Korean cyclists ready to ride at Paris Olympics

Athletes compete in the women's road race at the Hangzhou Asian Games in Zhejiang Province, China on Oct. 4, 2023. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

Korean cyclists Kim Eu-ro and Song Min-ji will hit the road in Paris with a chance to bring home the nation’s first Olympic medal in the sport.

Korean cycling team finish road race in 10th place

Road cycling spans from July 27 to Aug. 4, but the competition will be split into two sections over three total days.

Neither Korean athlete is racing in the men’s or women’s time trial, medal events, which run on a 32.4-kilometer track and will take place on July 27.

The men’s road race runs on Aug. 3 over a 273-kilometer track, and the women’s road race takes place on Aug. 4 over a 158-kilometer track.

Both Kim and Song are first-time Olympians, with Kim earning his place through reallocation and Song earning her spot through her UCI ranking.

But neither is a newcomer to international sport. Kim, 24, came in first in the men’s road race at this year’s Asian Road Cycling Championships with a time of 3 hours 21 minutes and 46 seconds and won a silver medal in the event at the Hangzhou Asian Games last fall.

Song, 26, also took gold at the Asian championships, winning the women’s road race with a time of 2 hours 56 minutes and 51 seconds.

There are two other types of cycling events at the Olympics — track and mountain — but no Korean athlete qualified in either discipline.

A total of 91 cyclists are entered in the men’s road race, and 96 in the women’s road race.

For the qualifying rounds, cyclists are not allowed to work together in any way to create an advantage. Cyclists are also not permitted to create slipstreams, which happen when a cyclist goes behind another competitor to receive an aerodynamic boost.

Cyclists use a special road bike for their competitions that maximizes the rough roads and unstable terrain. Racers also wear protective gear that ensures their safety due to the high speeds across long distances.

The men’s race is expected to take around six hours while the women’s race will take around four.

The long distances put the cyclists to the test as they must endure a stretch of long racing with a sprint at the end of the race.

Korea has never won a cycling medal in Olympic history.

BY MARY YANG, KEVIN CHUNG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]