The men's
road race, one of the
cycling events
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport
Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, a ...
at the
2012 Olympic Games
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in London, took place on 28 July at 10 a.m. in central and southwest London and north
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. ...
, starting and finishing on
The Mall.
This was the 19th appearance of the event, previously held in 1896 and then at every Summer Olympics since 1936. It replaced the individual time trial event that had been held from 1912 to 1932; the time trial had been re-introduced in 1996 alongside the road race
Samuel Sánchez
Samuel "Samu" Sánchez González (born 5 February 1978) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally in the sport between 2000 and 2017 for the and squads. He was the gold medal winner in the road race at the 2 ...
of Spain would have been the defending champion, but due to an injury incurred at the
2012 Tour de France
The 2012 Tour de France was the 99th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in the Belgian city of Liège on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 22 July. The Tour consisted of 21 stages, inc ...
he could not compete.
The race was won by
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
's
Alexander Vinokourov
Alexander Nikolayevich Vinokourov ( Kazakh and russian: Александр Николаевич Винокуров; born 16 September 1973) is a Kazakhstani former professional road bicycle racer and the current general manager of UCI WorldTeam ...
. He sprinted clear of
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
's
Rigoberto Urán
Rigoberto Urán Urán, ODB (born 26 January 1987) is a Colombian professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam .
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won a silver medal in the road race. He became the first Colombian ever ...
, who claimed the silver medal.
Alexander Kristoff
Alexander Kristoff (born 5 July 1987) is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He won the Norwegian National Road Race Championships in 2007 and 2011. His biggest victories have been the 2014 Milan ...
of
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
won the sprint from the following group to take bronze. Vinokourov was the first man (and, through the 2016 Games, only; multiple women have done so) to win multiple medals in the event; he had previously taken silver in 2000.
Qualification
The top ten ranked countries in the final standings of the
2011 UCI World Tour
The 2011 UCI World Tour was the third edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2009. The series started with the Tour Down Under's opening stage on 18 January, and consisted of 14 stage races and 13 one- ...
qualified to have five riders to represent their respective country in the race. The nations with five-man squads were: Spain, Belgium, Italy, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, United States and Switzerland; although Luxembourg placed ninth in the rankings, their roster was reduced to two men. Of the other nations on the World Tour, France and Denmark had four riders, Norway and Ireland three, Kazakhstan two and Slovakia, Costa Rica and Latvia one rider each. The top six countries on the UCI Europe Tour – Slovenia, Russia, Portugal, Poland, Turkey and Belarus – in addition to Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, the
UCI America Tour
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...
top three,
UCI Asia Tour
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, th ...
leaders Iran and
UCI Africa Tour
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...
leaders Morocco, had three riders. The remaining nations in the race were represented by either two or one rider. Eritrea, Georgia, and Syria competed in the event for the first time. There were a total of 144 participants.
Pre-race favourites
The
Belfast Telegraph
The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...
columnist ''The Punter'' considered the
2011 World Road Race champion,
Mark Cavendish
Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Isle of Man, Manx professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . As a Track cycling, track cyclist he specialises in the Madison (cycling), madison, po ...
of
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
to be the favourite for the race, although his chances were likely dependent on whether the race ended in a sprint finish. Cavendish was expected to be greatly assisted by his four-man British team which he labelled his 'dream team' prior to the race and regarded by
Bradley Wiggins
Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to r ...
as 'possibly the strongest fielded in an Olympic road race'. The race did not go as planned as
Ian Stannard
Ian Dexter Stannard (born 25 May 1987) is a British former professional track and road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2008 and 2020 for the , and teams, before retiring after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. He now wo ...
,
David Millar
David Millar (born 4 January 1977) is a Scottish retired professional road racing cyclist. He rode for Cofidis from 1997 to 2004 and Garmin-Sharp from 2008 to 2014. He has won four stages of the Tour de France, five of the Vuelta a España an ...
,
Chris Froome
Christopher Clive Froome ɹɪs fɹuːm (born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan/British Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has won seven Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de ...
, and Wiggins all finished beyond 90th place and Cavendish came across in 29th.
Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen (; born 15 October 1980) is a Belgian former road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2002 and 2017 for the and teams and a professional racing driver who currently competes in Belcar, having previously competed in ...
of
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
's
Matthew Goss
Matthew Harley Goss (born 5 November 1986) is a former Australian professional road and track racing cyclist, his final professional team before retirement was the UCI Professional Continental team . He first competed in track cycling before ...
,
André Greipel
André Greipel (born 16 July 1982) is a German former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2021. Since his retirement, Greipel now works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team .
Born in Rostock, East ...
of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
were also tipped as potential winners.
Other sprinters tipped for Medals included
Tour de France points classification winner
Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan (; born 26 January 1990) is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing career, winning the junior cross-country race at the 2008 ...
of
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
and
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Edvald Boasson Hagen (born 17 May 1987) is a Norwegian professional road racing cyclist, who rides for UCI ProTeam . He was ranked as no. 3 in the world by UCI as of 31 August 2009, when he was 22 years old. He is known as an all-rounder, havin ...
of
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
– but both riders had perceived weaker teams than those of Great Britain, Belgium and Germany.
If the race was to have ended in a sprint finish, Sagan and Boonen were tipped for victory, along with other classic specialists such as
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He was born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland. Cancellara began r ...
of
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, the silver medalist in 2008, and
Philippe Gilbert
Philippe Gilbert (born 5 July 1982) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who is best known for winning the World Road Race Championships in 2012, and for being one of two riders, along with Davide Rebellin, to have won the three ...
of Belgium.
The defending champion,
Samuel Sánchez
Samuel "Samu" Sánchez González (born 5 February 1978) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally in the sport between 2000 and 2017 for the and squads. He was the gold medal winner in the road race at the 2 ...
of
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, did not enter the race due to an injury suffered at the 2012 Tour de France.
Course
The race was long and began with a mass start. Crowds were bolstered by free entry for 150 km of the 250 km route,
recent British success in the 2012 Tour de France and the possibility of the host nation winning its first gold medal of the 2012 Olympics through Mark Cavendish. Originally 3,500 paid tickets were made available for the grandstand area on
Box Hill where the cyclists would undertake nine laps, but due to demand this was increased to 15,000 tickets.
Schedule
All times are British Summer Time
During British Summer Time (BST), civil time in the United Kingdom is advanced one hour forward of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), in effect changing the time zone from UTC±00:00 to UTC+01:00, so that mornings have one hour less daylight, and ev ...
(UTC+1
UTC+01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in:
*Central European Time
*West Africa Time
*Western European Summer Time
** B ...
)
Results
The entry list was published on 23 July.
In the table below, "s.t." indicates that the rider crossed the finish line in the same group as the cyclist before him, and was therefore credited with the same finishing time.
;Over time limit (OTL)
:Under
UCI regulations for one-day road races (article 2.3.039), "Any rider finishing in a time exceeding that of the winner by more than 5% shall not be placed".
Applying this to the winning time of Alexander Vinokourov resulted in a time limit of 6 hours, 3 minutes and 14 seconds.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cycling at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Men's road race
Men's road race
Cycling at the Summer Olympics – Men's road race
2012 Men's Cycling
Men's events at the 2012 Summer Olympics