Cycling history will be made at Paris 2024 as a pool of 514 elite cyclists will be equally split
between men and women for the first time in the sport’s history. Attaining gender equality is one
of the objectives ratified by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for sport
cycling. This year, the men’s road race is held over 170 miles (2,800m of ascent), and we’ll see
the women’s route set at 98 miles long (1,700m of ascent).
We are guaranteed a new champion out of the men’s side this year as reigning gold medalist
Richard Carapaz was not selected to represent Ecuador at this year’s games. On the women’s
side, anything can happen as we saw at the Tokyo Games when Austria’s Anna Kiesendhofer
pulled off one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history with her gold medal performance. With
that in mind, let's take a look at some of the favorites to take the podium this year.
Men’s Race
Mathieu van der Poel (+150)
Opting out of the mountain bike discipline this time around, van der Poel enters this edition of
the Olympic road race as the reigning and defending World Champion. He has had an excellent
spring that saw him rack up victories at Paris-Roubaix, the E3 Saxo Classic and the Tour of
Flanders.
Mads Pedersen (+550)
The 2019 World Champion was off to a remarkable start to the 2024 year, racking up a win
streak that included a stage win and the overall of the Étoile de Bessèges. That was followed up
by three stage wins and the overall victory at the Tour de la Provenace. Pedersen would also
take home the Gent-Wevelgem and finished third at this year’s Paris-Roubaix. He pulled out of
the Tour de France prior to stage 8 due to a banged up shoulder and to focus on the 2024 Paris
Olympics.
Wout van Aert (+750)
Labeled as “one of the most complete cyclists of his generation”, van Aert came up short
in Tokyo, leaving with a silver medal in this discipline. He’s had a string of second place
finishes at big races recently. That includes a 2nd place finish to his rival Mathieu van
der Poel at last summer’s World Championship in Glasgow.
Mathieu van der Poel +350
Mads Pedersen +550
Remco Evenepoel +700
Wout van Aert +750
Jhonatan Narvaez +1800
Christophe Laporte +2000
Julian Alaphilippe +2200
Jasper Stuyven +2200
Biniam Girmay +2500
Tom Pidcock +3300
Matej Mohoric +3300
Ben Healy +4000
Michael Matthews +4000
Alberto Bettiol +6600
Mattias Skjelmose +6600
Brandon McNulty +6600
Oier Lazkano +6600
Laurence Pithie +8000
Derek Gee +8000
Tiesj Benoot +10000
Josua Tarling +10000
Michal Kwiatkowski +10000
Luca Mozzato +10000
Toms Skujins +10000
Stefan Kung +10000
Jan Tratnik +10000
Dylan Van Baarle +15000
Magnus Sheffield +15000
Mathias Vacek +15000
Valentin Madouas +15000
Alexey Lutsenko +15000
Alex Aranburu +15000
Juan Ayuso +15000
Nils Politt +15000
Stephen Williams +15000
Santiago Buitrago +25000
Maximilian Schachmann +25000
Corbin Strong +25000
Kevin Vauquelin +25000
Fred Wright +25000
Daniel Martinez +25000
Michael Woods +25000
Soren Waerenskjold +25000
Simon Clarke +25000
Rui Costa +25000
Mikkel Bjerg +25000
Felix Grosschartner +25000
Rigoberto Uran +25000
Women’s Race
Lotte Kopecky (+200)
After missing the podium at the Tokyo Games, the reigning World Champion is the
favorite to win it all this Summer in Paris. Kopecky came second at last year’s Tour de
France Femmes but the Belgian did finish first in the points classification. She has
already announced that she will be skipping this year’s Tour de France Femmes in order
to focus on the Olympics.
Lorena Wiebes (+400)
The Dutch cyclist has racked up a number of 1st place finishes this year, including at
the RideLondon Classique where she won all three stages as well as the sprints
classifications. Wiebes also took home victories at the Gent-Wevelgem, the Scheldeprijs
and the Ronde van Drenthe this year. Lorena Wiebes enters these Olympic Games hot
on the heels of SD Worx–Protime teammate Lotte Kopecky as a close favorite to bring
home the gold.
Marianne Vos (+450)
Although it’s been a while, Marianne Vos is no stranger to the Olympic Podium. The
veteran took home the gold in 2012 at the London Games in this same discipline. At the
last Summer Games, she finished fifth but should not be overlooked heading into Paris.
Demi Vollering (+600)
Following a win at last year’s Tour de France Femmes, Vollering stayed in the mixed
during the World Championships but fell short in the end. The Dutchwoman gained
momentum with a sound victory at the Women’s Tour de Suisse this June.
Lotte Kopecky +200
Lorena Wiebes +400
Marianne Vos +450
Demi Vollering +600
Elisa Longo Borghini +850
Elisa Balsamo +900
Elise Chabbey +3300
Pfeiffer Georgi +3300
Liane Lippert +3300
Katarzyna Niewiadoma +4000
Grace Brown +4000
Elizabeth Deignan +5000
Chloe Dygert +5000
Anna Henderson +5000
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig +6600
Silvia Persico +6600
Christina Schwinberger +8000
Emma Norsgaard +8000
Ellen van Dijk +8000
Blanka Vas +10000
Juliette Labous +10000
Noemi Ruegg +10000
Niamh Fisher-Black +10000
Ingvild Gaaskjenn +15000
Marta Lach +15000
Ruby Roseman-Gannon +15000
Audrey Cordon Ragot +15000
Mavi Garcia +15000
Ashleigh Moolman +25000
Victoire Berteau +25000
Kimberley Le Court de Billot +25000
Christine Majerus +25000
Anniina Ahtosalo +25000
Elena Cecchini +25000
Alison Jackson +25000
Antonia Niedermaier +25000
Linda Zanetti +25000
Kim Cadzow +25000