As the men's Paris Olympic Games road race was getting underway amidst great fanfare at the Trocadéro, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, thousands of supporters were making their way to vantage points across Paris.

Most were heading to the Montmartre district, where the cobbled climbs would likely determine the group that would contest the finale of this 273km epic.

Four hours before the race was due to come through, fans were already two deep on the Rue Lepic, the Sacre-Cœur Basilica looming above us, flags draped over the barriers that Gendarmes were still hauling into position.

Even this early the atmosphere was electric — and would only intensify as people congregated around us, drawn by the noise of singing, good-natured chanting and dancing.

With the road, at this stage, still open to pedestrians, each person attempting the climb — whether it be on foot, on a road bike or a basket-carrying city bike — was being roared up the hill like they were summitting the crest of a Col at the Tour de France.

A massive range of countries were represented: Orange-clad Dutch; Belgians in their red, yellow and black; Irish in green, Italians in blue, the red and white of the Danes. It was a multicoloured festival of sound.

But the majority were, of course, French, revelling in a fervour of patriotism fuelled by such a superb start to the Games.

In front of our position, midway up the climb, a group of French supporters sang songs celebrating Julian Allaphillipe, Thibaut Pinot, and even swimmer Léon Marchant, a man whose success in the pool has captured the imagination of the entire country.

The carnival atmosphere intensified with each passing moment, the huge police presence belying the congenial atmosphere that never came close to venturing into being threatening.

A group of flag-waving Bretons blared their air horns and had our entire section of the crowd jumping and chanting with them.

A man in an apartment opposite threw open his balcony doors and played Le Marseillais at full volume, with everyone joining in, our own impromptu DJ whipping the crowd into an even greater frenzy.

A man, clad entirely in the polka dots of the mountains classification winner of the Tour de France, walked back down the hill carrying two baguettes and a carton of beer.

He was not alone in cracking open some beverages. Already, it was time to get the party started.

Three hours to go

Out in the countryside towards Versailles, a six-man break had developed, gaining a big advantage over the peloton.

Barely anyone on the climb knew that.

Two teenage boys walked past holding a cardboard sign saying "Allez Alaphilippe", working their way through the ever-thickening crowds up towards the top of the hill.

Alaphilippe, a three-time world champion, would doubtless be a popular winner, the most successful of France's most recent crop of riders.

Did he have a chance? 

"No," they said with a smile. "Remco, I think."

Meanwhile, the Bretons, complete with megaphone, walked down the hill, commanding the supporters to join them in a Mexican wave as they ran back up.

Needless to say, everyone obliged.

Even the police were being cheered, as they observed some supporters hurdling the barriers, sitting on the road and crowd-surfing a child holding a sign supporting Evenepoel.

A Dutch supporter, Joris, sidled up next to me, revelling in the extraordinary atmosphere of Montmartre.

"This is why cycling is the greatest sport," he said.

"These same roads are the roads where everyone experiences Paris, where you can take your wife, your girlfriend, to sit in a cafe.

"And soon, the greatest cyclists in the world will ride up here."

World champion Mathieu van der Poel was his favourite to win the race.

He was the favourite for a lot of others too.

The 29-year-old should relish this course, these roads.

A six-time cyclo-cross champion, six-time monument winner and multiple classics champion with a speciality of powering over the cobbles, said "this could be a classic in Flanders" when asked about the course earlier in the year.

With Giro d'Italia and Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar opting to stay away to rest up ahead of the world championships later in the year, van der Poel was a justifiable favourite.

A group of Belgian supporters were also encamped alongside us, an enclave from the Low Countries surrounded by Frenchmen.

They had arrived at 9:30am to get a prime spot — and were well equipped, with camp chairs positioned on the barriers and empty pizza boxes being used to host a soon to be abandoned card game.

One of them, Arne, told me he hoped Evenepoel or Wout van Aert would prevail — especially after such impressive performances in the time trial saw them finish first and third respectively.

It's hard to imagine a more positive collection of supporters, hyped to incredible levels of enthusiasm, embracing the Games and this race in a joyous communal experience like no other.

Our DJ from across the street, who we have learned is called Laurent, sensing a lull in energy after the racing, blared out some Europop to liven things back up.

It worked, helped by the crowd roaring as a Games volunteer rode up the hill.

