As it happened: Belgium nets gold in thrilling men's time trial at Paris Olympics

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the men's individual time trial at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games!

We're just over half an hour away from the start of the men's event, as the women's event draws to a close. The first rider down the ramp will be Amir Ansari from the Olympic Refugee Team, at 16:32 local time. 

For the final throes of the women's ITT, plus post-race reaction, head to our live page for that event.

The men's field is backloaded with the favourites. Last off is the world champion Remco Evenepoel (Belgium), just after the Hour Record holder and two-time world champ Filippo Ganna (Italy). Just beforehand are Brandon McNulty (USA) and Stefan Küng (Switzerland), but it's the rider before them that is generating a great deal of excitement: 20-year-old Josh Tarling (Great Britain). 

For the full list of start times, here's the link you need.

Paris Olympics: Individual Time Trial start times

A closer look at the course

For the first time, the men and women are racing on the exact same 32.4km course, and it's a very flat one, heading out from central Paris for a loop around the Bois de Vincennes before returning to track the left bank of the Seine along to the finish on the Pont Alexandre III bridge. 

It's not very technical on paper, but the sodden weather is making it so, making treacherous a number of corners, while the course as a whole is littered with potholes, bumps, paint, and changes in surface. 

The women's event has set the tone, with the wet weather that dogged last night's opening ceremony showing no sign of letting up. There were plenty of crashes, including some of the biggest names, and the favourites in the men's race will have to balance risk and reward. For our full write-up from the women's race, head here.

Before we get going, here's our deep dive into the medal contenders

Who will win the Paris Olympics individual time trial? Analysing the favourites

We're underway

Amir Ansari, representing the Olympic Refugee Team, rolls down the start ramp, and the men's time trial at the Paris Olympics has begun!

Jan Tratnik (Slovenia), Gleb Syritsa (Individual Neutral Athlete), Alberto Bettiol (Italy), and Laurence Pithie (New Zealand) are some well-known WorldTour names among the early starters.

In fact, of the 34 starters, only four are non-WorldTour riders. As well as Ansari, we have Achraf ed Doghmy (Morocco), Jambaljamts Sainbayar (Mongolia), and Soeren Waerenskjold (Norway), who is nevertheless well-known on the pro circuit. 

The rain is still coming down and the roads are soaking wet. 

Mechanical for Tratnik, who has to stop for a bike change. 

“Cycling saved my life," says our first starter Amir Ansari. 

He was born in Iran and grew up in Afghanistan, but was forced to flee in 2015, finding refuge in Sweden after a long and harrowing journey. Joining a cycling club in Stockholm proved to be a lifeline. 

“Cycling helped me forget about my depression and fears because when I am on the bike, I do not think about anything else. I am just enjoying the moment,” he says in this interview with the UN Refugee Agency. As for his hopes here: “It is a big honour and responsibility to be part of the Refugee Olympic Team. I am one of those who made it to safety, but many lost their lives on the way. It feels good that I can represent them, and I hope I can do it in a way that makes them proud."

After Mongolia's Jambaljamts Sainbayar, it's time for Biniam Girmay (Eritrea), who has broken new ground in the sport of cycling, winning three stages and the green jersey at the recent Tour de France. 

Our first time check comes after 13.1km and Bettiol leads the way as it stands, nine seconds up on Pithie. 

Scare for Bettiol! 

The Italian, fastest rider on course so far, sees his bike lock up and twitch momentarily as he hits some painted road markings, which are treacherously slippery out here. 

We're moving into the second half of the starters now and we have some big names and specialists coming up, Stefan Bissegger (Switzerland) and Magnus Sheffield (USA) among the next to get going.

Wout van Aert rolls down the ramp!

The Belgian hasn't been touted among the top favourites for gold but cannot be counted out. Yes, he's using double disc wheels!

The wind is light so Van Aert must have been convinced of the decision to use a disc wheel up front as well as back, which has aerodynamic advantages but makes the bike more unstable. 

More on the experiment here.

The second checkpoint comes after 22km and Ryan Mullen (Ireland) has just knocked off Bettiol as the fastest rider out on the road at the moment.

Tobias Foss (Norway) rolls down the ramp. He shocked the world by winning the world title two years ago. Can he pull another one of nowhere?

Our first finisher is Amir Ansari, who sprints to the line and stops the clock on 40:26. 

Bettiol takes 90 seconds out of Ansari's time, but the benchmark is going to be lowered in the coming minutes.

Josh Tarling (Great Britain), the favourite in the eyes of many, gets underway. We're heading into the favourites now at the bottom of the order.

Stefan Küng (Switzerland) has been the nearly-man of major international time trials in recent years. Will the gods smile on him today?

Magnus Sheffield is flying around the course and his US compatriot Brandon McNulty sets off now as another medal contender.

Filippo Ganna (Italy) sets off now! The two-time world champion is among the very top favourites. Can he add to his palmarès here?

Van Aert is quickest through the first checkpoint, three seconds up on Sheffield. 

