Olympic Games Race Report: Remco Evenepoel is the new Olympic time trial champion. On a wet course in Paris, the Belgian was faster than Filippo Ganna and Wout van Aert by 15 and 25 seconds. Joshua Tarling was fourth at 27 seconds, but had to change bikes during the race.
Olympic Gold for Remco Evenepoel
Olympic time trial map
Olympic time trial profile
The route of the men’s Olympic time trial was identical to that of the women. The riders rode a circuit of 32.4 kilometres, with intermediate timing after 19 kilometres and then 11 kilometres from the finish. The course was flat and not too technical. The rain and the slippery roads would be the main problem. There were several crashes in the previous women’s race.
Jan Tratnik set a good early time
Fortunately, there were no crashes amongst the first men off. Mathias Vacek recorded the best intermediate times out on the course and he was also the fastest at the finish. The first favourites began to start. Magnus Sheffield was 17 seconds faster than Vacek at the first intermediate point, Van Aert was 3 seconds faster and Joshua Tarling, but the British rider had a puncture. Tarling, one of the top favourites for gold, had to change bikes and lost valuable time. Nevertheless, he limited the gap to Van Aert at the first intermediate point to 4 seconds.
Alberto Bettiol (Ita) was an early leader
In the end Van Aert was good for the Bronze medal
At the second intermediate point, Van Aert had a bigger gap on the riders who rode before him. Sheffield in particular, who had crashed, lost a lot of time. The big competitors were still to come. Remco Evenepoel and Filippo Ganna came through the first intermediate point first and second. Evenepoel had gained 7 seconds on Ganna and 10 on Van Aert.
Stefan Bissegger (Sui) took the lead
Bad luck robbed Josh Tarling of a medal
At the finish, Daan Hoole recorded the fifth time (at that point), 11 seconds behind Vacek. It was Stefan Bissegger who eventually dethroned the Czech. The Swiss rider didn’t enjoy his lead for long, because Van Aert was on his way. The Belgian improved the top time by 1 minute. Tarling had passed by the second intermediate point, where he was now down by 6 seconds on Van Aert.
Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) finished 9th
Ganna was close to Van Aert, but after 22 kilometres he was 5 seconds slower than the Belgian. It was eventually Evenepoel who broke Van Aert’s time at the second intermediate point. The battle was not over yet as the difference was only 12 seconds. Ganna and Tarling could still hope for Gold, although Ganna nearly crashed when he lost control on a very slippery section of paint on the road.
Ganna was 15 seconds too slow for Gold
Remco Evenepoel was very emotional at the finish
Tarling was very strong final section, but was just short of Van Aert at the finish. There was only 2 seconds between the two. Van Aert lost his chance of gold when Filippo Ganna came in 10 seconds better than the Belgian. Silver also slipped through Van Aert hands when his country-man finished. Evenepoel was 15 seconds better than Ganna and took the Gold medal. The silver went to Ganna, the bronze to Van Aert. The Belgian was 2 seconds ahead of the very unfortunate Tarling, who without his puncture would have taken a medal.
Filippo Ganna, Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert
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Olympic Games Men’s Time Trial Result:
1. Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) in 36:12
2. Filippo Ganna (Italy) at 0:15
3. Wout Van Aert (Belgium) at 0:25
4. Joshua Tarling (GB) at 0:27
5. Brandon McNulty (USA) at 1:04
6. Stefan Bissegger (Switzerland) at 1:26
7. Nelson Oliveira (Portugal) at 1:31
8. Stefan Küng (Switzerland) at 1:35
9. Maximilian Schachmann (Germany) at 1:38
10. Mikkel Bjerg (Denmark) at 1:43.
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