Eyewitness - Evenepoel and Van der Poel ignite Montmartre hill as 500,000 line streets of Paris for Olympics road race

It’s 11am in Paris on August 3, the men’s Olympic road race has just started on Pont d’Iéna, while six kilometres north on Rue Lepic, a French fan is borrowing a can of yellow spray paint from a Belgian who had marked “Remco” onto the narrow road’s cobbles to write “Madouas” some 20 metres up the course.

Little did the pair, who shook hands after the interaction, know that six hours later on the second ascent of three up the fabled hill to Montmartre, it would be the two riders they had wanted, Remco Evenepoel and Valentin Madouas, who were at the front of the bike race for Olympic gold.

Chants of “Allez Remco!” and “Allez Valentin!” merged into one as they flew by me towards the Rue Norvins and the wall of fans who lined the steps and bank in front of the Sacré-Cœer Basilica with 28km to go. 

While it was later confirmed to be a 500,000-strong crowd that lined the streets of Paris, I was among the thousands crammed onto Rue Lepic, who crowded around the nearest phone streaming the race amid the patchy mobile data, to try and see how things would unfold before the final ascent to Montmartre.

At different intervals of delays to France TV, mixed groans of French disappointment and Belgian delight played out in the streets - Evenepoel had made his final race-winning move and left Madouas behind. Cries of “Remco, Remco, Remco!” bellowed out as history was being made.

Just one final push up the 1km climb and 9.4km run back to the Eiffel Tower separated him from double gold at Paris 2024, and becoming the first man to claim both the Olympic time trial and race. And among the madness, it felt an almost overwhelming privilege to witness from the roadside as one of the best riders in the world, a talent of a generation, soloed past to roars that crescendoed as he approached. Evenepoel’s triumph not only showed off to the world the joy of the bike racing itself but also highlighted professional cycling’s best asset - being free to watch. 

Sport's best arena - Montmartre hill

While famous sights of La Trocadero, the Grand Palais and even the foot of the Eiffel Tower have been turned into wonderful venues for the Paris games to host Skateboarding, fencing and beach volleyball to show off the City of Light’s best offerings, none could beat that of the 18th arrondissement and it’s gratuit entry fee. So rather than being in the mixed zone or press room with fellow journalists, for the price of eight hours of my time, a few thousand steps uphill and a willingness to accept possible sunburn I secured a spot in sport’s best arena - Montmartre Hill.

At 9:30am, I made my way over to the Rue Lepic, having identified it as the place to be for the race the night before on my own (walking) reconnoitre of the 272.1km course’s hardest point where I would see the riders three times on the 18km Paris circuit. 

This may sound early to the untrained cycling spectator but I was far from the first there, with flags from all around the world already being tied to the barriers and any surrounding walls that could take it upon arrival. French, Belgian, British, Basque and Danish were among them but the best effort was from the Dutch fan I plotted up next to, who took tape from a local notice to ensure his “Fokking yes” blue red and white flag was on show.

Those who were locked in for the big finale took every opportunity to clap and cheer everyone who made their way up the climb before police and volunteers closed things off in the afternoon, be it tourists on city bikes, budding cyclists eyeing up the course or the run club getting in laps of the hill early on Saturday.

One young fan in a Man City shirt would’ve felt a cheer equal to any he could’ve at the Etihad Stadium as he fought up the cobbles on a Boardman mountain bike, while even the gendarmes were in great spirits as they high-fived the bread, beer and wine-fuelled crowds. The roars for Evenepoel the champion had been ringing out almost at as many decibels for several hours before his crowning arrival.

One of the biggest cheers of the morning came when a huge green Montmartre Velo Club flag was hoisted out of a window above the road, with each local who emerged from their window and addressed the crowd being acclaimed like the Pope emerging from his balcony in the Vatican.

With the barriers filling well in advance of the first passage due around 4:30pm, the waiting game continued and anticipation built, with a new group arriving behind every few minutes to try and ensure they had a spot to see the riders. It was sport at its best and cycling spectating at its purest - riders hours away but the atmosphere all the same - electric.

Van der Poel and Van Aert ignite racing

Having caught glimpses of the race on a buffering stream, I was aware Ben Healy had got away in a group after the two early breakaway moves faded before the Paris circuit, but I didn’t quite expect his aero helmet and recognisable low-profile style to be the first things I saw round the corner in front of the Moulin de la Galette restaurant.

That site and its famous windmill were once the setting for Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s 1876 work, Bal du moulin de la Galette, however, while the joy and dance of the scene representing Parisian life that the Frenchman tried to capture took on different forms, they were present all the same at the 2024 Olympics.

The jubilation of the fans contrasted with the pain on the riders’ faces, while the dance was taken on by a certain Mathieu van der Poel, who smashed his way up the cobbles as if it were the Oude Kwaremont or Paterberg at the Tour of Flanders. 

