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Olympic Road Race: 'Bling' Matthews targets gold in Paris

3 minute read

Michael Matthews is the leading candidate to challenge for gold for Australia in the Olympic men's road race cycling in Paris.

Picture: bet365

Australia will take a 19-strong cycling team to the Olympics and three of them will be looking to work together to bring home gold in the men's road race.

Matthews is the main hope and he will be supported by Lucas Plapp and Simon Clarke.

It would be a big upset if Matthews could bring home the gold, but he has plenty of experience and will be ready to capitalise if the hot fancies for the race slip up.

Let's take a look at the main contenders for the Men's Olympic Road Race.

 Aussie hopes rest with Matthews 

If Australia are to win the gold medal, then Matthews will be the man to do it.

Matthews can be backed at 41.00 to win the men's road race and he will need a lot to go his way if he is to get the job done.

However, the 33-year-old does have a lot going for him as he prepares to make his debut at the Olympics.

He is no stranger to success on French roads, indeed, he has won three stages of the Tour de France and won the Green Jersey in the 2017 edition.

So, if an opportunity does present itself, then Matthews knows how to capitalise.

'Bling' as he if affectionately known has had a solid season so far, but much will depend on how he pulls up after the Tour de France.

Matthews has made it all the way to Nice and although he has not won a stage, he has picked up a couple of top 10 finishes.

He will also have plenty of support over the 273km with Plapp and Clarke also in the team.

Plapp and Clarke are both priced at 301.00 to win the race, but that is not the reason they are part of the team.

The duo are there to work with Matthews to give him the best chance of winning a medal, preferably gold.

If they can work as a team and get some breaks along the way, there is a chance that Matthews could be in the mix come the end of the race.

 Pogacar continues to dominate 

There seems to be no stopping Tadej Pogacar at the moment. He already has two grand tours in the bag and next on his list will be the gold medal in Paris.

The Slovenian has dominated at the Tour de France, which has taken a huge effort, however, this is Pogacar and he will no doubt have enough in the tank to win gold.

He can be backed at 4.00 to do just that.

However, there are plenty of challengers with Mathieu van der Poel also priced at 4.00 to win the gold medal.

The Dutchman is the current road race world champion following his victory in Glasgow and will be gunning for gold at the Olympics.

He has not quite looked himself at the Tour de France, but that has led to suggestions he could be saving himself for the Olympics.

The other big contenders to win gold are Mads Pedersen at 5.00, Wout Van Aert at 9.00 and Remco Evenepoel at 11.00.

Pedersen pulled out of the Tour de France following a crash, but thankfully it was not serious and he has had some extra time to prepare for Paris.