were rocked when Elise Chabbey crashed out of the Giro d’Italia Women. She suffered a navicular fracture which she says won’t hamper her too much coming into the Olympics but it’s still not quite ideal. She is the strongest option if she is coming back fully fit, with Chabbey able to attack and go long whilst also having some punch to go deep into the race. Noemi Rüegg is an interesting option as well. She’s got a fast finish and can climb pretty well too. Not necessarily in contention for any big result here, but she could sneak into the top 10 with a good finish.Â
Blanka Vas made it into the top-10 of the Mountain Biking XCO in Paris this week, with the Hungarian taking the final spot in 10th. She’s a solo rider for her nation which always makes things tough but we’ve seen her contest Worlds and still finish highly. Her road season has been fairly quiet mind, with only a 2nd and 4th stage finishes at the Vuelta in the books. At her peak, she could be a top-5 finisher but it’s tough to see this year.
The USA probably won’t be as confident as you’d think with a strong line-up of Kristen Faulkner and Chloe Dygert. The latter was helped from the bike after the time trial which saw Chloe Dygert crash at between 20-25mph according to her Strava data. Kristen Faulkner also hasn’t had the best preparation having not raced on the road since DNFing the Tour de Suisse back in early June. Before then, Faulkner was looking very strong though with a stage win at the Vuelta and an amazing solo break at Omloop van het Hageland. On their day, both could be medal contenders but it’s tough to see.
Top 3 Prediction
- Lotte Kopecky
- Lorena Wiebes
- Elisa Longo Borghini