The men's road race was one of 18 cycling events of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The race started and finished on 6 August at Fort Copacabana and was won by Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium. It was Belgium's first victory in the men's individual road race since 1952 and second overall, tying France and the Soviet Union for second-most behind Italy (five). Belgium matched Italy for most total medals, at seven. Jakob Fuglsang won Denmark's fourth silver medal in the event; the nation had yet to win gold. Rafał Majka's bronze was Poland's first medal in the event since 1980.
Qualification
Nations could earn qualification spots primarily through UCI tours. The top five nations at the UCI World Tour earned five quota places, with nations further down the rankings earning progressively fewer quota places. There were also up to three places per nation available through continental tours and championships. Individuals could also earn places if their nation's ranking was insufficient. A few places were reserved for the host nation and Tripartite Commission invitations.
Background This was the 20th 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. Azerbaijan, the Dominican Republic, Kosovo, and Laos each made their debut in the men's individual road race. Great Britain made its 20th appearance in the event, the only nation to have competed in each appearance to date.
Pre-race favourites Due to the grueling nature of the course, the riders expected to finish with a medal were all known for their climbing and descending skills. Favorites heading into the race were Alejandro Valverde, Vincenzo Nibali, Chris Froome, Joaquim Rodríguez and Julian Alaphilippe. If Froome had won gold, he would have become the first person to ever win Tour de France and the cycling road race in the same season.
Course The men's course was long. Starting at Fort Copacabana, the peloton headed west to pass through Ipanema, Barra, and Reserva Maripendi Beaches via the coastal road leading to the Pontal / Grumari circuit loop. After four laps of the Grumari sector (99.2 km of 241.5 km), the course returned east via the same coastal road to enter the Vista Chinesa Circuit loop at Gávea for three laps ( of ) before finishing back at Fort Copacabana. As with all road races in the Olympic Games, the athletes are escorted by law enforcement to keep traffic and bystanders out of harm's way. For the 2016 Olympics, escort for the riders is done by the Brazilian Federal Highway Police (PRF).
2016 Olympic cycling road course maps
Schedule
All times are Brasília Time (UTC−3).
Date Time Round Saturday, 6 August 2016 9:30 Final
Start list
The following NOCs had qualified riders to compete in the road race event. The following riders were confirmed by their respective NOCs.
NOC Number Athletes Ref 2 Abderrahmane MansouriYoucef Reguigui 3 Daniel DíazMaximiliano RichezeEduardo Sepúlveda 4 Rohan DennisSimon ClarkeRichie PorteScott Bowden 2 Stefan DeniflGeorg Preidler 1 Maksym Averin 2 Vasil KiryienkaKanstantsin Sivtsov 5 Philippe GilbertSerge PauwelsGreg van AvermaetTim WellensLaurens De Plus 1 Óscar Soliz 2 Murilo FischerKléber Ramos 1 Stefan Hristov 3 Antoine DuchesneHugo HouleMichael Woods 1 José Luis Rodríguez 5 Esteban ChavesSergio HenaoMiguel Ángel LópezJarlinson PantanoRigoberto Urán 1 Andrey Amador 2 Kristijan ĐurasekMatija Kvasina 4 Jan BártaLeopold KönigZdeněk ŠtybarPetr Vakoč 3 Jakob FuglsangChristopher Juul-JensenChris Anker Sørensen 1 Diego Milán 1 Byron Guamá 1 Daniel Teklehaimanot 2 Tanel KangertRein Taaramäe 1 Tsgabu Grmay 4 Julian AlaphilippeRomain BardetWarren BarguilAlexis Vuillermoz 4 Emanuel BuchmannSimon GeschkeMaximilian LevyTony Martin 5 Chris FroomeSteve CummingsIan StannardGeraint ThomasAdam Yates 1 Ioannis Tamouridis 1 Manuel Rodas 1 Cheung King Lok 3 Ghader MizbaniArvin MoazemiSamad Pourseyedi 2 Dan MartinNicolas Roche 5 Fabio AruVincenzo NibaliDamiano CarusoAlessandro De MarchiDiego Rosa
NOC Number Athletes Ref 2 Yukiya ArashiroKohei Uchima 2 Bakhtiyar KozhatayevAndrey Zeits 1 Qëndrim Guri 1 Ariya Phounsavath 2 Toms SkujiņšAleksejs Saramotins 2 Ramūnas NavardauskasIgnatas Konovalovas 1 Fränk Schleck 3 Anass Aït El AbdiaSoufiane HaddiMouhssine Lahsaini 1 Luis Lemus 1 Dan Craven 4 Tom DumoulinSteven KruijswijkBauke MollemaWout Poels 2 George BennettZac Williams 4 Edvald Boasson HagenSven Erik BystrømVegard Stake LaengenLars Petter Nordhaug 4 Maciej BodnarMichał GołaśMichał KwiatkowskiRafał Majka 4 André CardosoRui CostaJosé MendesNelson Oliveira 1 Brian Babilonia 1 Serghei Țvetcov 3 Sergey ChernetskiyAlexey KurbatovPavel Kochetkov 1 Adrien Niyonshuti 1 Ivan Stević 1 Patrik Tybor 4 Matej MohoričJan PolancPrimož RogličSimon Špilak 2 Daryl ImpeyLouis Meintjes 2 Kim Ok-cheolSeo Joon-yong 5 Jonathan CastroviejoImanol ErvitiIon IzagirreJoaquim RodríguezAlejandro Valverde 4 Michael AlbasiniFabian CancellaraSteve MorabitoSébastien Reichenbach 1 Ali Nouisri 2 Ahmet ÖrkenOnur Balkan 3 Andriy HrivkoDenys KostyukAndriy Khripta 1 Yousif Mirza 2 Brent BookwalterTaylor Phinney 2 Miguel UbetoJonathan Monsalve
Results 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.
