The men's individual road race at the
1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
in
Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...
, Canada, was held on 26 July 1976. There were 134 cyclists from 40 nations starting the race.
[ The maximum number of cyclists per nation was four. Fifty-eight cyclists finished the race.]Bernt Johansson
Bernt Harry Johansson (born 18 April 1953) is a Swedish former road bicycle racer, who was a professional rider from 1977 to 1981. His sporting career began with Mariestadcyklisten. A competitor at the 1972 Summer Olympics, he represented his n ...
of Sweden, the nation's first victory in the men's individual road race. Giuseppe Martinelli
Giuseppe Martinelli (born 11 March 1955) is a retired road bicycle racer from Italy, who was a professional rider from 1977 to 1985. He represented his native country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he won silver m ...
put Italy back on the podium with his silver; the nation had won gold or silver every Games from 1956 to 1968 but did not medal in 1972. Mieczysław Nowicki
Mieczysław Paweł Nowicki (born 26 January 1951, in Piątek) is a retired road bicycle racer from Poland, who represented his native country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. There he won the bronze medal in the men's ind ...
's bronze was Poland's first medal in the event.
Background
This was the 10th 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 (and which would be reintroduced alongside the road race in 1996). Ryszard Szurkowski
Ryszard Jan Szurkowski (12 January 1946 – 1 February 2021) was a Polish road bicycle racer, widely regarded as a legend of the sport in Poland.
Career
He was a silver medalist in the team trial at the Cycling at the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1972 ...
of Poland was "probably" the favorite; he had won the 1973 world championship and placed second in 1974. Neither the 1974 nor 1975 world champions competed in Montreal.
Competition format and course
The mass-start race was on a 177.49 kilometre course "over the hilly Mont-Royal Circuit".[Official Report, vol. 3, p. 199.]
Schedule
All times are Eastern Daylight Time
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...
( UTC-4)
Results
The lead pack of 10 riders got clear during lap 6. Johansson broke away from the pack in the last lap for a clear win. In the final sprint by the remaining nine leaders, Thaler finished in front but was penalized for interfering with the other riders and demoted from second place to ninth (the back of the + 31" group, with Alfonsel falling behind the rest into 10th place).[
]
References
External links
Official Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cycling At The 1976 Summer Olympics - Men's Individual Road Race
Road cycling at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Cycling at the Summer Olympics – Men's road race