ABC Sport is live blogging every day of the Paris Olympics

Two hours to go

Cycling has always held a special place in the hearts of the French.

The nation's most famous annual sporting event is the Tour de France, which has showcased the bicycle to the French public since 1903.

On account of it being held on public roads and, therefore, free to attend, it has always been a sport for the working class in France.

Prior to professionalism, riders came from poorer communities, often in rural areas, giving them an opportunity to escape and travel.

Now, helped by the pro-cycling policies of Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, the popularity of cycling as a mode of transport in the capital is booming: a report issued in April by L'Institut Paris Région found that the vast majority of journeys into the centre of Paris were now being taken by bike, not car.

On course, the crowd lining the barriers is now at least four deep.

People had settled in for the long haul, some checking phones as to the status of the peloton — most oblivious as the gap to the breakaway decreased to under 10 minutes, with Belgium's Tiej Benoot and Dutchman Dan Hoole driving the bunch in support of their teammates.

The music continued to blast out from the house opposite, almost everyone singing along in this phenomenal street party, with some taking to the cobbles to dance, including a volunteer, swept away by a punter in a France football shirt.

Everywhere you look, people are smiling, talking to strangers they happen to be standing next to and talking eagerly about the race, the Games. Sometimes, just themselves.

It is a camaraderie that rarely exists in sports crowds, a shared joy of their experience bringing everyone together, speaking a mix of French, English, Dutch, German and a multitude of others depending who shuffles into your orbit. 

Meanwhile, the race continued.

One hour to go

The peloton is on the charge.

The gap to the leaders is shrinking dramatically, just three minutes now as they speed back towards Paris.

The atmosphere in Montemartre though, is still that of a carnival.

A satisfied murmur rumbles beneath an excited chatter, breakouts of songs and chanting overriding all, the music still blaring.

Two men hold inflatable lobsters above their head, one yellow, one red, and charge up the hill to the delight of the crowd.

A man in an all white body suit and a French flag as a cape pulls a woman in a yellow Tour de France jersey out into the middle of the street, gets down on one knee and proposes. 

Another eruption of sound follows as she covers her mouth and nods.

People have taken every vantage point by now, perching on centimetre-wide ledges, sitting on walls and hanging precariously from shutters.

Where the pathway allows, the crowd is six, seven people deep, edging close together in a rare form of intimacy as we all react to everything happening around us.  

The fortunate are leaning out of their balconies, sparking cascading reactions from the crowd below.

If you aren't in position, you're going to miss out.

Half an hour to go

Phones or tablets showing the race have become a hot commodity as the race approaches.

Laurent, our impromptu DJ, is playing a remarkable game of wack-a-mole with the crowd, popping his head out of one of his 10 windows in turn, to wild cheering before disappearing and popping out at another.

There is a tension of sorts, now. People are ready without being impatient for the race to get here.

Out on the road Ben Healy and Alexey Lutsenko are chasing Irishman Ryan Mullen, the pair 30 seconds in arrears while holding a minute over the Belgian-led peloton.

The pace was up as they flew towards the waiting crowds in Paris, which sing with joyful voices to herald their imminent arrival.

The race

Everyone now edges towards the barriers.

It is good natured despite the uncomfortable closeness to strangers.

Cars and bikes speed up the climb. Everyone peers to look down the hill, phones in readiness to capture the sounds of their heroes.

Then come the riders, Healy and Lutsenko at the head of the race, pedalling for all they're worth.

There's a roar from what sounds like it is coming from miles away, suddenly arriving just ahead of the race as if it is rippling up the hill, a wave of sound crashing over us all.

Our section takes up the call as the leaders fly up the cobbles, a roar passing on up the climb to will those men onwards as they pass within touching distance of us.

Through they come, the peloton leading the detritus of the chase, rolling through in dribs and drabs.

Christopher Rougier-Lagane from Mauritius is well out of contention and knows it, so he makes the most of his chance to ride in front of such a vocal crowd by offering high fives up the climb.

Before we know it, here come the leaders again, a select group with van der Poel leaping from the peloton to give chase into a wall of noise.

One more time will these riders pass. By that stage we'll know who will win.

Evenepoel, world champion in Wollongong in 2022 thanks to a brave late attack, time trial champion last week, was out on his own.