LIVE UPDATES | Healy and Mullen go all-out in Olympic road race

Ryan Mullen is leading the Olympic road race in a two-man move, as Ben Healy is off the front of the peloton trying to get across to him

Ryan Mullen has been leading the Olympic men's road race in a breakaway; first getting across to the front group in a small chasing group and then pushing on with just Elia Viviani (Italy) for company as the final of the title event was well and truly under way.

Back in the bunch, Mullen's Team Ireland team mate was seizing the opportunity provided by the first climbs to get clear of the peloton in a chasing group in a bid to get across to the leaders.

Follow all the updates on Healy and Mullen (and the wider race of course) below.

How it's unfolding

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Ryan Mullen has gone on the attack in the men's road race at the Olympic Games and may hopefully be able to act as a support to Ben Healy late in the race by going ahead as he has done.

Mullen - in his first OIympics and having finished 12th in the TT last weekend - has joined a four-man group that set off in pursuit of the early breakaway, which pushed its gap on the peloton to 15 minutes.

Mullen's group got across to that breakaway, with some of the enlarged lead group being dropped, leaving the Irish rider one of five leading the race, just over two minutes clear, with 100km remaining.

Earlier in the race - with 140km to go - the breakaway was still 3:44 up on Mullen's chasing group, with the peloton a further three minutes back the road.

In that group with Mullen were Elia Viviani (Italy), Gleb Syritsa (Russia) and Georgios Bouglas (Greece).

They were chasing the breakaway of: Achraf Ed Doghmy (Morocco), Charles Kagimu (Uganda), Thanakhan Chaiyasombat (Thailand), Christopher Rougier-Lagane (Mauritius) and Eric Manizabayo (Rwanda).

Not long after the halfway point of the 272km race, Mullen's chasing group caught the breakaway. Not long after the two groups merged, Eric Manizabayo (Rwanda), Thanakhan Chaiyasombat (Thailand) and Achraf Ed Doghmy (Morocco) were dropped.

That left Mullen (Ireland), Viviani (Italy) - by far the two strongest in the move - along with Georgios Bouglas (Greece), Chrisopher Rougier-Lagane (Mauritius) and Charles Kagimu (Uganda) still at the front of the race.

The action was headed into the hillier terrain with about 105km to go. The gap at that point between the breakaway and the peloton was 2:40.

With 94km to go, Mullen was pushing on at the front, with Greece's Bouglas being dropped. Viviani was becoming animated, remonstrating with some of the others in the breakaway for not contributing enough. However, the Italian and Irish riders were simply too strong for the others.

Back in the bunch, with 92km to go, Healy was on the front of the bunch, in the mix as the French were making efforts to get clear. Though Healy marked the first French move, moments later the Irishman went himself on a climb.

However, while he persisted with that attack, and then loitered near the front as others also tried, those efforts came to nothing at that point of the race; still with just under 90km to go.

That period of attacking saw the breakaway's group slashed to 1:40, with Mullen and Viviani dropping the other riders. As Mullen and Viviani pulled clear, Healy was on the attack again back in the peloton - with 89km to go - and managed to pull clear, chasing Alexey Lutsenko (Kazakhstan).

Up front, Mullen was left on his own as the race dipped inside the 80km marker, as Viviani cramped and was dropped. And at the 76km to go marker, Healy and Lutsenko caught Mullen, who then went to the front to try and drag them clear.

However, the Belgian team had been pressing hard on the front back in the peloton and the three leaders only had about 15 seconds with 75km to go.With 72km to go, and with the three leaders now just five or six seconds ahead, Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) was attacking off the front of the peloton.

His move was covered and it simply drew the bunch almost to the back wheels of Mullen, Healy and Lutsenko.In the three-man leading group, Mullen was on the front going flat out, with just one climb to go before the race headed back towards Paris for the two finishing circuits - and three passages of the 1km climb.

But just as the race dipped under the 70km marker, the peloton eased back a little. The gap suddenly between Healy, Mullen and Lutsenko and the bunch went back out to 25 seconds - having been down to a matter of a few lengths before that lull in the bunch as the went onto the climb.

