Eiffel Tower offers backdrop to Olympic road races

The men’s 273km ride will pass by the Chateau de Versailles as well as the Sacre-Coeur church in Montmartre, with the women’s event lasting 158km.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: The men’s and women’s road cycling races at next year’s Olympic Games in Paris will start and end near the Eiffel Tower. | Photo Credit: AP

The men’s and women’s road cycling races at next year’s Olympic Games in Paris will start and end near the Eiffel Tower, organisers announced on Tuesday.

The men’s 273km ride will pass by the Chateau de Versailles as well as the Sacre-Coeur church in Montmartre, with the women’s event lasting 158km.

The two races will be held on August 3 and 4, respectively.

“They will be spectacular,” the Paris Olympic Games organising committee’s president Tony Estanguet said in a statement.

“They will also leave a place for sporting ability, especially with the Montmartre hill.”

The 32.4km time trial race, the same distance for men and women, will pass the Bastille monument and finish near close to the Invalides monument on July 27.