Australia's Michael Matthews was not selected for the Tokyo Olympics The 33-year-old Matthews wanted to be part of the medal contenders, but was sadly left out of the bronze medal group behind Remco Evenpole (Belgium) and Valentin Maduas (France). The team was also unable to compete in the final.

Matthews finished 15th on the 273-km course in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

"I would say it didn't go as planned," Matthews told Cycling News.

"Obviously I'm disappointed because obviously I wanted to be a medal contender today," Matthews told Cycling News.

The course, interspersed with short, sharp climbs, including the cobbled Montmartre climb with 9.4 km to go, suited Matthews, a three-time Milan-San Remo podium finisher, but the small team for the Olympic Games compared to the four-man team that all medal winners enjoyed was a disadvantage for Australia, which had only three.

"I think my legs were good on the climb. I wasn't too far from the Mathieu Van Der Pol/Van Aert group.

"I think a team like Belgium with two clear leaders can execute two game plans, Van Aert and Evenpoel. Let Evenpoel run long moves and Van Aert sprint less. So I think that was the key today, but it is more difficult to have that game plan when you have four options rather than three."

Another major complaint from the athletes was the lack of race radios and the timing board. Matthews added that it was difficult to understand what was going on because the race numbers were sequentially numbered, rather than grouped 10 by team as in regular UCI races.

"People aren't wearing their regular jerseys and they have different number numbers, so when you look at the board from the bike you have no idea who is in front of you. So it's a little chaotic, but they're all the same.

Matthews has not given up on his Olympic dream; he debuted at age 33 and hopes to try again in Los Angeles in 2028.

"We'll see. I'm 33 now, so hopefully I'll get another shot at it, but right now I have to wait a couple of years."