Australia announced its Paris Olympic Games road and track cycling team on Saturday, with Grace Brown and Michael Matthews spearheading the squad for the lumpy, Classics style road races in Paris.
Simon Clarke and Luke Plapp will be joining Matthews on the road. The dual Australian champion Plapp – who at the last Olympics was part of the bronze medal winning track endurance squad – is also an obvious choice to contest the time trial. Brown, who will be looking to step up in the race against the clock, will be joined in the road race by Australian champion Ruby Roseman-Gannon and the ever reliable domestique Lauretta Hanson.
"Tokyo was a special experience for me, but finishing fourth in the individual time trial left me with a desire to go for more,” said Brown who has announced her plans to retire from professional cycling at the end of the year. “I have big goals in Paris and that is to go after a medal on the first day of competition.”
The 32.4km men's and women's time trials in Paris open the cycling events on July 27 and the 273km long men's road race will be on Saturday August 3 while the 158km women's road race is on Sunday August 4.
“For the road race, I'm excited to join Lauretta and Ruby in the fight for another great result," said Brown. "We’re a small team, but I believe our individual attributes really complement each other, which will allow us to become favourites for the race.”
It will be a second Olympic Games appearance for Brown, Clarke and Plapp while Roseman-Gannon, Hanson and Matthews will be making their debut.
“It’s truly an honour to represent Australia at the Olympics,” Matthews said. “It’s been a dream of mine since I knew what the Olympics was.
“I have been close to making the team two times now and to have a course that suits me so well it’s a dream come true.”
Matthews and Brown were obvious choices to lead the teams given their characteristics as riders and recent results. Brown is a two-time World Championship time trial silver medallist and in April claimed first at Liège-Bastogne-Liège while Matthews, who has taken four Tour de France stages through his career, claimed second at Milan-San Remo in March. There was, however, fierce competition for the remaining spots, with both the men's and women's road race squad qualifying for just three riders, while the top-ranked teams were entitled to four.
The road and track cycling teams were initially scheduled to be released on Monday June 24 however were delayed by an appeal, though no further information on the appeal was given.
The track cycling runs from Monday August 5 to Sunday August 11, with Matthew Glaetzer lining up for his fourth Olympics as he races alongside Matthew Richardson, Leigh Hoffman and Kristina Clonan on the sprint team.
Sam Welsford will be taking on his third Olympics as part of the track endurance squad, after having taken bronze as part of the team pursuit squad in Tokyo and silver in Rio. His Tokyo teammate Kelland O'Brien will also be returning while Conor Leahy and Oliver Bleddyn will be rounding out the quartet as they make their debut.
Georgia Baker is also lining up at the Games for a third time as part of the track endurance squad alongside Alexandra Manly, Maeve Plouffe and a debuting Sophie Edwards and Chloe Moran.
The Australian BMX and mountain bike teams will be announced next week.
Australian 2024 Olympic road and track cycling team
Road - women
- Grace Brown
- Ruby Roseman-Gannon
- Lauretta Hanson
Road - men
- Michael Matthews
- Simon Clarke
- Luke Plapp
Track endurance - women
- Georgia Baker
- Alexandra Manly
- Maeve Plouffe
- Sophie Edwards
- Chloe Moran
Track endurance - men
- Kelland O'Brien
- Sam Welsford
- Conor Leahy
- Oliver Bleddyn
Track sprint - women
Track sprint - men
- Matthew Glaetzer
- Matthew Richardson
- Leigh Hoffman
