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Do not miss a second of the 2024 Tour de France! Get recaps, insights, and unique takes with Velo’s day by day publication.
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PARIS (Velo) — Paris delivered a spectacular and becoming backdrop for street biking in the course of the Olympic Video games that will likely be onerous to beat.
The Eiffel Tower, Sacré-Coeur, and the Pont Alexander III have been the centerpieces of street racing and time trial competitions in sensible days of racing.
The grandeur and iconic settings introduced an nearly cinematic taste to the competitors that was each wildly entertaining and extremely hard-fought and emotional.
The reactions of the athletes after the race, be it tears of victory or disappointment, revealed how necessary the Olympic Video games have change into.
Ever because the UCI eradicated beginner racing in 1996 and allowed the professionals to race for gold, the Olympics at first appeared prefer it was little a couple of extra race on an already very busy calendar.
An Olympic gold medal was nice for individuals who gained, however for everybody else, the Olympics merely didn’t pack the status or sponsor significance as profitable the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix, or a world title.
These Paris Video games confirmed that the mindset has modified, and the peloton now considers the Olympics as a private {and professional} highpoint.
Los Angeles will host the following Video games, and there’s little question that the street racing occasions will even have extra worth by then, but it surely’s onerous to think about any Video games matching the chic magnificence and deep emotion that Paris delivered.
Winter is coming: CX rumors are true
A number of sources confirmed to Velo that rumors that cyclocross might change into an Olympic Winter Video games medal sport are very a lot true.
The venture is quietly being promoted behind the scenes by UCI president David Lappartient, who already boasts a rising political base throughout the IOC. Some even see Lappartient as a doable future IOC president.
Sources say that Lappartient is throwing his political weight behind a marketing campaign to see cyclocross designated as a medal sport for the 2030 Winter Video games set for France at totally different venues throughout the French Alps.
Lappartient needs a part of his legacy to be that biking turns into the primary sport to be represented throughout each the Summer season and Winter Video games.
The cyclocross races held on Val di Sole over the previous few years have been extra than simply check occasions, however somewhat a dry run to see if racing on snow was viable and sensible.
Winter Video games guidelines insist that sports activities have to be contested on snow or ice, and the wildly standard CX occasions within the Italian Dolomites proved it may be pulled off.
The UCI has additionally been testing different snow-bound occasions, and held the first-ever Snow Bike World Championships in February, to some derision from some, and the occasion included Tremendous-G and Twin Slalom downhill racing.
Proper now, it seems that solely cyclocross is being promoted as a medal sport, however now that skateboarding and breakdancing are within the Summer season Video games, one by no means is aware of.
One supply mentioned that the IOC remains to be not satisfied, however the wheels are in place to attempt to make it occur.
No Tour de France detour over Montmartre
Final weekend’s spectacular street races over Montmartre with sweeping views previous Sacré-Coeur had many questioning why the Tour de France couldn’t finish with a couple of loops earlier than a last kick down the Champs-Élysées.
This 12 months’s Tour ended past the higher Paris area for the primary time in race historical past, and the grand tour is anticipated to return to the Champs-Élysées subsequent 12 months to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Tour’s finale on essentially the most well-known avenue in Paris.
However why not embody a loop or two to spice issues up?
Tour de France technical director Thierry Gouvenou was fast to level out each sensible and security the reason why a Montmartre detour gained’t be within the playing cards.
“It labored for the Olympics, but it surely wouldn’t be acceptable in the course of the Tour,” Gouvenou instructed L’Équipe. “The Tour de France peloton is twice as huge because it was on the Olympics, so we’d have to seek out a lot greater streets than these used on the weekend.
Sigo en esta locura de Van der Poel y Van Aert en la subida a Montmartre sobre adoquín del pasado sábado.
— Adrián Moraleda (@adrimoraleda) August 5, 2024
“In Montmartre, they went by way of some very slender streets, and in some locations, after they would have wanted to offer mechanical service to riders within the pack, they’d barely might have opened the automotive door.”
Gouvenou additionally identified the size of the street closures that have been required for Saturday’s and Sunday’s street races, and that it will be onerous to last the political muscle to drag that off once more.
Main sections of central Paris have been closed down, from the ultimate circuit looping on the Proper Financial institution up and round Montmartre, to when the route swept alongside the Left Financial institution of the Seine towards the Eiffel Tower.
In distinction within the Tour de France, as soon as the race hits the ending circuit on the Champs-Élysées, the street closures are comparatively minor on what’s an in any other case sleepy summer season Sunday night.
“Once we do the Champs-Élysées circuit, we barely influence the neighbors. If we went to Montmartre, that might have an infinite influence on the residents,” Gouvenou mentioned. “You would wish very sturdy political will to place all that in place.”
Paris appeared keen to close down the town for a as soon as in a century Olympic Video games, but it surely’s asking rather a lot to try this each summer season for the Tour.
Message in a bottle
No race radio, no data, proper?
Flawed.
Groups have been looking for artistic methods to go up data to riders in the course of the street races in entrance of a yelling throng.
At first, some tried to have white boards to put in writing the splits with magic markers, however there have been so many individuals they couldn’t get anyplace close to the course.
Somebody had one other concept; go up notes on the water bottles in the course of the feeds.
