Cycling turns back to the road on Sunday with the men’s road race at 5 a.m. ET. The race in Paris is the longest road in Olympic history, with a distance of 272 kilometers (170 miles) and is expected to take around seven hours. The road race has been held in every Olympics since 1908.

The course will include 13 recognized climbs of 2,800 vertical meters. Riders will start and finish in Paris and will have a scenic route along the way, passing by the Eiffel Tower, the Seine and Les Invalides. 

The most challenging part of the race is expected around the 18.4km (11.4 mile) mark. It is comprised of technical bends and cobblestones on the Butte Montmartre, which riders will have to climb three times. The finish line is on the Pont d’lena, the bridge where an Olympic champion will be crowned with the Eiffel Tower as the backdrop. 

Defending Olympic champion Richard Carapaz will not be competing in Paris. Ecuador was only allotted one position in the event for the 2024 Games and the Ecuador cycling federation chose Jhonatan Narvaez instead.  

Wout van Aert of Belgium will be one of the favorites after winning silver in Tokyo. He already won bronze in the men’s time trial event in Paris.

Mathieu van der Poel looks to threaten as the 2023 world road race champion. After competing in multiple disciplines in Tokyo — mountain bike and road race — he chose to only compete in the road race to better his odds.

Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar made headlines last week when he announced he wouldn’t be competing at the 2024 Games due to extreme exhaustion. Two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard will also not race at the 2024 Games. He wasn’t selected to Denmark’s four-rider road team in Paris, as he is still recovering from a nasty crash in April.

The Americans are expected to have three cyclists in the race. Brandon McNulty will be the best U.S. chance for a medal after finishing sixth in Tokyo. He was fifth in the men’s time trials last Saturday. He will be joined by Matteo Jorgensen and Magnus Sheffeld, both making their Olympic debuts. The only American to win the event is Alexi Grewal, who won gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.