Remco Evenepoel and his Belgian teammates, along with most of the top riders in the road race at the Paris Olympics, rode slowly in a group earlier this week as they previewed the course for Saturday.
The finishing circuit through the busy tourist area of Montmartre, where the Sacre Coeur basilica stands prominently, was supposed to be closed for their ride.
However, due to too many pedestrians and heavy traffic, the cyclists had to settle for a controlled 30 kph (18 mph) view of what might be a crucial part of the course.
The top favorite in the men’s race chose not to join the recon ride.
Mathieu van der Poel went to the countryside for a training session instead. He later told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad that he didn’t think it was worth “sacrificing an entire afternoon to cycle around at a tourist pace.”
“I don’t find that very useful,” he said. “There are plenty of videos of the course.” Van der Poel and the other riders will certainly be riding much faster than “tourist pace” when the race for medals begins.
Traditionally, the men’s and women’s road races start the cycling events at the Summer Games, but the schedule was different for Paris.
Last Saturday, the men and women competed in a rainy, challenging time trial. Evenepoel won the men’s gold medal, and Grace Brown of Australia won the women’s gold — before mountain biking, BMX freestyle, and BMX racing took center stage at various venues around the area.
Now, after a week of Olympic events, cycling’s focus returns to the road.
On Saturday, the men will race 273 kilometers (170 miles), and on Sunday, the women will race 158 kilometers (98 miles).
Both races will start from the Pont d’Iena, the bridge at the base of the Eiffel Tower crossing the Seine, and head west into the French countryside on the same routes. They will then separate before the men and women race the same final stretch to the finish.
That is what they checked out on Thursday, and it’s where both races could be decided this weekend.
Cyclists first pass the Louvre on their way to the Montmartre finishing circuit, which they will complete three times. The circui
t features a steep, kilometer-long climb to the final summit and challenging cobbled sections that could impact the entire race.
“I found the finishing circuit tougher than expected,” said Lorena Wiebes, leader of a strong Dutch team that includes Tour de France winner Demi Vollering and former world champions Marianne Vos and Ellen van Dijk.
“That last climb at Montmartre is 10 kilometers from the finish, but the peloton will be stretched. It’s all up and down, and there are many corners.”
The course is similar to some spring one-day Classics like Paris-Nice, which favor riders with strong power and bike-handling skills, such as van der Poel or any riders from the Belgian team.
Among them is Evenepoel, who followed his third-place finish at the Tour de France by winning the Olympic time trial. He is part of a strong Belgian team that includes time trial bronze medalist Wout van Aert, Jasper Stuyven, and Tiesj Benoot.
“Luckily, I’m not the lonely leader in my team, so we have multiple cards to play,” Evenepoel said. “Wout is in very good shape. Jasper as well. Tiesj is also always good in Classics races. We have a very strong team. Unfortunately, there are some other strong riders from other teams as well that are participating.”
The top five nations in the UCI standings each get four riders, giving them a big advantage in the smaller Olympic fields.
On the men’s side, those teams include France, led by Julian Alaphilippe; the British team with Tom Pidcock, who won a second straight mountain bike gold medal last weekend; the Danish team led by versatile Mads Pedersen; and Slovenia, which will be led by Matej Mohoric in place of Tour winner Tadej Pogacar, who withdrew from the Olympics due to fatigue.
