Ben Healy, Ryan Mullen carry Irish hopes into Olympic road race

Ben Healy and Ryan Mullen will carry Team Ireland’s hopes into the Olympic men’s road race in Paris tomorrow, when they face 273km of grueling racing against most of the top riders in the world.

With a two-man team – competing against 10 other nations who have three or four riders – the duo will be up against it to take a medal. However, Healy is one of the best one-day riders in the world, with his first Tour de France now in his legs.

For his part, Mullen has already made his Olympic debut, in the TT last weekend when he pulled a great performance out of the bag, with 12th. That ride, and his proven abilities as a top tier team rider, mean he and Healy make for a very strong combination.

With the right form on the day – and maybe a bit of luck with making a timely move – it is not beyond Healy to take a medal. He has a 2nd place in Amstel Gold Race and a 4th place finish in Liège-Bastogne-Liège in his palmares, as well as a Giro stage win, among others.

The course tomorrow is for the classics men, with the likes of Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert, and especially Holland’s Mathieu van der Poel, the main favourites.

Both the men’s and women’s road races start and finish at the Trocadero, on the opposite side of the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. The men’s race is 273km, including 2,800m of climbing starts at 10am.

There are just 90 riders in the men’s road race, departing from the Trocadero, with a 5km neutralised zone along the Left Bank before leaving the south of Paris.

The course then goes south west towards Palace of Versailles and then Vallée de la Mauldre on undulating terrain. It then moves on to a 40km section from 166km that features six climbs.

And it is there that Healy’s chances could begin to be decided. He will need the bigger nations – especially Belgium, Holland, Great Britain, France and Australia – to push the pace in order to get ride of the fast men, such as Mads Pedersen (Denmark) and Biniam Girmay (Eritrea).

There follows a descent back towards the 18.4km circuit around northern Paris, which must be completed twice. However, that section of the course will involve three passages of the Cote de la butte Montmartre.

It is 1km averaging gradients of 6.5 per cent and is a perfect place for the stronger men with designs on gold to start the final proper. After the last time up the climb it is 9.5km to the finish, where the new Olympic champion will be crowned.