The cycling events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games kicked off on Saturday afternoon with the Women's and Men's Individual Time Trials. Starting in Invalides and finishing just down the road on the Pont Alexandre III bridge, athletes from around the world tackled the 32.4-kilometer course on the technical and uneven roads of Paris. With rain forecasted for most of the day, it was anybody's race to win. Unfortunately, as conditions worsened, three of the four Team USA riders crashed on course. Chloé Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind.; CANYON//SRAM Racing) was able to come back from her crash to earn USA Cycling’s first medal of the Paris Olympics.
Two female athletes from the United States, Dygert and Taylor Knibb (Washington, D.C.; Trek Factory Racing) put it all on the line in an attempt to earn gold for their country. Knibb was the first of the two riders to go. She finished her race in 43:03.46, which was good for 19th.
Knibb had a hard ride saying, “I wanted to have the best race possible. You can only control what you can control. My race was going well, and then it wasn’t. I am just grateful to be standing and still walking.”
Heading into the first intermediate split, she was up by over 30 seconds, but then things changed. “The first third...was great. The middle one, that’s where it all went wrong. The third one was more survival than anything else. I was fully blind. My Garmin fell off on the first one, so I was like, ‘Well, here we go.’ One thing I have learned in my triathlon career and my brief time trial career is that I love learning. That makes me hungry,” said Knibb.
Dygert was the last rider to go. She needed to finish in 41:19.90 or better to podium. After crashing and working hard to battle back and make up time, Dygert finished in a time of 41:10.70. Which earned her third overall and the bronze medal.
When asked about her performance she said, “Everybody here shows up to win. Everyone who’s not on that top step probably says the same thing. We don’t want to lose. We’ll be appreciative and supportive of all the riders, but that’s how it goes. I just have to get better so the next time I show up I can be on that top step.”
She further explained how the race played out. “The crowds were so loud; I actually had a lot of trouble hearing the radio. I heard at the first-time check that I was five seconds down on Grace [Brown]. I knew in the first three minutes my legs weren’t fabulous. I was a little worried three minutes in. And hearing five seconds back, that really got me. But again, I knew on the way back that it was a little bit more downhill, and I thought I could use that to my advantage. I had the little crash, and I don’t know how much that affected me. That’s just how it goes sometimes. Of course I’m bummed, but I’m very blessed to be here. I’m ready to go for the next race,” said Dygert.
1. Grace Brown (AUS)
2. Anna Henderson (GBR)
3. Chloe Dygert (USA)
19. Taylor Knibb (USA)
On the men’s side, Brandon McNulty (Phoenix; UAE Team Emirates) and Magnus Sheffield (Pittsford, N.Y.; Ineos Grenadiers) represented the United States in the race against the clock. The first of the two to take the course was Sheffield.
Riding well up until a crash, Sheffield said, “I'm disappointed today. Unfortunately, it’s the same for everyone. I felt my rear wheel slip and start to go in that roundabout, and I knew I had to take it more carefully. Once I went around it, the bike fishtailed and it was like I was on ice, so I couldn’t keep it upright. Then I just tried to be cautious in the corners. Anything can happen, even at the Olympics. You just always have to keep your head up.” Sheffield ended up finishing with a time of 38:05.24 taking 16th in his first Olympic Games.
After finishing fourth at the UCI Road World Championships in 2023, McNulty went into today's race feeling capable of earning a medal saying, “I really wanted to medal, but I can’t be sad with fifth place.” McNulty’s final time was 37:16.60 which earned him fifth place against the best in the world. When asked if today’s conditions affected his overall results, he said, “I woke up expecting [the rain], but I had hoped it would clear up a little bit. In the end, it is what it is.”
Three of today's competitors — McNulty, Sheffield, and Dygert — will also race in the Road Race. The men's race is scheduled for August 3rd, followed by the women's race on August 4th.
1. Remco Evenpoel (BEL)
2. Fillipo Ganna (ITA)
3. Wout van Aert (BEL)
5. Brandon McNulty (USA)
16. Magnus Sheffield (USA)
Racing continues tomorrow with the Women’s Cross-Country Mountain Bike race, where Haley Batten (Park City, Utah; Specialized Factory Racing) and Savilia Blunk (Inverness, Calif.; Decathlon-Ford Racing Team) will be competing for the United States.
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