Mullen hits the line and heads into the hotseat, nine seconds up on Bettiol.

Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) rolls down the ramp, and that is our final starter! 

The former world champion recently won a time trial at the Tour de France, where he finished third overall. Can he fend off fatigue for a shot at gold here.

Problem for Tarling!

TV cameras didn't catch it but the British rider has been held up by something.

It was a front wheel puncture for Tarling, who had to stop for a bike change. 

Crash for Sheffield!

It wasn't shown but his shorts are ripped. The same thing happened in Tokyo last time. 

Mathias Vacek (Czechia) has edged Mullen out of the hotseat.

Here's a shot of Van Aert with those double discs.

Tarling comes to the first intermediate checkpoint, and he's three seconds down on Van Aert. We'll see the real damage when Ganna and Evenepoel get there but that mechanical could cost him dearly. 

A shot of Tarling pre-puncture.

It's not Küng's day. He's 22 seconds down on Van Aert's benchmark at the first checkpoint.

Kevin Vauquelin (France) and Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark) narrowly miss out on the top finishing time which is still held by Vacek.

Ganna quickest at the first checkpoint!

He's two and a half seconds up on Van Aert. Evenepoel coming shortly...

Evenepoel leads!

The world champ hits the first checkpoint (13.1km) and he's seven seconds up on Ganna! Wow

It's advantage Evenepoel but it's still tight, and pacing strategies remain to be seen. Evenepoel and Ganna lead the way while Tarling would likely have been among them were it not for his puncture, but he's not out of it. Van Aert eyeing a medal, too.

New leader

TT specialist Stefan Bissegger (Switzerland) takes 17 seconds out of Vacek's time.

Tarling reaches the second checkpoint and he's six seconds down on Van Aert's benchmark there. He was three seconds down on the Belgian at the first checkpoint, so he's not making up the ground he needs. 

Wout Van Aert into the lead!

He knocks a huge minute out of Bissegger's time. Big ride. 

Ganna is coming to the second checkpoint and he might well be losing time to Van Aert here.

Ganna off the mark!

He's four seconds down on Van Aert at the second checkpoint. He was two seconds up at the first...

Here comes Evenepoel... has he held his early pace?

He has!

Remco Evenepoel fastest at the second checkpoint, almost 12 seconds up on Van Aert. This looks commanding. 

Mishap for Ganna! He almost crashes as he overcooks a corner and heads towards the barriers. 

After the second checkpoint, there are only four riders left in the battle for the medals. 

- Evenepoel - virtual leader

- Van Aert at 11 seconds

- Ganna at 16 seconds

- Tarling at 18 seconds

The gold is Evenepoel's to lose at this point, but he still needs to have kept something in the tank for the final kilometres, not to mention avoid the sort of mishaps that have already befallen Tarling and Ganna.

Tarling is six seconds down on Van Aert with 2.5km to go, according to live timings. He's holding pace but he needs more. Still, without the puncture he'd be a good 10 seconds up.

Tarling comes to the line...

He gets out of the saddle and sprints...

2 seconds down on Van Aert.

Big finish from Tarling. Gold won't be his, but he might still snatch a medal. 

Evenepoel is still well up on Van Aert, and gaining, it seems. Gold is pretty much in the locker...

Küng finishes well over a minute down on Van Aert. Fifth place and not his day.

Ganna heads into the final kilometre. It looks like he has edged back in front of Van Aert. 

Here comes Ganna to the line, and he has pulled back bags of time!

10 seconds up on Van Aert! 

Where did that come from?

Ganna pulled back a quarter of a minute on Van Aert on the last portion of that course. 

But here comes Evenepoel, and he's got bags of time to spare...

Remco Evenepoel crosses the line 15 seconds up on Ganna!

Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) is the new Olympic time trial champion

Evenepoel punches the air as he crosses the line. He knows, he can see it, he's celebrating another huge moment in his young career. 

Evenepoel gets a hug from Ganna, and soon after he breaks down in tears, the enormity of it sinking in. 

THE MEDALS

Gold: Remco Evenepoel (Belgium

Silver: Filippo Ganna (Italy)

Bronze: Wout van Aert (Belgium)

Results

Tarling reacts

"My stars were miles apart," the Welshman tells the BBC.

"Front puncture, I knew I had change it before that corner, there was no other choice but change then try my best.

"[There was] a lot of swearing but there's not a lot I can do. A bit of luck. We move on to the road race."

The one consolation for Tarling will be that the puncture probably didn't cost him the gold medal, given the big gap to Evenepoel. But it more than likely cost him a silver or bronze, which will still sting badly. He does, though, have more opportunities ahead of him, being just 20 years of age. 

The finish line shot

Our full race report and results are available at the link below. 

Paris Olympics: Remco Evenepoel roars to gold medal for Belgium in men's time trial ahead of Ganna

Here was Evenepoel in full flight

The podium shot

That's it from us here on the live blog. Keep an eye on Cyclingnews for all the reaction from our reporters in Paris!