"It looks a bit like the World Championship course in Glasgow" - Initial reflections of 2024 Paris Olympic Games road race course

On Saturday, August 3rd, the men's peloton will fight for an Olympic gold medal successor to Ecuador's Richard Carapaz. A number of the biggest names in the sport will be in action on the roads of the French capital, Paris, but what is the course like and who could it potentially best suit?

Dutch ex-pro turned cycling pundit Thijs Zonneveld has done a reconnaissance of the Paris course and taken to his official X (Twitter ed.) account to recap his thoughts and analysis, sharing a series of videos and pictures taken whilst out on the course.

"Did a ride on the final lap of the road races. A kind of tourist route along all the landmarks of Paris, but on a kind of fairground course. Three climbs, of which the first and most difficult one is from Moulin Rouge to Montmartre," Zonneveld writes. "The climb is a kind of Eikenberg, but between the terraces. Attention!"

"Then: complete chaos. Up, down, turning, turning, cobblestones. There is actually only one long straight stretch where you can easily move up or organize a chase. Most of the route is thundering through the city, or on the sidewalk, like here:" Zonneveld continues. "The other two climbs are not very steep or difficult, I think it's more about repeating the efforts. There is hardly any room to relax. Even on the descents, like here, you have to constantly pay attention to bends, potholes and cobblestones."

"All in all, it looks a bit like the World Championship course in Glasgow," Zonneveld concludes. "Or a cross between De Ronde van Vlaanderen, San Remo and the fairground race of Koekwauzerveen. If they start racing early, it could be very selective."

The likes of Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Biniam Girmay, Matteo Jorgenson, Tom Pidcock, Mads Pedersen and more will soon be following the same route as Zonneveld. The difference then, an Olympic gold medal will be on the line.