Cycling at the 2024 Summer Paralympics – Men's time trial B explained

Event:Men's time trial B
Games:2024 Summer
Venue:Vélodrome National, Paris
Dates:1 September 2024
Competitors:22
Teams:11
Nations:9
Win Value:58.964
Gold:James Ball
Pilot: Steffan Lloyd
Goldnpc:GBR
Silver:Neil Fachie
Pilot: Matt Rotherham
Silvernpc:GBR
Bronze:Thomas Ulbricht
Pilot: Robert Förstemann
Bronzenpc:GER
Prev:2020
Next:2028

The men's time trial class B track cycling event at the 2024 Summer Paralympics took place on 1 September 2024 in the Vélodrome National, Paris. This class is for the cyclist who is blind or has visual impairments, they will then ride with tandem bicycles together with a sighted cyclist (also known as the pilot). There will be 11 pairs from 10 different nations competing.

Competition

The 11 pairs were placed into their own heats individually (1 heat including a single 1 pair) where they performed a qualifying time trial. The six fastest pairs qualified for the gold final.

The B classification is described as follows:

The gold and silver medalists from Tokyo returned. Neil Fachie, piloted by Matt Rotherham seeking a record third Paralympic title in the event in four appearances (having won silver in 2016), while James Ball, piloted by Steffan Lloyd sought to win his first.[1] World bronze medalist, Thomas Ulbricht, piloted by German Olympic legend Robert Förstemann sought to become the first German tandem to win the event.

In a close event, the three pre-race favourites qualified for the final, led by the German Ulbricht. In the final, however, the two British teams asserted themselves, with James Ball, piloted by Steffan Lloyd, taking their first Paralympic Games victory in the event over veteran Neil Fachie, piloted by Matt Rotherham, winning his second silver to go with his two previous golds in the event. Ulbricht and Förstemann could not match the British teams, but did not leave empty-handed, as they hung on to win a deserved bronze medal.

In doing so, Förstemann became one of the few cyclists to win both an Olympic Games medal and a Paralympic Games medal, 12 years after winning bronze in the team sprint at London 2012.

Schedule

All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)[2]

DateTimeRound
1 September 11:00 Qualifying
13:51 Final

Records

At the commencement of the event the following world and Paralympic Games records were in place:[3]

Results

Qualifying

Rank Heat Cyclists Nation Result[4] Notes
1 6 Thomas Ulbricht
Pilot: Robert Förstemann
Q
2 5 James Ball
Pilot: Steffan Lloyd
Q
3 5 Kane Perris
Pilot: Luke Zaccaria
1:00.374 Q
4 6 Neil Fachie
Pilot: Matt Rotherham
1:00.543 Q
5 4 Martin Gordon
Pilot: Eoin Mullen
1:01.158 Q
6 3 Kazuhei Kimura
Pilot: Kiaki Miura
1:02.022 Q
7 4 Lorenzo Bernard
Pilot: Davide Plebani
1:03.744
8 2 Branden Walton
Pilot: Spencer Seggebruch
1:04.080
9 3 Maximiliano Gómez
Pilot: Sebastián Tolosa
1:05.022
10 2 Damien Vereker
Pilot: Mitchell McLaughlin
1:06.740
11 1 Frederick Assor
Pilot: Rudolf Mensah
1:24.722

Final

Rank Cyclists Nation Result[5] Notes
James Ball
Pilot: Steffan Lloyd
Neil Fachie
Pilot: Matt Rotherham
Thomas Ulbricht
Pilot: Robert Förstemann
4 Kane Perris
Pilot: Luke Zaccaria
1:00.940
5 Martin Gordon
Pilot: Eoin Mullen
1:01.158
6 Kazuhei Kimura
Pilot: Kiaki Miura
1:02.567

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2024-08-25 . Paralympics schedule & day-by-day guide to key events & British medal hopes at Paris 2024 . 2024-08-27 . BBC Sport . en-GB.
  2. Web site: Cycling Track – Competition Schedule. COJOP. 26 August 2024. 3 September 2024.
  3. https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024-paralympics/records/para-cycling-track/men-s-b-1000m-time-trial Records : Men's B time trial
  4. Web site: Para Cycling Track – Men's B 1000m Time Trial – Qualifying – Results. Paralympics. 1 September 2024. 3 September 2024.
  5. Web site: Para Cycling Track – Men's B 1000m Time Trial – Final – Results. Paralympics. 1 September 2024. 3 September 2024.