I rode the Paris Olympics road race course on a 20-kilogram hire bike

On a three-speed steed, I struggled up the trio of climbs – two of which are cobbled – that will light up the weekend's action

Tom Davidson riding in Paris
(Image credit: Tom Davidson)

A bead of sweat rolls down my forehead and stings my right eye. I blink, hard, to try and get my sight back, but it doesn’t work. I then lift my hand from the bars, stick my fingers under my glasses and rub in desperation. This only makes it worse. My hands, too, are sticky from the heat, and I start to realise that the amount of sun cream I put on might have been excessive. The oily gleam has begun to melt, and there’s nothing I can do as it slimes my skin and floods my eye sockets. 

It’s 30 degrees in Paris, and I have decided to lug a 20-kilogram bike up a cobbled hill. Not just any cobbled hill, of course, but Rue Lepic, the short Montmartre climb that’s expected to detonate the Olympic road races this weekend. In fact, I’m out to ride the whole 20-kilometre finishing circuit, whose roads will no doubt launch the winners in both the men’s and women’s races. They’ll ride it two times. I drank four beers the night before, so once will do for me. 

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