The Team GB men’s road race squad of Tom Pidcock, Josh Tarling, Fred Wright and Stevie Williams conquered the cobbles of Paris in the iconic Olympic road race on day eight of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In the longest road race of the Olympics ever at 273km with 2,800 metres of climbing, the riders started and finished by the Eiffel Tower, taking in the suburbs of Paris, before entering back into the city and completing three laps of the finishing circuit.
An early break set things off as the riders left Paris, with six riders racking up a lead of 10 minutes at one stage. Tarling had a mechanical with 182km to go, but a quick bike swap put him back in the race.
Various other breaks formed over the next 50km, with Elia Viviani (Italy) and Ryan Mullen (Ireland) being the first leading break of significance.
A flurry of attacks ensued from the chasing peloton with 100km remaining, as Ben Healy (Ireland) got away with Alexey Lutsenko (Kazakhstan), a minute behind Viviani and Mullen. The middle pair managed to ramp up a minute and thirty gap to the peloton with 84km remaining.
With 77km left to go, Viviani cramped and lost touch with Mullen’s wheel as Healy and Lutsenko passed him to make a front group of three, but the peloton was hot on their heels only 10 seconds back.
The bunch continued to ebb and flow behind with attacks and lulls in pace, with all four Team GB riders in the mix, and as the next climb came up, the advantage to the front three grew to 34 seconds.
Healy and Lutsenko continued to work well together as Mullen dropped back into the peloton, where Williams and Wright featured frequently near the front of the chase.
As the main bunch bridged over the top of the Côte du Pavé des Gardes and entered the feed zone, Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) attacked hard to splinter the peloton, with more accelerations coming thick and fast.
Just inside 60km, Wright put in a huge effort to attack the peloton as they entered Paris, riding away from the main bunch with six others, including Stefan Kung (Switzerland) and Nils Politt (Germany). The group managed to get the front duo in their sights, with 17 seconds between them. The seven-strong group quickly grew a minute’s advantage as the peloton remained unfazed. Pidcock, Tarling and Williams were noticeable near the front of the group as they allowed teammate Wright to continue his breakaway success.
As the riders tackled the first cobbled climb in Paris, the crowds were out in full force as Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) and Wout van Aert (Belgium) punched hard over the cobbles. The two Classics riders were quick to accelerate away from the bunch with a group in tow, just as Healy dropped Lutsenko to become the solo leader.
Soon after, Mads Pedersen (Denmark) attacked hard with Pidcock on his wheel to reel them back to the main peloton with 38km remaining. Wright continued to work with his group up the road as Evenepoel managed to bridge over to make a chasing group of eight, while Healy maintained a 30 second lead.
Evenepoel was quick to put the hammer down, and dropped Wright and Pollit up a climb, who were swallowed by the bunch, spearheaded by van der Poel.
The Belgian rider, who also won gold in the time-trial and finished third in the Tour de France this year, wouldn’t let up the pace, catching Healy to make a leading group of five, before reaching the 1km climb on the finishing circuit the Côte de la butte Montmartre.
Evenepoel edged away from the group, powering away up the climb with Valentin Madouas (France) - the only rider to respond. Meanwhile, Healy was joined by Kung, Jorgenson, Marco Haller (Austria) and Christophe Laporte (France).
The peloton continued to set a blistering pace with attacks coming fast and frequently, with Pidcock in prime position near the front of the group. The Olympic mountain bike gold medallist continued to put in efforts with van der Poel, but it was too little too late as Evenepoel rode away from the French rider with 15km to go.
A tense moment occurred with 4km remaining as Evenepoel had to change his bike, but with over a minute’s gap, he was safe to take the gold in front of the iconic backdrop of the Eiffel Tower. Madouas claimed the silver a minute and 11 seconds back as Laporte won the sprint from the breakaway to take third. Van der Poel rolled in with Pidcock just behind to finish in 13th place, while Williams came 31st, Wright came 43rd, and Tarling finished 47th.
“When Remco came to the group, I just didn't have it. I was just trying to recover from the effort of getting there. I just wish I had a bit more. He came to the group, and I knew I couldn't do it. The lights just went out, I was on the limit. I did what I could.”
Pidcock said:
"That mountain bike race took a lot out of me and today I just didn't quite have that extra punch. I felt a bit sluggish today and I was never in the proper race. When you're working with a team, we're all British and we all know each other, but we don't race on the road together and we had no radios. We only get one chance of this when you're in a road team - here you only get one shot at the Olympics. It's important to be able to work together as a team. It was important today to finish in a good way of course, and it was a hard fought 13th place. Coming into the team with the boys, we went out to race and have fun. To get a medal would've been awesome but it's the way it goes."
Day nine of competition stays with the road as the women’s team of Lizzie Deignan, Anna Henderson and Pfieffer Georgi take to the streets of Paris aiming for medals.
You can watch on Discovery+ or BBC from 13:00 BST and follow the results on the British Cycling social media channels.
