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The world's largest sporting event, the Olympic Games have thrilled entire generations for more than 120 years. A historic sport, road cycling is featured on the Olympic program alongside mountain biking, BMX and track cycling. History, track record, events, Tokyo 2020... we tell you everything about the Olympic Road Cycling Games, one of the greatest competitions!
A historic Olympic discipline
Present since the beginning of the modern Olympic Games, cycling is one of the oldest Olympic sports! Road cycling, in particular, became an Olympic discipline at the very first edition of the Olympics in Athens in 1896. Absent from the next three editions, road cycling re-entered the Olympic program in 1912 to the delight of bicycle lovers, and has remained so to this day. Exclusively male for nearly a century, road cycling events saw women enter the competition at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Olympic Road Cycling Events
The current editions of the Olympic road cycling Games feature two events: the individual road race, the traditional iconic event with a mass start. While cyclists ride as a national team, the medals are individual. Riders from the same country can help each other to aim for the podium. This incredible race is usually contested over a distance of about 250 km for men and 150 km for women. Individual time trial for women and men, added to the Olympic program at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Athletes take turns racing on a 40-50 km circuit for men and 30-40 km for women. An impressive solo event where the cyclist must achieve the best time to be crowned champion. Some events that have now disappeared from the Olympic cycling program were contested in the past: the team road race (until 1956) and the 100 km team time trial (until 1992).
Other cycling events at the Olympics
Cycling at the Olympics also hosts other disciplines: track cycling with five events (team sprint, individual sprint, keirin, omnium, and madison); mountain bike cross-country; BMX racing and freestyle.
The Rio 2016 Olympic Games prize list
The last Summer Olympics were held in the year 2016. They took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Olympic road cycling gold medals were awarded to the following champions: Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) for the men's road race; Anna Van Der Breggen (Netherlands) for the women's road race; Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) for the men's CLM; Kristin Armstrong (USA) for the women's CLM. Despite a strong performance, Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe, meanwhile, missed the Olympic podium in the road race due to a bad crash.
The Tokyo 2020 Games program
Postponed from July 23 to August 8, 2021, one week after the Tour de France 2021, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan will see cyclists from around the world compete on the asphalt of the land of the rising sun. On the program: July 24: men's road race; July 25: women's road race; July 28: women's and men's individual time trial. Let's wish all our cyclists good luck!
