The men's road race of the Paris Olympic Games will start on Saturday 3 August at 11 am. A total of 273 km to cover with 13 Côtes to climb; the start will be set in the Rive Gauche area, while the Eiffel Tower will be the backdrop to the grand finale.

In the initial stretch, the Côte des Gardes and the Côte de Saint-Germain-en-Laye will most likely act as a springboard for the escape. It will not be easy to keep the race closed due to the small number of riders (90 in total)   available for each team (only four for the top five in the ranking and three for the national teams from sixth to tenth place).

In the finale, the triple climb of the Côte de Montmartre (1 km at 6.5%) will be decisive for the awarding of medals.

The big favorite will be world champion Mathieu Van der Poel . Challenging the Dutchman will be the entire Belgian team , undoubtedly the strongest national team, with Evenepoel , Van Aert , Stuyven and Benoot.

Other favourites for the medals include Denmark with Skjelmose and Pedersen , whose post-Tour condition is still unknown, the hosts Alaphilippe and Laporte, Great Britain with Pidcock and Ecuador, the reigning champion, with Narvaez .

Italy starts one step below these national teams, with the team formed by Bettiol, Mozzato and Viviani. The captain will be, without a doubt, Alberto Bettiol, who has often given us great emotions in long-distance races.

Other riders who could achieve a good placing include Jorgenson , captain of the United States, the Spanish trio of Lazkano, Ayuso and Aranburu, the Slovenian Mohoric , Matthews for Australia, the green jersey of the Grande Boucle Biniam Girmay, a solitary rider for his Eritrea, the Latvian Skujins and the Irishman Healy.

From a Fantacycling perspective, the Olympic race will be a category 2.5 , like a classic monument.

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