Home favourite Julian Alaphilippe a gold medal contender alongside Mathieu van der Poel, Remco Evenepoel and Biniam Girmay for the men's 273km road race in Paris
The peloton during the men's cycling road race of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games(Image credit: Getty Images)
The women's road race will be held 24 hours after the men's race on Sunday, August 4, on similar courses with the finish below the Trocadéro after sprinting across the Pont d'Iéna bridge.
Just 90 athletes will compete in the road races, with the men racing for 273km, via a long rolling loop to the southeast of Paris and then two laps of an 18.4km circuit that includes a cobbled climb up to the spectacular Montmartre. The women will race 158 km.
An 87km road race was part of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Greece, with six men taking part. Time trials often replaced road racing over the years, but the modern-day format of time trials and road races for men and women was established in 1996 when professional athletes were also allowed to compete.
The Tour de France and the Classics perhaps remain the most important races in professional cycling, but Olympic success has become more and more prestigious. Recent Olympic men's road race gold medal winners include Richard Carapaz (Tokyo), Greg van Avermaet (Rio 2016) and Alexandre Vinokourov (London 2012).
Tadej Pogačar has opted not to race in Paris after winning the Tour de France and the likes of Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič are absent because the course does not suit them or due to injury, but the entry list includes many of the biggest names and best one-day race in the sport.
Julian Alaphilippe has not won a major Classic or world title since taking his second rainbow jersey in 2021 but will surely be the most motivated rider on the start line at his home Olympic Games.
The Soudal-QuickStep rider opted not to ride the Tour de France so that he could be at his very best for the Olympic road race. He is the natural team leader of the French team that also includes Valentin Madouas, Tour de France stage winner Kévin Vauquelin and Christophe Laporte, and all four are potential medal contenders.
Alaphilippe struggled after crashing at the 2022 Liège-Bastogne-Liège and turned 32 in June. However, he won a stage at the Giro d'Italia and just last week a stage at the Czech Tour, so seems to have rediscovered his best form and his love for racing.
A medal in Paris could revitalise his career as he also decides on his team for 2025.
The current World Champion appears to be the perfect rider for the expected open racing, the cobbled climb to Montmartre on the finishing circuit and a possible small-group sprint finish.
Van der Poel opted out of riding the mountain bike event and so only has one shot at a medal in Paris on his Olympic road race debut. He leads a strong Dutch team of only three riders that also includes Dylan van Baarle and Daan Hoole.
He dominated the World Championships in Glasgow last year and then the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. However, he was less impressive at the Tour de France, failing to win a stage, and so will travel to Paris with doubts about his form and his chances.
Van der Poel will have to race smart against his biggest and perhaps more on-form rivals if he wants to win a medal.
Evenepoel leads a powerful Belgian team, with Wout Van Aert, Jasper Stuyven and even Tiesj Benoot as possible medal winners. He will surely be on a high after winning a gold medal in the time trial but could also be tired.
Internal rivalry could again create problems inside the Belgian team but Evenepoel and Van Aert appear closer than ever before. The long race in Paris could and should see Evenepoel emerge and be strong in the final kilometres.
Van Aert and Stuyven offer good sprint finish options, but Evenepoel will surely have the freedom to try to attack in the final 50km, perhaps even on the ride to the finish at the Trocadéro.
If he gets away and into time trial mode, who can catch him?
Alberto Bettiol (Italy)
Alberto Bettiol (Image credit: Getty Images)
Bettiol is arguably an outsider for the Olympic road race but is often a danger in the biggest, hardest road races, as he proved by winning the Tour of Flanders in 2019 and at last year's World Championships when he attacked alone to challenge the big favourites.
Italy has just three riders, and Elia Viviani has been selected alongside Luca Mozzato to give the Italian track team an extra rider for the team pursuit. Mozzato could be a contender if an unexpected group goes clear mid-race, but Bettiol is the protected rider and is focused on Olympic success.