The moment the road kicked up, Mullen was dropped by Healy and Lutsenko, though Mullen had ridden out of his skin and he was the reason Healy and Lutsenko remaining clear until the final climb before the finishing circuits.

Mullen was reabsorbed by the peloton with 67.9km to go as, up front, Lutsenko was struggling to hold Healy on the climb. And once the two leaders stayed off the front up and over that climb, their lead began to build, reading 27 seconds with 63km to go.

Incredibly, at that point of the race Mullen was still in the remains of the peloton and trying to block the attacks off the front in a bid to protect the lead of his team mate Healy; an epic ride by Mullen.

With 60km to go, as the streetscape was clearly becoming more urban as the race ventured back to the north and north east of Paris for the finishing circuits, the leaders still had 24 seconds. However, the likes of Nils Politt (Germany) was attacking off the front of the group, forcing a small chasing group clear.

In that group were: Valentin Madouas (France), Fred Wright (Great Britain), Michael Woods (Canada), Politt (Germany), Stefan Küng (Switzerland), Marco Haller (Austria) and Jambaljamts Sainbayar (Mongolia).

With 56km to go, Healy and Lutsenko had just 16 seconds on the chasing group, but they now had 55 seconds on the remains of the bunch.

Incredibly, big nations like the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium had missed both the leader group - Healy and Lutsenko - and the chasing group.

Tiesj Benoot (Belgium) was on the front of the peloton with 52km to go, trying to contain the breakaway - having already put in a big shift - while Mads Pedersen (Denmark) suffered a puncture, opting for a wheel change rather than a new bike, which surely cost him time.

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With 51km to go, Healy and Lutsenko still had 17 seconds on the chasing group and they had 1:13 on the peloton. There was still plenty of time to bring back those up front, but the big nations had clearly left themselves with a lot to do.

With 47km to go, confirmation came through Pedersen was back in the peloton as the leaders hit the climb on the circuit for the first of three passages. Healy and Lutsenko still had 19 seconds on the chasers and 1:07 on the peloton.

So that's Healy and Lutsenko chased by: Valentin Madouas (France), Fred Wright (Great Britain), Michael Woods (Canada), Politt (Germany), Stefan Küng (Switzerland), Marco Haller (Austria) and Jambaljamts Sainbayar (Mongolia).

And back in the main field, Benoot was still (still!) doing all the work for Belgium.

Up front, on the climb with 46km to go, Ben Healy dropped Lutsenko.

And then (and then...) Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) attacked early on the climb, tracked all the way by Wout van Aert (Belgium); the duo pulling clear and taking back about 30 seconds straight away on those ahead.

As the road evened out after the climb, Matteo Jorgenson (USA), Julian Alaphilippe (France) and Toms Skujiņš (Latvia) got across to Van Aert and Van der Poel to create a second chasing group on the road, all hunting down lone leader Healy of Ireland.

With 42km to go, Healy still had 20 seconds on the first chasing group and 27 seconds on the second chasing group. Alaphilippe was sitting at the back of that second group as he was the only one in it with a man ahead; Madouas in the first chasing group pursuing Healy.

With 41km to go, the seven-man first chase group was 22 seconds down on Healy and the second chase group - just five men, including Van Aert and Van der Poel - were at 34 seconds, with the remains of the peloton at 54 seconds.

At the 39km marker, Denmark's Pedersen was attacking off the front of the peloton, chased by Great Britain. And that activity brought the peloton back to the second chasing group of Van der Poel and Van Aert.

At the head of the race, Healy had 33 seconds on the first chase group and 44 seconds on the peloton, from which Evenepoel (Belgium) attacked with 37.5km to go, getting clear solo and looking very impressive.

He almost immediately caught the chasing group, and went to the front, with Healy still enjoying a lead of 40 seconds on that chasing group and with 44 seconds over the peloton.

Evenepoel continued to lead the chasing group, going very hard, alongside Valentin Madouas (France), Fred Wright (Great Britain), Michael Woods (Canada), Politt (Germany), Stefan Küng (Switzerland), Marco Haller (Austria) and Jambaljamts Sainbayar (Mongolia).