His explosive pace, which only close rival Wout van Aert could match, turned the Rue Lepic into a scene more akin to Monet’s La Rue Montorgueil, à Paris, 1878. That is, if you replace the French flags hanging out the windows with the fans who had climbed gutters, apartment fences and lamp posts to reach a vantage point and cheer on cycling’s best. 

It’s hard to describe how fast Van Der Poel and Van Aert were going but it’s a pace that truly stuns an onlooker having seen hundreds go up it before the race’s arrival at a third of the pace. A pace so high, that I didn’t even see or really think about where Remco Evenepoel was on the first ascent of Montmartre - he wasn't in the front so why would I have considered him? You can imagine my surprise upon learning he was attacking from the group of favourites seven kilometres later in what would be the decisive move of the day.

By this point up the hill in Montmartre, the bustling crowd had broken out into song, be it French national anthem La Marseillaise for the second or third time, Joe Dassin’s Les Champs-Élysées or simply “Cha la la la la la la, Thibaut Pinot!” - The Virage Pinot made it all the way from the Col du Petit Ballon to the Olympic road race. The atmosphere was electric, infectious and one only bettered by the display being put on by Evenepoel, Madouas, Healy, Van der Poel, Van Aert and all of the willing bunch who put on a show in pursuit of Olympic glory.

But for the latter pair, the medals slipped away as the tactics and dynamics of having smaller teams and no race radios saw their efforts fading and gaps getting insurmountable throughout the city circuit, even with Van der Poel’s second burst on Rue Lepic.

I may have talked of groans when Madouas’ gold rush ended, however, the French around me quickly turned their hopes to silver, accepting the dominance of a modern-day superstar in Evenepoel. The gap felt like an age when Madouas finally came by but he fought for all his worth on the final Montmartre ascent, mouth open and cadence faltering.

There was no chance of catching Evenepoel despite a few gasps, and screams of panic from the Belgian himself, when he required a late bike change for a puncture, but Madouas was holding off the charge behind him - some of whom, France's Christophe Laporte, had no clue whether they were fighting for a medal or not. 

As the Pont d’Iéna and Eiffel Tower arrived, the Belgians around me cheered and broke into chants of Evenepoel’s name again, only to be drowned out one minute and 16 seconds later, when both silver and bronze were captured by a Madouas and Laporte for a French team who were far from favourites to medal in the road race. La Marseillaise was belted out one more time. 

It’s a national anthem I’ve heard an awful lot of in the past two weeks since the Games started, mainly due to the excellence of Leon Marchand in the pool and Teddy Riner on the tatami. Swimming and Judo have been great highlights for Paris and France during this Olympics but the cycling men’s road race and the half a million who turned out to witness it in person will be a sporting and Olympic moment indelibly etched into the history books.

Women's race matches the madness

Now I opted against a second day on Montmartre Hill and watched the women's race on Pont d'Iéna, deciding to take in the glory of an historic start/finish line for cycling in front of the Eiffel Tower. 

Smiles and ice vests were common for much of the 93-rider field, who would've recognised the sights on the Trocadero had they started the inaugural Tour de France Femmes in 2022. 

But soon focus descended on the start, with revered French rider and 1996 Olympic Road Race champion Jeannie Longo getting things going after a fitting round of applause from the riders. 

It would be some time until I saw the field again, with a breathless 157.6km battle unfolding throughout the journey back to the famous bride. A crash ahead of the Montmartre Hill would have a huge effect on the race but the big screens in the finish area allowed for a much easier following of the action. 

There was no surprise in seeing Kristen Faulkner (USA) round the final corner with 350 metres to go to take gold - that conclusion had become apparent much earlier when I realised she was going to win after Blanka Vas, Marianna Vos and Lotte Kopecky let her wheel go 3km from the line. 

After almost not starting the road race, her crowning moment was incoming and she didn't look back... She didn't even celebrate... Did she know? The rush of emotions and realisation of what she'd achieved, in front of Vos - the best rider ever and Kopecky - the World Champion, coming much later in the finishing pen with the Stars and Stripes on her shoulders.

"I knew I'd won but to be honest, emotionally, it was a bit surreal for me," said Faulkner post-race. "I think, even though I came here with the confidence that I could earn a medal when I crossed the line, I didn't fully take it in – it was just pretty overwhelming for me."

The sprint a trois for the medals was thrilling, as is the pleasure of watching Vos live in any race knowing just what she's done for the sport, but it was gutting to see the young Hungarian Vas miss out on a chance of a medal at 22.

I didn't get to experience the thrilling rounds of attacks in the groups of favourites up Rue Lepic as I did for the men's race but a watch back later revealed it to be all the same as the day prior. It was a testament to the excellence of the course design and the decision to have Montmartre as the centrepiece of the city circuit.

Thierry Gouvenou has ruled out a similar circuit being used in the Tour de France because of logistics but let's hope and pray that isn't the last time Rue Lepic, Rue Norvins and the streets to Sacre-Cœur decide a bike race in the near future - c'était incroyable.

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