This weekend sees both the men's and women's road races at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Starting and finishing in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero, both men's and women's courses head south-west out of the city to take on a demanding series of hills, before heading back for the bright lights of the city of love.
The men's and women's races, held on Saturday and Sunday respectively, will see much smaller fields than many competitors will be used to in the WorldTour, with just 95 women lining up on Sunday.
The teams are small too, with a maximum four riders as opposed to seven in Grand Tours such as the Tour de France Femmes. This means the race is going to that much harder to control, even for ultra-strong nations such as the Netherlands and Belgium, who will be fielding multiple current and former world champions between them.
The fact that there are no race radios will only add to the lack of predictability, and played a huge part in the result at Tokyo, won solo by Austria's Anna Kiesenhofer – she was followed in by Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands), who celebrated as she crossed the line, not knowing Kiesenhofer had already won.
Van Vleuten is now retired, but Kiesenhofer is back to defend her title at Paris. She is likely to meet a strong challenge from Belgium's Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering of the Netherlands.
The two-rider US team features Chloe Dygert, who won time trial bronze last weekend, plus Vuelta Femenina stage winner Kristen Faulkner.
A strong Great Britain team features Anna Henderson, who has already won time trial silver, plus 2012 road race silver medallist Lizzie Deignan and fast-finishing all-rounder Pfeiffer Georgi.
Paris Olympic Games 2024 women's road race start list
Belgium
VANPACHTENBEKE Margot
VAN DE VELDE Julie
GHEKIERE Justine
KOPECKY Lotte
Netherlands
WIEBES Lorena
VAN DIJK Ellen
VOLLERING Demi
VOS Marianne
Italy
PERSICO Silvia
BALSAMO Elisa
CECCHINI Elena
LONGO BORGHINI Elisa
Switzerland
ZANETTI Linda
RÜEGG Noemi
CHABBEY Elise
Great Britain
MORRIS Anna
HENDERSON Anna
GEORGI Pfeiffer
DEIGNAN Elizabeth
Poland
LACH Marta
NIEWIADOMA Katarzyna
SKALNIAK-SÓJKA Agnieszka
Australia
BROWN Grace
ROSEMAN-GANNON Ruby
HANSON Lauretta
France
LABOUS Juliette
CORDON-RAGOT Audrey
BERTEAU Victoire
Germany
LIPPERT Liane
NIEDERMAIER Antonia
KOCH Franziska
Canada
BARIL Olivia
JACKSON Alison
Denmark
KOERNER Rebecca
LUDWIG Cecilie Uttrup
NORSGAARD Emma
United States
FAULKNER Kristen
DYGERT Chloe
Austria
SCHWEINBERGER Christina
KIESENHOFER Anna
New Zealand
CADZOW Kim
FISHER-BLACK Niamh
Spain
GARCÍA Mavi
BENITO Mireia
South Africa
MOOLMAN Ashleigh
KEEP Tiffany
Uzbekistan
KUSKOVA Yanina
ZABELINSKAYA Olga
Norway
BERG EDSETH Marte
GÅSKJENN Ingvild
Slovenia
BUJAK Eugenia
PINTAR Urška
China
TANG Xin
Individual Neutral Athletes
IVANCHENKO Alena
TSERAKH Hanna
DRONOVA-BALABOLINA Tamara
Finland
AHTOSALO Anniina
Ukraine
BIRIUKOVA Yuliia
Thailand
SOMRAT Phetdarin
Luxembourg
MAJERUS Christine
Colombia
PATIÑO Paula
Czech Republic
KOPECKÝ Julia
Hong Kong
LEE Sze Wing
Cuba
SIERRA Arlenis
South Korea
SONG Minji
Rwanda
INGABIRE Diane
UMWAMIKAZI Djazilla
Ireland
ARMITAGE Megan
Serbia
ERIĆ Jelena
Slovakia
JENČUŠOVÁ Nora
Mauritius
HALBWACHS Aurelie
(LE COURT) PIENAAR Kimberley
Brazil
MAGALHÃES Ana Vitória
Chile
SOTO Catalina Anais
Algeria
HOUILI Nesrine
Namibia
LOOSER Vera
Cyprus
CHRISTOFOROU Antri
Japan
YONAMINE Eri
Portugal
CAMPOS Daniela
Hungary
VAS Blanka
Latvia
CARBONARI Anastasia
Nigeria
UKPESERAYE Ese Lovina
Burkina Faso
BAMOGO Awa
Malaysia
MOHAMAD ZUBIR Nur Aisyah
Vietnam
NGUYỄN Thị Thật
Mexico
PRIETO Marcela Elizabeth
Costa Rica
MENA Milagro
United Arab Emirates
AL SAYEGH Safia
Lithuania
LELEIVYTĖ Rasa
Israel
GAFINOVITZ Rotem
Sweden
ANDERSSON Caroline
Afghanistan
HASHIMI Yulduz
HASHIMI Fariba
Refugee Olympic Team
GEBRU Eyeru Tesfoam
