The men's individual road race event at the 2024 Summer Olympics took place on 3 August 2024 on a course that started at Pont d'Iéna in Paris.[1] Gold medal winner Remco Evenepoel had won the men's time trial event on July 27, making him the only male cyclist to win both the road race and the road time trial at the same Summer Olympic Games. The 273 kilometer course through the streets of Paris was the longest Olympic road race to date.[2]
Background
This will be the 22nd appearance of the event, initially held in 1896 and then at every Summer Olympics since 1936. It replaced the individual time trial event that had been held from 1912 to 1932; the time trial was re-introduced in 1996 alongside the road race.
Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) and Valentin Madouas (France) battle for first place in the streets of Montmartre.
The 273-km parcours was the longest in Olympic history, with the smallest-ever Olympic peloton; the race had ninety starters.[2] Reigning Olympic champion Richard Carapaz was not selected for the one Ecuadorian place in the race, as his climbing abilities which had helped him win over Mount Fuji in 2021 were not seen as suitable for a course that clearly favoured the classics riders, with multiple short, sharp ascents culminating in multiple ascents at Montmartre creating the template for a broken up race and a classic riders day. With the withdrawal of 2024 Tour de France winner and the 2021 bronze medalist Tadej Pogačar over fatigue and federation issues, the favourites going into the race included time-trial gold medalist Remco Evenepoel of Belgium and his compatriots Wout van Aert and Jasper Stuyven, reigning world champion Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands, France's former double World champion Julian Alaphilippe, the Dane Mattias Skjelmose, Great Britain's mountain-bike double gold medalist Tom Pidcock and Irish classics rider Ben Healy.
Despite a dramatic late puncture 3.8 km from the finish line, Remco Evenepoel became the first male cyclist to win the road race and time trial Olympic double, catching early animaters of the race including Ben Healy, before overpowering all his major rivals, notably Valentin Madouas of France over the last few climbs to race and win solo.[2] Madouas hung on for silver; his French colleague Christophe Laporte stayed in the peloton and won bronze from a small bunch sprint, with several pre-race favourites only a few seconds behind.
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