# Cycling at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's individual road race

In cycling at the 1972 Summer Olympics, the men's individual road race was held on 7 September. There were 163 starters from 48 nations. The maximum per NOC was four. A total of 76 cyclists finished the race. The event was won by Hennie Kuiper of the Netherlands, the nation's first victory in the men's individual road race and first medal in the event since 1948. Clyde Sefton earned Australia's first medal in the event with his silver. Jaime Huélamo of Spain finished third, but was disqualified after failing a drug test; the medal was not reassigned. Italy missed the podium, breaking a four-Games streak of gold and silver medals.

## Irish protesters

Seven members of the National Cycling Association (NCA) were arrested for disrupting the event. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recognised separate national federations on either side of the Irish political border. The NCA was an Irish Republican all-Ireland body not affiliated to the ICU. Three NCA members delayed the start by distributing leaflets, and the other four joined mid-race to ambush Irish competitor Noel Teggart, causing a minor pile-up.

## Background

This was the ninth 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). Freddy Maertens of Belgium was favored; he had finished second to Régis Ovion (also racing in Munich) at the 1971 world championships and won 50 races in 1971 and 1972.
Cameroon, Jamaica, Malawi, and Togo each made their debut in the men's individual road race; East Germany competed separately for the first time. Great Britain made its ninth 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 200 kilometre course. It was a "relatively easy and flat" course.

## Schedule

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Thursday, 7 September 1972 | 10:00 | Final |