He left the Tour de France after stage 14 due to fatigue, but that should allow him to peak for the road race. He rode the time trial to test his legs and give Filippo Ganna some final race information. He then stayed in Paris this week to experience the Games and the Olympic Village but has been training hard and is ready to target a medal.
Ben Healy (Ireland)
Ben Healy (Image credit: Getty Images)
Healy leads the two-man Irish team and only has Ryan Mullen for support, but he is still expected to be a medal contender in Paris.
The EF Education-EasyPost rider went on the attack on five different stages at the Tour de France and launched many more moves on other days, as an alternative and foil to Carapaz who won in Superdévoluy and took the polka-dot mountains jersey.
Healy prefers the Ardennes Classics to the cobbled Classics but could be a danger, especially on the city streets of Paris. His ability to attack long and hard could hurt Classics riders like Van der Poel and Van Aert.
After winning his first Tour de France stage, to become the first Black African to win at the Tour, Girmay wrote on social media: "Let me open the door."
A medal in Paris would be historic, and gold would change cycling forever and blow open the door for many other African riders.
Despite still only being 24, Girmay has never been intimidated by his rivals or of being an outsider. He has a strong competitive streak and is fearless in sprint finishes, staying calm and collected. It seems a perfect combination for Paris.
Pidcock's many cycling talents often force him to combine road racing with mountain biking and cyclocross. He has won in every sport but occasionally compromised one for another.
In Paris, the Yorkshire rider is hoping to double up in the mountain bike race and then the road race. He won gold at Colline d'Élancourt on Sunday, with that audacious late attack after fighting back from a puncture.
He is perhaps an outsider for the road race but has the talent to win two medals.
He left the Tour de France due to COVID-19 but had time to recover and prepare for Paris. He is part of a strong Great Britain team that includes Ethan Hayter, Josh Tarling, Fred Wright and Stevie Williams.
One of them will surely win a medal, with Pidcock surely determined to again take his chance.
The big Danish Classics rider was a natural favourite for the road race, but his crash at the Tour de France and a shoulder injury forced him out of the race after just a week.
Pedersen is back in training and hopes to be 100%, but doubts remain about just how much form he has lost, especially compared to his rivals who impressed and raced so much at the Tour de France.
The Danish team also includes Mattias Skjelmose, Michael Mørkøv and Mikkel Bjerg, but Pedersen surely remains the protected team leader.
L'Equipe selected Matthews as part of its top three contenders for the road race and the 33-year-old Australian seems perfectly suited to the Paris course and the expected open, aggressive racing.
Matthews always races with his heart on his sleeve and will be proud to wear the Australian green and gold. He occasionally stumbles at the line or destiny cruelly steps in, as happened even at this year's Tour de France, yet the Olympics could be his moment of glory.
He has the form, race craft and fast finish to hit the line first at the Trocadéro.
Australia lost Luke Plapp after he crashed out of the time trial but Ben O'Connor has been drafted in, with road capitain Simon Clarke, completing the green and gold trio.
A number of riders could have completed our list of ten favourites for the road race, but we picked the American due to his desire and ambition, despite going deep in the Tour de France to help Jonas Vingegaard and finish eighth overall.
An emotional Instagram post confirmed Jorgenson is still hungry, and he has the form and the Classics ability to go the distance in Paris.
Brandon McNulty and Magnus Sheffield will provide excellent support after riding the time trial and so create a small but unified US team that can fly under the radar as the bigger nations watch and control each other.
The outsiders
There are only 90 riders on the start list and a maximum team size of four riders, so the Olympic road race is wide open, with a long list of outsiders and dark horses to consider beyond our ten names.
Watch out for Jhonatan Narváez, who was selected for Ecuador's sole spot ahead of Richard Carapaz and remember how he beat Tadej Pogačar on stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia.
The men will race 273 kilometres, starting at the Trocadéro and taking in 225 kilometres in a series of loops to the west of Paris before returning to the centre of Paris for two 18.4-kilometre finishing circuits.
Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
