I’m a huge fan of the olympic summer games eversince and this year the summer games in Japan have got me excited and amazed once again.
Following the competitions, watch records getting torn apart (just like the german women did twice in the final of the team chase in track cycling! Did you see that? Incredible!), how can someone who does any type of sport in his spare time not be a fan of the olympic games?

After following all the action this year, it comes with no surprise, that I’m already excited about the upcoming summer games 2024 in Paris, France.
Actually, that ain’t too far away from where I’m living. And that got me thinking:
Wouldn’t it be cool to be part of the summer games in Paris? In fact, that would be super cool!

Of course, I’ve got a focus on cycling, so let’s just take a look at the cycling disciplines that have been a part of this year’s games:

Time Trial:
The Top riders did an average around 50 km/h this year, which is super fast and super impressive, even more if you consider, that most of the riders just finished the Tour de France one week before the games in Tokio.
On a good day, I’m able to do an average of around 28 km/h for the same amount of time. That’s a huge gap …

Road Race:
Three words to describe the road race … serious killer stage! Around 250 km’s and a ton of altitude, these are numbers of a monument race! Right now, I’m not even doing 250 km’s in a whole week most of the time, not to talk about the altitude … this just seems unreal to me right now!
Side note … the Fuji Speedway looked super cool and all, but it was way too huge and gigantic for a cycling event. The riders looked super slow on the track, although they were riding at top speed. I know, the scenery looked fantastic, but it’s called a road race for a reason …

BMX Race:
One minute sprint races on a pump track, the BMX races are always spectacular. I need to work on my cadence in order to compete here, but pump tracks are so much fun, it would just be super cool to be a part of that!

Mountainbike Race:
A ton of endurance is needed in this discipline. It’s a sprint race from start to finish. Uphill, Downhill, fast, slow, rocks, roots, trees, gravel, dirt and mud … sounds like fun! Sign me up for that, s’il vous plaît?

Track Cycling:
Super fast, high power racing with prototype bicycles around an wooden oval track … are you serious? You know how high the level of competition is, if the times are taken in thousands of a second!
If I’m going to be part of that in 2024, I’m going to sit at the sideline with an ice cold beer, watching track and olympic records get broken one after another!

BMX Park:
What are the riders even doing on their bicycles? This discipline is so unbelievable awesome, I definitely need to see this in 2024!

Just thinking about all the action from the Tokio games gets me thrilled for the games Paris in only three years. France is one of those huge cycling nations. The next games should keep that in mind. For Tokio 2020, they put Karate in the list of disciplines, just and only for the games in Tokio, to honor its history and tradition in Japan, which was an awesome idea!
Why not do the same with cycling in France?
That idea gets me really excited and I’m going to share my thoughts about it in an extra blogpost soon!

-Dennis