The men's individual road race at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

was held on an 11.45 km course. The course was circled seventeen times, so the total length of the competition was 194.6 km. There were 141 entries from 31 nations and 101 participants from 29 nations. Of the 101 starters, 28 rode the distance to the end. The event was won by

José Beyaert José Beyaert (1 October 1925 – 11 June 2005) was a French professional cyclist who competed during the 1940s and 1950s, and was the 1948 Olympics road race champion. Beyaert moved to Colombia in 1952 and lived there for several years where ...

of France, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's individual road race. The Netherlands and Belgium won their first medals in the event, with

Gerrit Voorting Gerardus "Gerrit" Petrus Voorting (18 January 1923 – 30 January 2015) was a Dutch road cyclist who was active between 1947 and 1960. As an amateur he won the silver medal in the individual road race at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. In h ...

's silver and

Lode Wouters Lode Alphonse Wouters (27 May 1929 – 25 March 2014) was a Belgian cyclist. He was born in Kwaadmechelen, Belgium. He competed for Belgium in the 1948 Summer Olympics held in London, United Kingdom in the individual road race event where he fin ...

's bronze, respectively. Each nation could enter up to four cyclists. A team classification was made, based on the rankings of the three best cyclists per nation, and this was used to determine the results of the team road race.

Background

This was the third appearance of the event, previously held in 1896 and 1936; it would be held at every Summer Olympics after 1936. It replaced the individual time trial event that had been held from 1912 to 1932 (and which would be reintroduced alongside the road race in 1996). There was no clear favorite, though Adolfo Ferrari of Italy was the reigning world champion. The race was initially intended to be held at

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, C ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, but "a law was discovered that prohibited any activity there at more than 20 miles per hour." Argentina, Guyana, India, Mexico, Norway, Pakistan, South Korea, and Uruguay each made their debut in the men's individual road race. Great Britain made its third appearance in the event, the only nation to have competed in each appearance to date.

Competition format and course

The mass-start race was on a course that covered 17 laps of a 11.45 kilometres circuit around

Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for many ...

, for a total of 194.63 kilometres. The course was "relatively flat." It "included no severe gradients, but was sufficiently undulating to provide a real test of stamina, and with bends . . . which needed all the skill of the contestants at the speed at which the race was run."Official Report, p. 319. The surface was less than ideal, with "loose gravel roads" causing numerous punctures.

Schedule

All times are

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(

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)

Results

Johansson broke away from the pack during the second lap, with Voorting and Faanhof catching him in lap 3. Johansson suffered a puncture during lap 9, falling back to the peloton. A chase group of nine cyclists caught up to Voorting and Faanhof on lap 12, but crashes and punctures dropped Faanhof, Rasmussen, and Rouffeteau out of the lead pack. Thomas was the first to attempt a breakaway, on lap 16, but was quickly caught by De Lathouwer and less-quickly caught by the rest of the pack in the last lap. Beyaert made two pushes on the last lap, being caught by the pack on the first but separating from the group on a short climb a half-mile away from the finish line; he held on to win the race. Voorting finished with a sprint for the silver medal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cycling at the 1948 Summer Olympics - Men's individual road race Road cycling at the 1948 Summer Olympics Cycling at the Summer Olympics – Men's road race