#grace brown

[modelsof-color]

Grace Brown at Christian Cowan SS 22

[marcelskittels]

Anna Henderson, Grace Brown & Chloe Dygert Filippo Ganna, Remco Evenepoel & Wout van Aert ‹ Paris 2024 Olympics - Women's & Men's ITT › 📸 by Jan Woitas/Getty Images

[fat-models]

Grace Brown at Kim Shui FW 23

[etapereine]

📸 dominiquepowers

[oneminutefiftysixseconds]

olympic gold and world championships is one hell of a retirement party

[womensworldtour]

Believe it or not, the Olympic individual time trial race is this weekend! The course is a very urban course through Paris, a very different course than many ITT races. It will be scenic and beautiful, but also very technical. Early reports of teams that have reconned the course say it is very slick from road traffic, so it may favor riders with well-honed bike handling skills.

Here are a few of the top contenders:

Chloe Dygert, the defending Olympic champion in her trademark pink socks or shoes, will be competing, as well as American triathlete phenom Taylor Knibb. We haven't heard much from Dygert lately as she prepared on her own, but we know she's fast. We also know that Knibb is very powerful, though this technical course probably doesn't suit her.

Australian Grace Brown, in her final professional season, will be really targeting this race, and she has looked really good this season. She's a veteran and will be wanting to take home gold in her final year of racing, and she's another top pick.

Another rider looking very good right now, who actually beat Brown by one second in the opening ITT of the Giro d'Italia Women, is Italy's own Elisa Longo Borghini. She will hope to carry her peak form into this weekend.

We don't know what to expect from Anna Henderson, who has broken her collarbone twice this year (ouch!) but is a regular ITT contender for Great Britain and could top the podium on a good day.

Speaking of injury, we would probably rule out Ellen van Dijk after her broken ankle in the first stage of the Vuelta Feminina six weeks ago, if she wasn't Ellen van Dijk. She has been out of racing but still targeting the Olympics, and she has to be considered a top contender.

Another serious Dutch contender is Demi Vollering, who sat out the Giro in favor of the Olympics and the upcoming Tour de France Femmes. She looked in fine form during the spring stage races, and is a regular threat in the ITT.

Finally, some names that won't be competing: Swiss time-trial powerhouse Marlen Reusser will miss the Olympics this year due to lingering issues from a viral infection last month. And Slovenian road race and time trial champ Urška Žigart was curiously not selected for the Slovenian Olympic team, which certainly raised some eyebrows.

[goodobservationshirley]

INSIDE TOUR DE FRANCE - EP 1

[arutai]

Grace Brown by Frazer Harrison

[therunwayarchive]

Grace Brown at PatBo, Spring 2022

[modelsof-color]

Ifrah Quaasim , Mammina Aker , Ajak Dhieu and Grace Brown by Jamel Shabazz for W Magazine December 2023

[marcelskittels]

x

[fat-models]

Grace Brown at Christian Cowan F/W 22

[etapereine]

📸 z_w_photography

[sportsallover]

Audrey Cordon Ragot - best time at intermediate point for 3 secs 🇫🇷❤️

Grace Brown - best time at intermediate point with 29 secs over Audrey 😳👏

Marlen Reusser - best time at intermediate point with 27 secs!!! over Grace 🫢🙌

[womensworldtour]

Yesterday's women's ITT was one of the first events held after the Opening Ceremonies, and it was a thoroughly uncomfortable day on the bike. The course through Paris wasn't overly technical, but many sections had cobbles or pavers that were quite slick in the pouring rain. And rain it did pour, all morning. Many of the riders, even experienced veterans, hit the deck as they navigated turns or roundabouts. Cecilie Uttrup-Ludwig was an early victim of the slick as was Lotte Kopecky. Both Americans, Chloe Dygert and Taylor Knibb, went down.

Many of the riders who didn't fall were taking turns very cautiously, and so the times really varied. Elisa Longo Borghini said she slowed down into the turns after she heard even Kopecky had fallen. Ellen van Dyke, who was a possible contender, had a very slow day, reportedly due to her health and nervousness around the slippery course.

The best of the best, who put down smooth power and managed to stay upright, was Grace Brown of Australia. She had the best time by a very solid 1:31 margin, and we have to admit that we're pretty happy to see her win Gold in her final season.

We're nearly as impressed with the ride by Anna Henderson, who won Silver. Like we said in our preview, Henderson has had a broken collarbone twice this season, which is terribly luck and very painful, but the Brit stayed in top shape. This was a great performance from her.

Rounding out the podium was Chloe Dygert, just 1 seconds down on Anna Henderson, who had fallen at least once on the course but remounted fast enough to hold on for Bronze. There a bunch of gifs of her falling, but we're most impressed that she kept putting in the power enough to make it to the podium.

Some other impressive performances included Frenchwoman Juliette Labous (4th), Dutchwoman Demi Vollering (5th), and the young New Zealander Kim Cadzow (7th).

[goodobservationshirley]

FDJ-SUEZ INSIDE TOUR DE FRANCE - Stages 1 to 6