When riders took their bottles, staffers have been attaching little notes to the athletes about time gaps. The gist of the message? Go quicker!
People on observe with medal rely
Talking to Velo forward of the Olympic Video games, USA Biking’s head of efficiency Jim Miller mentioned the American workforce was concentrating on “three to 4” medals throughout all biking competitors.
Headlined by Faulkner’s gold medal Sunday, popping out of the street races, mountain bike, and BMX, the U.S. already hit these pre-Video games expectations.
People have gained 4 Olympic medals thus far in biking, and have been second on the biking medal chart going into observe biking Monday behind France, which had two golds and a complete of eight medals.
Chloé Dygert gained bronze within the ladies’s time trial regardless of crashing on moist roads to open competitors. Haley Batten roared to silver for the all time American lead to mountain biking. Perris Benegas gained silver in ladies’s freestyle BMX.
Faulkner’s gold was a primary by a U.S. rider in street racing since Connie Carpenter-Phinney and Alexi Grewal each gained in Los Angeles 1984.
The workforce hoped for extra in BMX, the place the French swept the boys’s podium, however sturdy showings on the whole throughout all biking occasions thus far bodes properly for Los Angeles 2028.
Miller is hopeful the observe will produce one other medal or two, with Dygert and Faulkner headlining the ladies’s workforce pursuit push to attempt to lastly win gold within the self-discipline.
The U.S. workforce certified with the second-fastest time Tuesday and can attempt to hit the medal spherical Wednesday.
Since ladies’s workforce pursuit was launched in 2012, the U.S. workforce has medaled in each Olympics since then, with silvers in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016 plus bronze in Tokyo 2021.
Jennifer Valente may even be defending her gold medal in omnium, in addition to race ladies’s workforce pursuit and the Madison, the place she is going to pair up with new accomplice Lily Williams.
Essentially the most medals Staff USA has gained in biking in a non-boycott 12 months is 5, so the workforce is only one extra medal in need of equaling that mark.
Evenepoel makes males’s Olympic historical past
Remco Evenepoel made historical past by changing into the primary male racer to win the time trial and street racing gold in the identical Olympic Video games.
Dutch star Leontien van Moorsel achieved the double gold within the ladies’s street race and ITT on the Olympic Video games Sydney 2000.
That’s one thing that not even Eddy Merckx might do, however Evenepoel was having nothing with any comparisons to the nice Belgian.
“Eddy is Eddy, and he did so many wonderful issues, however these are totally different occasions,” Evenepoel mentioned. “It’s my profession and I’m racing in my very own manner. This isn’t the start of my profession, however I hope to do many extra issues.”
Already a winner of gold within the time trial, Evenepoel went residence to Belgium to disconnect for a couple of days earlier than returning to Paris for the street race. He left his TT gold medal at residence, however his spouse introduced it again along with her to Paris, permitting to make the photograph with the 2 medals.
“This can make for a pleasant photograph for Instagram,” he mentioned. “To have the ability to share this second with all of the Belgians and everybody near me may be very particular.”
Silver for Knibb, gold for Faulkner
Taylor Knibb didn’t race Sunday after giving up her spot to Kristen Faulkner. The triathlete punched her ticket for the Paris Olympics after profitable the U.S. nationwide time trial race in Could.
Knibb, who crashed thrice throughout a moist and treacherous time trial race to open the Olympic Video games, opted to not race the street race.
Whereas a stable performer on the bike legs in triathlon, Knibb has nearly no expertise racing within the bunch, and everybody determined the perfect factor to do was to permit Faulkner begin the ladies’s race.
“It was simple choice to make. She’s by no means raced on the street earlier than, and we talked concerning the professionals and cons of it,” Miller instructed Velo. “They’ve a triathlon workforce relay the day after the street race, so I talked to their workforce, and mentioned if I used to be in your sneakers, I might most likely need her to not race this as a result of you’ll be able to win a medal within the triathlon relay.”
Everybody agreed, and Knibb supplied up her spot.
The alternative was simple, with Faulkner already confirming her chops on the street with some huge wins in 2024, to not point out that she was already a part of the ladies’s workforce pursuit squad on the observe.
“Taylor agreed, so it was it was fairly mutual choice and a straightforward dialog,” Miller mentioned. “With Kristen, we all know now we have a really sturdy card to play within the street race.”
That call proved proper on course, as Faulkner got here residence with gold.
It labored out for Knibb as properly, who gained silver Monday in blended relay triathlon.
Residence roads a salve for French
France loved a “residence street” benefit throughout biking to depart Paris with arm fulls of medals.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot delighted the house crowds along with her divine Olympic gold in cross-country, with Victor Koretzky solely crushed by a daring Tom Pidcock to win silver.
The French swept the boys’s BMX race, and took bronze in males’s BMX freestyle.
Nobody might cease Evenepoel within the street race, however the French performed a cagey recreation to hit silver and bronze. Valentin Madouas was sturdy sufficient to stick with Evenepoel when he bridged throughout on the penultimate lap to hold on for silver, and Christophe Laporte hitched a trip on the chasing Matteo Jorgenson to win the lowered bunch dash for bronze.
These medals have been the primary by French males in street racing within the Olympics because the Fifties.
Popping out of the ladies’s street race, the French have been main the medal rely, with two golds for a complete of eight medals.
