Paris 2024 Paralympic Games: Florian Jouanny wins gold in the H1-H2 road race

Florian Jouanny a conservé son titre en para cyclisme sur route. MAXPPP – Thomas TOUSSAINT

This is the 51st French medal since the start of the Games and the eighth title for the cycling delegation, track and road combined.

Frenchman Florian Jouanny won the H1-H2 para-cycling road race on Thursday in Clichy-sous-bois, where he was the defending champion, and takes home the 16th French title. After the torrential rain, which delayed the start by an hour and shortened the race by one lap, Jouanny, bronze medallist in the time trial on Wednesday, got the better of Spaniard Sergio Garrote Muñoz and Italian Luca Mazzone, who was well on his way to third place.

The Frenchman competes on a handbike and moves forward by pedaling with his hands, in a lying position. The H1 and H2 categories include quadriplegic cyclists. The race consisted of three 14.2-kilometre loops in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris, with two climbs, the Côte de Courtry (4.5% average) and the Côte de Clichy-sous-Bois (4.7%).

Anais Vincent fifth

Sergio Garrote Muñoz, who won the time trial on Wednesday, got off to the best start, taking off in the lead and passing the first lap 14 seconds ahead of the Frenchman, the only other rider to manage to keep up the pace. Jouanny, 32, managed to catch him during the second lap and the two men remained wheel to wheel until the last kilometers.

The Frenchman finally attacked him on the climb, and resisted the comeback thanks to his technical mastery on the wet course. It is the 51st French medal since the start of the Games and the eighth title for the cycling delegation, track and road combined. In the other race of the morning, his partner Anais Vincent finished fifth in the race bringing together categories H1 to H4, as in the time trial on Wednesday.