A start and finish at the Trocadéro, a passage through the Château de Versailles and the Montmartre hill: the course of the men’s and women’s road cycling events of the 2024 Olympic Games, unveiled on Tuesday by the organizers, promises to be spectacular.
The 180 men and women cyclists who will take part in the Paris Olympic Games, whether on the road or in the time trial, will benefit from new routes alternating urban landscapes with emblematic Parisian places and the Ile-de-France countryside. Courses that “will stage Paris in the most beautiful way”, rejoiced the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo (PS) in a press release.
For the road races, men and women will ride on an identical loop in terms of landscape but far apart in terms of distance. For men, this loop will be 273 km, a real race of wear and tear with one of the longest routes in the history of the Olympics, a distance worthy of the 5 monuments whose entry ticket is 250 km. For women, the loop will be 158 km.
The course is also “hilly” with a final “steep on the heights of Montmartre”, including nearly 10 km of climb at the end of the race, said the organizers. For both races, after the start from the Trocadéro esplanade, the runners will warm up over 5km of a line passing through the Eiffel Tower, the Seine, the Invalides and the Latin Quarter “before the actual start of the race, given rue Gay-Lussac in the 5th arrondissement”, explained the organizers.
Then, the runners will take the Route des Gardes between Meudon and Versailles, to reach the Château towards the Chevreuse valley, a “high place of cycling in the Ile-de-France”, recall the organizers. This is where the relief could wear out organisms more quickly, with some hills with more than 5% slope, but over distances rarely over a kilometer.
Back in Paris, the pelotons will pass by the Louvre museum, the Pyramid, before starting the last part, a final circuit of 18.4 km, “muscular” because of the “paved coast of the Montmartre hill”, say the organizers. After having completed two laps of this loop, the last lap will pass by the Sacré-Coeur basilica, “before plunging into a toboggan final” to the Pont d’Iéna, the scene of a final 230-meter sprint towards of the Trocadero.
For the time trial events, for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, men and women will ride on the same 32.4 km long course and “devoid of any relief”, specify the organizers. The runners will start from Invalides, towards Saint-Germain des Près, then Vincennes with a passage in front of Insep, then return to Paris via the Bastille before crossing the finish line at the Pont Alexandre III.
For Tony Estanguet, the boss of the organizing committee, these courses are “a summary” of their “ambitions”. “They will be spectacular (…), they will also leave room for the sporting requirement with in particular the Butte Montmartre as a justice of the peace (…) and finally they will be open to the greatest number with routes accessible to all spectators along the road to support and admire the athletes,” he explained in a press release.