With 35km to go, and with just over 6km to go to the bottom of the climb, Healy had 20 seconds over the Evenepoel-led group, with the bunch at 46 seconds. But that gap enjoyed by Healy was starting to come down.

And as Evenepoel continued to piled on the pressure, he was splitting the group; Wright dropped, Woods dropped, among others. And now Healy had just a handful of seconds.

And with 33.1km to go, Healy was caught; Evenepoel closing a gap of about 30 seconds in a just a couple of kilometres and towing the others up to the Irishman.

The riders able to hold Evenepoel as he closed down Healy were New Zealand's Pithie, France's Madouas, Switzerland's Küng and Austria's Haller, with Healy also hanging in after he was caught.

However, while Evenepoel was flying - and every one of the others with him groveling on his wheel - the gap to the peloton was still just 40 seconds, meaning they were not out of it (but Evenepoel looks good for this, very, very good).

Once the climb began for the second passage of three, Haller and Küng were dropped, but Healy was still hanging in - should we say, 'the legend Healy' was hanging him. I'm exhausted watching this!!!

Back in the peloton, Van der Poel was again on the move, attacking hard on the cobbled incline and marked again by Van Aert, now on spoiler duty in favour of team mate Evenepoel, some 43 seconds up the road with 27.5km remaining.

At the front, Healy eventually lost his place - dropping back on the climb - as Evenepoel had pushed on with only France's Madouas for company with 26km to go and one more passage of the climb before the 9.5km run to the finish.

However, Healy was still third man on the road and chasing the two leaders; chasing them hard. Healy then slotted into a three-man chasing group, alongside Haller and Küng. They were 17 seconds down, with 24km to go. And the remains of the peloton - which was splitting at the front - still at 42 seconds.

With 21km to go, Evenpoel has been doing most of the work up front. And if you were Madouas you'd also leave the Belgian rider to crack on with it, shouting encouragement at him, assuring him he looks great and is doing a fantastic job (LOL). Madouas also had team mate Christophe Laporte in the chasing group.

Behind - with 16km to go -the tiny peloton was 1:21 down. And the first chasing group with Healy in - still racing for bronze - was just over 50 seconds down on the two leaders.

With 15km to go, Evenepoel dropped Madouas on a small incline just before the third passage of the climb; headed solo to an apparent Olympic gold medal double, after his win in the TT last weekend.

With 14km to, the Healy group was 1:14 down on Evenpoel and the remains of the peloton was just a further 13 seconds back

With just 12km to go to the finish line, Evenepoel was powering along, some 21 seconds up on Madouas, who was fighting to stay ahead of the chasers to try and take a silver medal for France on home roads. The Healy group was 1:19 back, still racing for bronze - and maybe silver and bronze if they could catch Madouas.

Up and over the third and final passage of the climb, Evenepoel had 47 seconds over Madouas, with the Healy chasing group at 1:27, and now containing just five riders, including America's Jorgenson and France's Laporte.

However, as the Healy chase group reached the top of the climb, Jorgenson and Laporte pushed clear, with Ireland's Healy losing ground to them. But over the top, and as the road dropped down, Healy fought his way back to them and Austria's Haller also fighting back on.

With 5km to go, Madouas was 1:09 down on Evenepoel and the chasing group - Healy, Laporte, Jorgenson and Haller - were just 21 seconds down on the French rider.

With just 3.9km to go, Evenepoel suffered a back wheel puncture and got a new bike, in a panic, very quickly. He still had a minute on Madouas after the mishap and the Frenchman had almost 30 seconds on the Healy chasing group, with the remains of the peloton closing on Healy's group.

Evenpoel got word of the gap, began to relax and rode in to win an incredible Olympic road race in Paris. Behind him, Madouas hung on for the silver, a deserved medal winner.

Just behind, Laporte took the sprint from the chasing group for bronze. And as that group had swelled in the last few kilometres, Healy lost out a little, finishing 10th by our reckoning.

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