The first of the five cycling disciplines will begin competition on Saturday with the men’s and women’s time trial events. The women’s race begins at 8:30 a.m. ET and the men are slated to start at 10:32 a.m. ET.

Riders will start and finish in Paris, taking off from the Esplanade des Invalides and race to the Alexandre III bridge. For the first time, the same number of men and women will compete -- 35 each. 

Bikers will begin their rides at an interval of 90 seconds and complete the course on their own. They cannot draft off one another and there are no team strategies. The cyclist with the fastest time wins. It is expected that each rider will compete the course between 35 and 40 minutes with the overall competition lasing 90 total minutes per gender. For the first time, the men and women are riding the exact same course, which is 32.4 kilometers long (about 20 miles).

The first cycling medal awarded at the Paris Olympics, in any discipline, will be in the women’s time trial.

American Chloe Dygert is expected to contend for a medal. She could become the second American woman to win an Olympic medal in both road and track cycling. She won two previous Olympic medals in track cycling. The U.S. is looking for its first medal in this event since Kristen Armstrong won the event three times in a row (2008, 2012, 2016). 

Teammate Taylor Knibb surprised everyone when she won the U.S. time trial in May. Knibb is a triathlete and will compete in both sports at the Paris Games.

The Netherlands looks to continue its recent success in the event despite Tokyo gold medalist Annemiek van Vleuten and bronze medalist Anna van der Breggen retiring. Ellen van Dijk is a three-time World time trial champion and returning to the Olympics after finishing fourth in Rio. 

Other names expected to contend for a medal include Tokyo silver medalist Marlen Reusser, Australia’s Grace Brown, and Austria’s Christina Schweinberger.

The unpredictability of road cycling is magnified by the fact that multiple medal contenders won’t be competing in Paris. The race is being held just six days after the final stage of the Tour de France.

Reigning Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar was expected to compete in the time trial event after only competing in the road race in Tokyo. Earlier this week, it was announced he wouldn’t be competing at the 2024 Games at all due to extreme exhaustion.  

The 2022 and 2023 Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard was not selected to Denmark’s four-rider road team for Paris. Vingegaard suffered a broken collarbone among other injuries in a crash in April and is still recovering. 

Tokyo gold medalist Primoz Roglic is also out of the competition after announcing he fractured his back in the Tour de France.

American Brandon McNulty is the best chance for the U.S. to medal in this event. He finished sixth in the road race in Tokyo and fourth in the time trial at last year’s World Championships. The U.S. last won a medal in this event when Levi Leipheimer won bronze in 2008.

Italy’s Fillippo Ganna is a name to watch. He is a two-time world champion and finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics. Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel also figures to be a medal contender, despite coming off surgery on a broken collarbone. Josh Tarling, Great Britain, is expected to contend at just 20 years old.