## Results

The field was relatively tight until lap 6, when a pack of 35 cyclists broke away to form a lead group. Kuiper made his move in the last lap, gaining significant separation from the pack.
| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time |
| | Hennie Kuiper | Netherlands | 4:14:37 |
| | Clyde Sefton | Australia | 4:15:04 |
| DSQ | Jaime Huélamo | Spain | 4:15:04 |
| 4 | Bruce Biddle | New Zealand | 4:15:04 |
| 5 | Phil Bayton | Great Britain | + 30" |
| 6 | Phil Edwards | Great Britain | + 30" |
| 7 | Wilfried Trott | West Germany | + 30" |
| 8 | Francesco Moser | Italy | + 36" |
| 9 | Miguel Samacá | Colombia | + 36" |
| 10 | Jesús Sarabia | Mexico | + 36" |
| 11 | Piet van Katwijk | Netherlands | + 36" |
| 12 | Cees Priem | Netherlands | + 36" |
| 13 | Freddy Maertens | Belgium | + 36" |
| 14 | Roman Humenberger | Austria | + 36" |
| 15 | Régis Ovion | France | + 36" |
| 16 | Francisco Elorriaga | Spain | + 36" |
| 17 | Tore Milsett | Norway | + 36" |
| 18 | Jiří Prchal | Czechoslovakia | + 36" |
| 19 | Bruno Hubschmid | Switzerland | + 36" |
| 20 | Iwan Schmid | Switzerland | + 36" |
| 21 | Jørgen Marcussen | Denmark | + 36" |
| 22 | Erwin Tischler | West Germany | + 36" |
| 23 | András Takács | Hungary | + 36" |
| 24 | Ueli Sutter | Switzerland | + 36" |
| 25 | Fedor den Hertog | Netherlands | + 36" |
| 26 | Fernando Cruz | Colombia | + 36" |
| 27 | Erny Kirchen | Luxembourg | + 36" |
| 28 | Ove Jensen | Denmark | + 36" |
| 29 | Graeme Jose | Australia | + 44" |
| 30 | Karl-Heinz Oberfranz | East Germany | + 2' 32" |
| 31 | Ryszard Szurkowski | Poland | + 2' 32" |
| 32 | John Trevorrow | Australia | + 2' 32" |
| 33 | Wolfgang Wesemann | East Germany | + 2' 32" |
| 34 | Valery Likhachov | Soviet Union | + 2' 32" |
| 35 | Anatoly Starkov | Soviet Union | + 2' 32" |
| 36 | Lucjan Lis | Poland | + 2' 32" |
| 37 | José Viejo | Spain | + 2' 32" |
| 38 | Liam Horner | Ireland | + 2' 32" |
| 39 | Bernard Bourreau | France | + 2' 32" |
| 40 | Kieron McQuaid | Ireland | + 2' 32" |
| 41 | Jiří Háva | Czechoslovakia | + 2' 32" |
| 42 | Lennart Fagerlund | Sweden | + 2' 32" |
| 43 | Radoš Čubrić | Yugoslavia | + 2' 32" |
| 44 | Sven-Åke Nilsson | Sweden | + 2' 32" |
| 45 | Gustaaf Hermans | Belgium | + 2' 32" |
| 46 | Johann Summer | Austria | + 2' 32" |
| 47 | Petr Matoušek | Czechoslovakia | + 2' 32" |
| 48 | Henning Jørgensen | Denmark | + 2' 32" |
| 49 | Walter Riccomi | Italy | + 2' 32" |
| 50 | Paul Brydon | New Zealand | + 2' 32" |
| 51 | Jože Valenčič | Yugoslavia | + 2' 32" |
| 52 | Brian Chewter | Canada | + 2' 32" |
| 53 | Tekeste Woldu | Ethiopia | + 2' 32" |
| 54 | Tomás Nistal | Spain | + 2' 32" |
| 55 | Wolfgang Steinmayr | Austria | + 2' 32" |
| 56 | Lucien Didier | Luxembourg | + 2' 32" |
| 57 | Alfred Gaida | West Germany | + 2' 32" |
| 58 | Donald Allan | Australia | + 2' 32" |
| 59 | Lucien De Brauwere | Belgium | + 2' 32" |
| 60 | Teodor Vasile | Romania | + 2' 32" |
| 61 | John Howard | United States | + 2' 32" |
| 62 | Tom Morris | Canada | + 2' 32" |
| 63 | John Allis | United States | + 2' 32" |
| 64 | Tibor Debreceni | Hungary | + 2' 32" |
| 65 | Marcel Duchemin | France | + 2' 32" |
| 66 | Juan Morales | Colombia | + 2' 32" |
| 67 | Imre Géra | Hungary | + 2' 32" |
| 68 | Peter Weibel | West Germany | + 2' 32" |
| 69 | Peter Doyle | Ireland | + 2' 32" |
| 70 | Thorleif Andresen | Norway | + 2' 32" |
| 71 | Rudolf Mitteregger | Austria | + 2' 32" |
| 72 | Gilles Durand | Canada | + 2' 36" |
| 73 | Ali Hüryılmaz | Turkey | + 2' 36" |
| 74 | Walter Tardáguila | Uruguay | + 2' 51" |
| 75 | Gregorio Aldo Arencibia | Cuba | + 4' 17" |
| 76 | Stanisław Szozda | Poland | + 6' 04" |
| — | Roberto Breppe | Argentina | DNF |
