The men's 10 kilometres was one of the five

track cycling Track cycling is a Cycle sport, bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its i ...

races on the

Cycling at the 1896 Summer Olympics At the 1896 Summer Olympics, six cycling events were contested at the Neo Phaliron Velodrome. They were organized and prepared by the Sub-Committee for Cycling. Events were held on 8 April, 11 April, 12 April and 13 April 1896. Nineteen cycl ...

programme. It was held on 11 April and comprised 30 laps of the track. The 1896 Games was the only time that the 10 kilometres track race was part of the cycling program at an Olympic Games. Six cyclists from four nations competed. The event was won by

Paul Masson Paul Masson (February 14, 1859 – October 22, 1940) was a French-born American winemaker. He is considered an early pioneer of California viticulture known for his brand of Californian sparkling wine. Biography Masson was born as the seco ...

of France, the second of his three victories that day (he had previously won the sprint and would shortly afterwards win the track time trial). His countryman

Léon Flameng Marie Léon Flameng (30 April 1877 – 2 January 1917) was a French cycle sport, cyclist and a World War I pilot. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, winning three medals including one gold. Olympics Flameng competed in f ...

finished second, while Austrian

Adolf Schmal Felix Adolf Schmal (18 September 1872 – 28 August 1919) was an Austrian fencer and racing cyclist. He was born in Dortmund and died in Salzburg. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. 1896 Olympics With a fencing mask, sabre ...

was third.

Background

From 1896 to 1924 (excluding 1912, when no track events were held), the track cycling programme included events at a variety of distances that changed from Games to Games and ranged from the -mile to the 100 kilometres (and, even longer, the unique 12 hours race in 1896 that saw finishers exceed 300 kilometres). The 10 kilometres was held only in 1896. As with many of the 1896 cycling races, the French team was clearly favored as the strongest cyclists present.

Competition format

As the name suggests, the race was 10 kilometres in length. The track was one-third of a kilometre in length, so the cyclists had to complete 30 laps. No pacemakers were allowed. The six cyclists started together.Official Report, p. 98.

Schedule

The exact time of the event is not known; the cycling events began shortly after 2 p.m. and the 10 kilometres was the second event, after the sprint. The day was very cold.

Results

Six competitors entered the third cycling race. The two Frenchmen that had raced in the 2 kilometre sprint race finished in the top two positions in the 10 kilometres, with the finish coming down to a sprint won by Masson.

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

finished third. Rosemeyer of Germany finished this race in fourth place. The two Greek cyclists collided two-thirds of the way through the race. Kolettis returned to the race for a while before quitting at the 7 km mark due to his injuries from the crash; it is not clear if Konstantinidis finished.

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cycling at the 1896 Summer Olympics - Men's 10 kilometres Track cycling at the 1896 Summer Olympics Olympic track cycling events