Half an hour after Lemko Evenpole (Belgium) scored a historic victory in the Paris Olympic road race, Charles Kagim lit up the arena of the Trocadéro in Paris to become the final finisher of the 273km race. Spectators heartily celebrated the 25-year-old's grueling early breakaway and his fight to etch his name in history as the first Ugandan Olympic cyclist in 40 years.

Kagimu is no stranger to epic races, having completed a grueling edition of the Unbound Gravel 200 last year with Team Amani. This atmosphere inspired Kagimu to overcome a major setback when he suffered a serious illness after the opening ceremony.

"After the opening ceremony I got really sick. I had a really bad flu and on Saturday I literally couldn't get out of bed. So to be here and to finish the race is a huge accomplishment," Kagim told Cycling News.

Illness was not the only challenge Kagim faced heading into the Olympics. He did not have a proper bike for the race, but just before the Games he was given a new Specialized Tarmac S Works SL8 by the Uganda Olympic Committee. He said he had "some challenges" getting used to the new bike so close to the race, but he made the most of it and rode nearly 190 km from the front in his first attack of the day.

Kagim, the African Games time trial winner, joined Eric Manizabayo (Rwanda), Thanakan Chaiyasombat (Thailand), Christopher Rouget-Lagane (Mauritius), and Achraf Edghoumy (Morocco) to attack from the flag drop. They started their attack from the flag drop. Eventually a counter attack was joined by Elia Viviani (ITA), Ryan Mullen (IRL), and Georgios Bouglas (GRE).

The new attacks finally brought the peloton back to life and increased the pace of the breakaway group, which chased off Manizavayo, Chaiyathombat, and Dogmey. Still, Kagitake held on until around 90 km to go.

"We knew the good guys would catch us, so it was good that we got a good start and were able to run our own pace up front. 'Once they caught up to me, I was able to pick up the pace and I decided to run at my own pace, which was good because I knew I had a lot to catch up on.'

"Glasgow and Rwanda were the last times I saw a crowd like this. The last time I saw crowds like this was in Glasgow and Rwanda.

In an effort to promote gender equality in the Olympics, the UCI has significantly reduced the number of teams in the men's race from previous years, with a maximum of four people per team and only 90 starters. While this is a major blow to most top professionals, Kagim is a staunch supporter of the format and is not looking forward to next year's UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda.

"I don't really like the World Championships because of the nature of the race. It's easier for the weaker teams to escape," said Kagitake.

"Also, it was quite difficult for other teams to control the race. But the World Championships has a different format: teams of around eight start the race. So it doesn't make a lot of tactical sense to start a road race by yourself."

The Olympic format gave riders like Kagim a fighting chance, and despite physical problems and last-minute adjustments to new bikes, he and his escape buddy made the most of it.