Rank Cyclist NationTime Greg Van Avermaet Jakob Fuglsang s.t. Rafał Majka + 5" 4 Julian Alaphilippe + 22" 5 Joaquim Rodríguez s.t. 6 Fabio Aru s.t. 7 Louis Meintjes s.t. 8 Andrey Zeits + 25" 9 Tanel Kangert + 1' 47" 10 Rui Costa + 2' 29" 11 Geraint Thomas s.t. 12 Chris Froome + 2' 58" 13 Dan Martin s.t. 14 Emanuel Buchmann s.t. 15 Adam Yates + 3' 03" 16 Brent Bookwalter + 3' 31" 17 Bauke Mollema s.t. 18 Kristijan Đurasek s.t. 19 Sébastien Reichenbach s.t. 20 Fränk Schleck s.t. 21 Esteban Chaves + 3' 34" 22 Serge Pauwels + 6' 12" 23 Alexis Vuillermoz s.t. 24 Romain Bardet s.t. 25 Simon Clarke s.t. 26 Primož Roglič + 9' 38" 27 Yukiya Arashiro s.t. 28 Daryl Impey s.t. 29 Nicolas Roche s.t. 30 Alejandro Valverde s.t. 31 Sergey Chernetskiy s.t. 32 Christopher Juul-Jensen s.t. 33 George Bennett + 11' 49" 34 Fabian Cancellara s.t. 35 Ramūnas Navardauskas + 12' 18" 36 André Cardoso s.t. 37 Eduardo Sepúlveda s.t. 38 Pavel Kochetkov s.t. 39 Steven Kruijswijk s.t. 40 Damiano Caruso s.t. 41 Andriy Hrivko + 13' 18" 42 Philippe Gilbert s.t. 43 Daniel Teklehaimanot + 19' 20" 44 Georg Preidler + 19' 37" 45 Patrik Tybor + 20' 00" 46 Aleksejs Saramotins s.t. 47 Anass Aït El Abdia s.t. 48 Lars Petter Nordhaug s.t. 49 Kanstantsin Sivtsov s.t. 50 Vegard Stake Laengen s.t. 51 Ioannis Tamouridis s.t. 52 Jan Polanc s.t. 53 José Mendes s.t. 54 Andrey Amador s.t. 55 Michael Woods s.t. 56 Michał Gołaś s.t. 57 Simon Špilak s.t. 58 Petr Vakoč s.t. 59 Toms Skujiņš s.t. 60 Chris Anker Sørensen s.t. 61 Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev s.t. 62 Michał Kwiatkowski s.t. 63 Alessandro De Marchi + 20' 05" — Murilo Fischer + 31' 47"Unranked due to being over time limit. Ignatas Konovalovas s.t. — Jonathan Castroviejo Imanol Erviti Ion Izagirre Sergio Henao Miguel Ángel López Jarlinson Pantano Rigoberto Urán Warren Barguil Steve Cummings Ian Stannard Rohan Dennis Scott Bowden Richie Porte Laurens De Plus Tim Wellens Tom Dumoulin Wout Poels Vincenzo Nibali Diego Rosa Michael Albasini Steve Morabito Simon Geschke Maximilian Levy Tony Martin Edvald Boasson Hagen Sven Erik Bystrøm Maciej Bodnar Jan Bárta Leopold König Zdeněk Štybar Denys Kostyuk Andriy Khripta Matej Mohorič Ghader Mizbani Arvin Moazzami Samad Pourseyedi Nelson Oliveira Abderrahmane Mansouri Youcef Reguigui Stefan Denifl Soufiane Haddi Mouhssine Lahsaini Taylor Phinney Rein Taaramäe Zac Williams Antoine Duchesne Hugo Houle Vasil Kiryienka Kohei Uchima Kim Ok-cheol Seo Joon-yong Jonathan Monsalve Miguel Ubeto Matija Kvasina Daniel Díaz Maximiliano Richeze Cheung King Lok José Luis Rodríguez Aguilar Adrien Niyonshuti Maksym Averin Serghei Țvetcov Luis Lemus Onur Balkan Ahmet Örken Kléber Ramos Ali Nouisri Stefan Hristov Manuel Rodas Byron Guamá Ivan Stević Tsgabu Grmay Diego Milán Dan Craven Óscar Soliz Qëndrim Guri Brian Babilonia Yousif Mirza Ariya Phounsavath Alexey Kurbatov
References