If you’re a new cycling fan, you may not have seen cycling in the Olympics before, and you’re in for a real treat in Paris this year.
The cycling schedule at the Games can be pretty hectic, between road, track and mountain bike racing, so we’ve broken it down into a simple schedule for you to follow along with—and we have a few recommendations for don’t-miss events.
Where can you watch the Olympics?
Fortunately, NBC’s streaming app Peacock will have all of the events in a relatively simple to stream format. In Canada, CBC’s app is the place to go, and the Olympic website itself has great coverage and behind-the-scenes stories and footage.
Saturday July 27 – Men’s and Women’s Individual Time Trial (ITT)
Why to watch: For the first time in Olympic history, the men and women will share a time trial course. The course is 32.4 kilometers with 150 meters of ascent, with a finish at the Pont Alexandre III in Paris. Admittedly, this is a race that can feel a bit boring to watch if you’re new to cycling and don’t have a rider you’re cheering for, since riders are staggered at 90 second increments and are racing the clock rather than each other. But it’s still a great one to watch if you’re looking for inspiration (and love a goofy looking aero helmet).
Who to watch: We’re most excited for American Chloe Dygert, Portuguese racer Rui Costa, Danish riders Emma Norsgaard and 3-time U23 ITT World Champion Mikkel Bjerg.
Sunday July 28 to Monday July 29 – Cross-Country Mountain Biking
Why to watch: XC MTB racing is fast, fun and even the most intense road riders can enjoy it as a spectacle… Plus, it has some of your road faves on the start line. Unlike the road race, which takes hours, or track events, which only take minutes to complete, mountain biking hits the sweet spot of just over an hour. And the Paris course is designed to be viewer friendly and spectacular, with tons of technical features.
Who to watch: Tom Pidcock is the reigning Olympic champ, and it looks like he’s poised to defend his title. In the women’s race, it’s going to be exciting since defending champ Jolanda Neff hasn’t had an amazing season, and that means the title is up for grabs. The US women’s contingent is super strong this year, so don’t be surprised if you spot the US jerseys off the front, though French racers Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Loana LeComte will surely be gunning for the win.
Saturday August 3 – Men’s Road Race
Why to watch: The men’s race is just as interesting as the women’s to watch when teams aren’t involved. We’re used to seeing UAE Team Emirates working hard for Tadej Pogačar, or Lidl Trek leading out Mads Pedersen in a sprint. But what happens when there are no race radios and riders have to scramble to form alliances with riders they’re normally racing against? It’s always an exciting one to watch. This year’s race is 170 miles long with 2,800 meters of ascent, and starts and finishes at the Trocadéro in Paris, where riders will be met by huge crowds.
Who to watch: We’re cheering on Portuguese rider Rui Costa, German racer Mikkel Bjerg, and (hopefully, assuming he’s recovered from his crash in Stage 5 at the Tour de France) sprinter Mads Pedersen. Of course, all eyes will be on the top riders this season including the nearly unbeatable Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu Van der Poel. (Van der Poel famously crashed out of the mountain bike race in Tokyo—the double threat on the road and dirt will be sticking to tarmac for this Games cycle.)
Sunday August 4 – Women’s Road Race
Why to watch: Last Olympic cycle had one of the most wild road races we’ve ever seen, with relative unknown Anna Kiesenhofer going off of the front in a small breakaway. The rest of her group was caught, but she soloed to the win… unbeknownst to Annemieke Van Vleuten, who came in celebrating her silver medal like it was gold. Road racing in the Olympics can be a bit weird since riders don’t have access to their team radios, and rather than working with the teammates they ride with all year, they’re working with only a couple of racers (if they’re lucky) from their home nation. The race is similar to the men’s and shares a start/finish, but covers “only” 158 kilometers (just under 100 miles) with 1,700 meters of climbing.
Who to watch: Danish racer Emma Norsgaard and German racer Franziska Koch. Norsgaard is a top sprinter, so there’s a good change that if it comes down to a bunch sprint, she’ll be one of the riders in serious contention for a medal, if not the win. Elisa Longo Borghini got the bronze in Tokyo, though, and will certainly be looking for the gold medal—as will teammates-but-not-countrywomen Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky.
Monday August 5 to Sunday August 11 – Track
Basically, if you tune into the Olympics anytime during the August 5th to 11th block, you can watch some great track racing. Don’t sleep on the Madison race, there’s something so wonderfully weird and fun about watching riders fling each other around the track by holding hands. And we love the Omnium, since the four-race event forces the riders to have a wide-ranging skill set in order to excel. But the best part of track racing is that it’s fast and furious, so if you don’t have time to follow along with an hours-long road race, you can easily catch 15 minutes here and there of track racing and simply enjoy watching cyclists work really hard and race really fast.
You can check the full schedule here, but these are the six races we’re really excited about that are arguably the most to watch:
- Monday: Women’s Team Sprint Finals
- Tuesday: Men’s Team Sprint Finals
- Thursday: Men’s Omnium (4x races throughout the day)
- Friday: Women’s Madison
- Saturday: Men’s Madison
- Sunday: Women’s Omnium (4x races throughout the day)
Track is fun because often, you can see relatively unknown riders achieve Olympic glory. We’re particularly excited to see American medal hopeful Chloe Dygert, Portuguese racer Rui Oliveira, and Danish riders Amalie Didierksen and Niklas Larsen.