| — | Kensley Reece | Barbados | DNF |
| — | Hector Edwards | Barbados | DNF |
| — | Orlando Bates | Barbados | DNF |
| — | Frans Van Looy | Belgium | DNF |
| — | Luiz Carlos Flores | Brazil | DNF |
| — | Miguel Silva Júnior | Brazil | DNF |
| — | Lindsay Gauld | Canada | DNF |
| — | Joseph Evouna | Cameroon | DNF |
| — | Joseph Kono | Cameroon | DNF |
| — | Nicolas Owona | Cameroon | DNF |
| — | Jean Bernard Djambou | Cameroon | DNF |
| — | Shue Ming-fa | Republic of China | DNF |
| — | Fabio Acevedo | Colombia | DNF |
| — | Raúl Marcelo Vázquez | Cuba | DNF |
| — | José Prieto | Cuba | DNF |
| — | Pedro Rodríguez | Cuba | DNF |
| — | Alois Holík | Czechoslovakia | DNF |
| — | Eigil Sørensen | Denmark | DNF |
| — | Fisihasion Ghebreyesus | Ethiopia | DNF |
| — | Rissom Gebre Meskei | Ethiopia | DNF |
| — | Suleman Abdul Rahman | Ethiopia | DNF |
| — | Ole Wackström | Finland | DNF |
| — | Mauno Uusivirta | Finland | DNF |
| — | Harry Hannus | Finland | DNF |
| — | Tapani Vuorenhela | Finland | DNF |
| — | Raymond Martin | France | DNF |
| — | Dieter Gonschorek | East Germany | DNF |
| — | Wolfram Kühn | East Germany | DNF |
| — | David Lloyd | Great Britain | DNF |
| — | John Clewarth | Great Britain | DNF |
| — | József Peterman | Hungary | DNF |
| — | Noel Teggart | Ireland | DNF |
| — | Aldo Parecchini | Italy | DNF |
| — | Franco Ongarato | Italy | DNF |
| — | Howard Fenton | Jamaica | DNF |
| — | Michael Lecky | Jamaica | DNF |
| — | Radcliffe Lawrence | Jamaica | DNF |
| — | Xavier Mirander | Jamaica | DNF |
| — | Tarek Abou Al Dahab | Lebanon | DNF |
| — | Paul Kind | Liechtenstein | DNF |
| — | Grimon Langson | Malawi | DNF |
| — | Raphael Kazembe | Malawi | DNF |
| — | Abdul Bahar-ud-Din Rahum | Malaysia | DNF |
| — | Daud Ibrahim | Malaysia | DNF |
| — | Omar Haji Saad | Malaysia | DNF |
| — | Saad Fadzil | Malaysia | DNF |
| — | Agustín Alcántara | Mexico | DNF |
| — | Francisco Vázquez | Mexico | DNF |
| — | Francisco Huerta | Mexico | DNF |
| — | Robert Oliver | New Zealand | DNF |
| — | Vern Hanaray | Malaysia | NZL |
| — | Arve Haugen | Norway | DNF |
| — | Jan Henriksen | Norway | DNF |
| — | Carlos Espinoza | Peru | DNF |
| — | Enrique Allyón | Peru | DNF |
| — | Fernando Cuenca | Peru | DNF |
| — | Gilberto Chocce | Peru | DNF |
| — | Maximo Junta | Philippines | DNF |
| — | Jan Smyrak | Poland | DNF |
| — | Daniele Cesaretti | San Marino | DNF |
| — | Valery Yardy | Soviet Union | DNF |
| — | Ivan Trifonov | Soviet Union | DNF |
| — | Leif Hansson | Sweden | DNF |
| — | Bernt Johansson | Sweden | DNF |
| — | Hugo Schär | Switzerland | DNF |
| — | Panya Singprayool-Dinmuong | Thailand | DNF |
| — | Pramote Sangskulrote | Thailand | DNF |
| — | Sataporn Kantasa-Ard | Thailand | DNF |
| — | Sivaporn Ratanapool | Thailand | DNF |
| — | Charles Leodo | Togo | DNF |
| — | Gbedikpe Emmanuel Amouzou | Togo | DNF |
| — | Tompson Mensah | Togo | DNF |
| — | Anthony Sellier | Trinidad and Tobago | DNF |
| — | Clive Saney | Trinidad and Tobago | DNF |
| — | Patrick Gellineau | Trinidad and Tobago | DNF |
| — | Vernon Stauble | Trinidad and Tobago | DNF |
| — | Haluk Günözgen | Turkey | DNF |
| — | Mevlüt Bora | Turkey | DNF |
| — | Rıfat Çalışkan | Turkey | DNF |
| — | Alberto Rodríguez | Uruguay | DNF |
| — | Emile Waldteufel | United States | DNF |
| — | Robert Schneider | United States | DNF |
| — | Jorge Jukich | Uruguay | DNF |
| — | Mario Margalef | Uruguay | DNF |
| — | Eugen Pleško | Yugoslavia | DNF |
| — | Janez Zakotnik | Yugoslavia | DNF |
Note:
* 1 2 Jaime Huélamo (ESP) was disqualified after he tested positive for nikethamide (Coramine). Biddle was not awarded the bronze medal as he had not been tested for drugs.