LeBron James named U.S. flag bearer for 2024 Olympics as gymnastics team arrives in Paris

Posted by Admin July 22, 2024 Sports

Fresh off the Tour de France, a number of riders are turning their attention to the Olympic road race on Aug. 3.

For the first time in its history, the Tour finished in Nice, as Olympic preparations are underway in Paris. For the third time, it was won by Slovenian rider Tadej Pogačar, whose dominance earned him six stage wins and kept him in the yellow jersey from the fourth stage onward.

An Olympic medal would add to his already successful summer (before the Tour, Pogačar won the Giro d’Italia, a rare and revered double last achieved in 1998). The Tokyo bronze medalist is among the riders on the list of entries for the road race.

The entry list also includes three Americans — Matteo Jorgenson, Brandon McNulty and Magnus Sheffield — though only Jorgenson raced this year’s Tour. (Jorgenson finished the Tour in eighth and secured a second-place stage finish in the final week).

World champion Mathieu van der Poel is also expected to compete in the road race. It would be the second Olympics for the Dutch star, who didn’t medal in Tokyo after a disappointing crash in the cross-country mountain bike race.

The entire Belgian contingent on the list — Remco Evenepoel (who finished third and won the young rider classification), Wout van Aert, Jasper Stuyven and Tiesj Benoot — just wrapped three weeks of riding across France.

British cyclist Tom Pidcock, who dropped out of the Tour after testing positive for Covid, is expected to defend his Tokyo mountain bike title and could also take part in the road race.

Also expected at the starting line is Biniam Girmay, of Eritrea, who made history as the first black African rider to win a stage of the Tour. He took the green sprinter’s jersey early in the first week and kept it to the end despite a nasty crash.

The rolling road race course will feature nearly 9,200 feet of climbing spread across about 170 miles for the men. The women race the next day on a 99-mile course with about 5,500 feet of elevation gain.

The Tour de France Femmes will kick off Aug. 12, the day after the Olympics’ closing ceremony.