The men's individual road race was a road bicycle racing event held as part of the Cycling at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme. It was held on 22 October 1964. The course, just short of 25 kilometres, was covered 8 times for a total distance of 194.832 kilometres. 132 cyclists from 35 nations competed. The maximum number of cyclists per nation was four. The event was won by Mario Zanin of Italy, the nation's second victory in the men's individual road race and third consecutive Games in the top two. Kjell Rodian earned Denmark's first medal in the event with his silver. Walter Godefroot's bronze was Belgium's fifth medal in five Games (with 2 in 1952 making up for missing the podium in 1956).
Background
This was the seventh 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). Eddy Merckx of Belgium was the reigning world champion and the only one of the last four world champions to compete (the other three had all turned professional).
The Republic of China, Hong Kong, Iran, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, and Thailand each made their debut in the men's individual road race. Great Britain made its seventh 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 eight laps of a 24.354 kilometres circuit starting at the Takao train station, for a total of 194.832 kilometres. It was a "relatively easy course" that "featured a fairly steep, but short, climb of 65 metres at the 11th km., followed by a short descent, and then a mild climb over the next few kilometres." The course ran into Hachioji, across the Asakawa Bridge, to Sanyu Corner, then northwest to Tobuki Cross with a detour to Takatsuki Terminal, then back south to Takao station again. It was a shorter version of the team time trial course, which went out to the Hino Bridge before looping back to Sanyu Corner.Official Report, vol. 2, p. 263.
Schedule
All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
Date Time Round Thursday, 22 October 1964 10:00 Final
Results
Nobody was able to make a successful breakaway, with 99 riders closely bunched throughout the race. The best attempts all fell short with no effective tries in the last 15 kilometres. Merckx had a late effort with 1.5 kilometres left but never got more than 20 metres clear of the pack. Zanin and Rodian reached the front in the final sprint, though all 99 cyclists in the pack finished within two tenths of a second of Zanin. Precise order within the pack, particularly after 35th place, is disputed.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Mario Zanin 4:39:51.63Kjell Rodian 4:39:51.65Walter Godefroot 4:39:51.744Raymond Bilney 4:39:51.745José Manuel López 4:39:51.746Wilfried Peffgen 4:39:51.747Gösta Pettersson 4:39:51.748Delmo Delmastro 4:39:51.749Roberto Breppe 4:39:51.7410Laurie Byers 4:39:51.7411Erik Pettersson 4:39:51.7412Eddy Merckx 4:39:51.7413Jan Kudra 4:39:51.7414Michael Hollingsworth 4:39:51.7415Ole Højlund Pedersen 4:39:51.7416Hans Lüthi 4:39:51.7417Dick Johnstone 4:39:51.7418Roger Swerts 4:39:51.7419Johny Schleck 4:39:51.7420Bart Zoet 4:39:51.7421Flemming Hansen 4:39:51.7422Daniel Gráč 4:39:51.7423José Manuel Lasa 4:39:51.7424János Juszkó 4:39:51.7425Colin Lewis 4:39:51.7426Terence West 4:39:51.7427Gerben Karstens 4:39:51.7428Severino Andreoli 4:39:51.7429Burkhard Ebert 4:39:51.7530Erwin Jaisli 4:39:51.7531Derek Harrison 4:39:51.7532Mariano Díaz 4:39:51.7533Felice Gimondi 4:39:51.7634Jorge Mariné 4:39:51.7635András Mészáros 4:39:51.7636Chow Kwong Man 4:39:51.7637Masashi Omiya 4:39:51.7638Jozef Boons 4:39:51.7639Louis Pfenninger 4:39:51.7640Harry Steevens 4:39:51.7641Gainan Saidkhuzhin 4:39:51.7742Jan Pieterse 4:39:51.7743Yanjingiin Baatar 4:39:51.7744Jan Magiera 4:39:51.7745Ricardo Vázquez 4:39:51.7846Martín Rodríguez 4:39:51.7847Antal Megyerdi 4:39:51.7848Francisco Pérez 4:39:51.7849Rubén Placanica 4:39:51.7950Sven Hamrin 4:39:51.7951Michael Cowley 4:39:51.7952Sture Pettersson 4:39:51.7953Francis Bazire 4:39:51.8054Immo Rittmeyer 4:39:51.8055Pablo Hernández 4:39:51.8056Anatoly Olizarenko 4:39:51.8057Gabriel Moiceanu 4:39:51.8058Constantin Ciocan 4:39:51.8159Ion Cosma 4:39:51.8160Yury Melikhov 4:39:51.8161Des Thomson 4:39:51.8162Aleksei Petrov 4:39:51.8163Hans Heinemann 4:39:51.8264Vid Cencic 4:39:51.8265David Humphreys 4:39:51.8266Max Grace 4:39:51.8367Jiří Daler 4:39:51.8368Malcolm McCredie 4:39:51.8369Rubén Darío Gómez 4:39:51.8370František Řezáč 4:39:51.8371Jan Smolík 4:39:51.8372Stephen Lim 4:39:51.8373Arturo Romeo 4:39:51.8374Ole Ritter 4:39:51.8375John Allis 4:39:51.8376Phạm Văn Sau 4:39:51.8377Andrzej Bławdzin 4:39:51.8378Günter Hoffmann 4:39:51.8379Mikael Saglimbeni 4:39:51.8380Lucien Aimar 4:39:51.8381Mashallah Amin Sorour 4:39:51.8382Rajmund Zieliński 4:39:51.8383László Mahó 4:39:51.8384Teófilo Toda 4:39:51.8385Luvsangiin Erkhemjamts 4:39:51.8386Her Jong-chau 4:39:51.8387Shue Ming-shu 4:39:51.8388Gheorghe Bădără 4:39:51.8389Tarwon Jirapan 4:39:51.8390Trần Văn Nen 4:39:51.8391Pakdi Chillananda 4:39:51.8392Chow Kwong Choi 4:39:51.8393Melesio Soto 4:39:51.8394Bernard Guyot 4:39:51.8395Christian Raymond 4:39:51.8396Edy Schütz 4:39:51.8397Daniel Olivares 4:39:51.8398Cornelio Padilla 4:39:51.8399Sayed Esmail Hosseini 4:39:51.83100Michael Hiltner 4:59:54.00101Akbar Poudeh 4:59:59.00102Wilde Baridón 5:01:50.00103Luvsangiin Buudai 5:01:57.00104Francisco Coronel 5:02:15.00105Hiroshi Yamao 5:10:40.00106Toshiro Akamatsu 5:27:10.00107Lee Seon-bae 5:27:16 — An Byeong-hun Chainarong Sophonpong Davoud Akhlagi Deng Chueng-hwai Ferruccio Manza Fisihasion Ghebreyesus Heriberto Díaz Hwang Chang-sik Raymond Castilloux Mario Escobar Michael Andrew Norberto Arceo Choijiljavyn Samand Suleman Ambaye Hamid Supaat Thomas Montemage Vitool Charernratana Wi Gyeong-yong Yemane Negassi Zain Safar-ud-Din Nguyễn Văn Khoi Masanori Tsuji Moises López Mok Sau Hei Nguyễn Văn Ngan
Notes
References