The Paris 2024 Olympic Games road cycling individual road race is just two days away, passing by world-famous French landmarks such as the Palace of Versailles, the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.
The men’s road cycling individual road race will begin at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Starting from Place de la Trocadéro, facing the Eiffel Tower, the 91 athletes will cover 273 kilometers.
Called the “marathon of cycling,” the individual road is not complicated.
Everyone starts together and the first to finish the long course wins. Think of the Tour de France, a road bike race that circumnavigates France.
It takes cyclists over 13 mountainous terrains and back to Paris, where the finish line is set up.
After passing by world-famous tourist attractions such as the Palace of Versailles and the Louvre, the cyclists must summon their last strength to cross the finish line on Montmartre Hill, the only elevated hill in the plain city of Paris.
At 273 kilometers, it is the longest Olympic course ever. It’s longer than the distance from Seoul to Pohang, Gyeongbuk, on the east coast.
South Korea will be represented by Kim Yuro (Korea Land Information Corporation).
After winning four national titles at the 2017 National Championships, the Tour de DMZ International Youth Road Cycling Championships, and the 2019 Japan Track Cup Madison, Kim made a name for himself on the adult stage by winning gold medals at the 2020 Asian Track Cycling Championships Madison and Point Race.
As an adult, she made her mark on the track before the road. Kim, who specializes in the middle and long distances of the track, has also recently shown success on the road.
She competed at the 2024 Asian Road Cycling Championships in June and won the gold medal in the 158-kilometer race in 3 hours, 21 minutes and 4 seconds.
The 273-kilometer course, the longest ever for an Asian champion, was not a challenge for Kim.
Although she is a middle- and long-distance athlete, she has never tackled a course of this distance before, and she is looking forward to competing against European athletes from the center of the sport.
The day after Kim’s race, Song Min-ji (Samyang) will compete in the women’s individual road race. She will compete against 95 other athletes from around the world.
The women will have to cover a distance of 158 kilometers. The course is longer than at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics (137 kilometers). They will have to run non-stop from Incheon on the west coast to Sokcho in Gangwon Province on the east coast.
Song Min-ji is not a long-distance athlete. She also competed in track events at last year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou.
But with her recent results in road cycling competitions, she is confident that she can do it.
Song won the road cycling championships in June with Kim Yuro. They covered the 112.6-kilometer course in 2 hours, 56 minutes, and 51 seconds.
No South Korean cyclist has yet won an Olympic medal.
In 2021, Na Na-rim and Lee Hye-jin competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but neither won a medal. 카지노사이트