# Road race at the Olympics

The road race is one of two road bicycle racing events held at the Summer Olympics, the other being the time trial. The road race is a mass start, distinguished from the separate starts of the time trial. The men's road race was first held at the 1896, was not held again for 40 years, then has been held every Summer Games since the 1936 Summer Olympics. The women's event was first contested at the 1984 Summer Olympics, being the first women's cycling event (track events were added in 1988).
A team event, with the results of the individual event being used to place the teams, was held from 1936 to 1956 (4 times).

## Medalists
### Men

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1896 Athens details | Aristidis Konstantinidis Greece | August von Gödrich Germany | Edward Battell Great Britain |
| 1936 Berlin details | Robert Charpentier France | Guy Lapébie France | Ernst Nievergelt Switzerland |
| 1948 London details | José Beyaert France | Gerrit Voorting Netherlands | Lode Wouters Belgium |
| 1952 Helsinki details | André Noyelle Belgium | Robert Grondelaers Belgium | Edi Ziegler Germany |
| 1956 Melbourne details | Ercole Baldini Italy | Arnaud Geyre France | Alan Jackson Great Britain |
| 1960 Rome details | Viktor Kapitonov Soviet Union | Livio Trapè Italy | Willy Vanden Berghen Belgium |
| 1964 Tokyo details | Mario Zanin Italy | Kjell Rodian Denmark | Walter Godefroot Belgium |
| 1968 Mexico City details | Pierfranco Vianelli Italy | Leif Mortensen Denmark | Gösta Pettersson Sweden |
| 1972 Munich details | Hennie Kuiper Netherlands | Clyde Sefton Australia | Not awarded |
| 1976 Montreal details | Bernt Johansson Sweden | Giuseppe Martinelli Italy | Mieczysław Nowicki Poland |
| 1980 Moscow details | Sergei Sukhoruchenkov Soviet Union | Czesław Lang Poland | Yuri Barinov Soviet Union |
| 1984 Los Angeles details | Alexi Grewal United States | Steve Bauer Canada | Dag Otto Lauritzen Norway |
| 1988 Seoul details | Olaf Ludwig East Germany | Bernd Gröne West Germany | Christian Henn West Germany |
| 1992 Barcelona details | Fabio Casartelli Italy | Erik Dekker Netherlands | Dainis Ozols Latvia |
| 1996 Atlanta details | Pascal Richard Switzerland | Rolf Sørensen Denmark | Max Sciandri Great Britain |
| 2000 Sydney details | Jan Ullrich Germany | Alexander Vinokourov Kazakhstan | Andreas Klöden Germany |
| 2004 Athens details | Paolo Bettini Italy | Sérgio Paulinho Portugal | Axel Merckx Belgium |
| 2008 Beijing details | Samuel Sánchez Spain | Fabian Cancellara Switzerland | Alexandr Kolobnev Russia |
| 2012 London details | Alexander Vinokourov Kazakhstan | Rigoberto Urán Colombia | Alexander Kristoff Norway |
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro details | Greg Van Avermaet Belgium | Jakob Fuglsang Denmark | Rafał Majka Poland |
| 2020 Tokyo details | Richard Carapaz Ecuador | Wout van Aert Belgium | Tadej Pogačar Slovenia |
| 2024 Paris details | Remco Evenepoel Belgium | Valentin Madouas France | Christophe Laporte France |

#### Multiple medalists

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Alexander Vinokourov | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 2000–2012 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |

#### Medalists by country

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Italy (ITA) | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| 2 | Belgium (BEL) | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| 3 | France (FRA) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | Soviet Union (URS) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Netherlands (NED) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Germany (GER) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 7 | Switzerland (SUI) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Sweden (SWE) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | East Germany (GDR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Greece (GRE) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Spain (ESP) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | United States (USA) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Ecuador (ECU) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Denmark (DEN) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 16 | Poland (POL) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 17 | West Germany (FRG) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 18 | Australia (AUS) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Colombia (COL) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Portugal (POR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 23 | Norway (NOR) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 24 | Latvia (LAT) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 24 | Russia (RUS) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 24 | Slovenia (SLO) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

### Women

| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1984 Los Angeles details | Connie Carpenter United States | Rebecca Twigg United States | Sandra Schumacher West Germany |
| 1988 Seoul details | Monique Knol Netherlands | Jutta Niehaus West Germany | Laima Zilporytė Soviet Union |
| 1992 Barcelona details | Kathryn Watt Australia | Jeannie Longo France | Monique Knol Netherlands |
| 1996 Atlanta details | Jeannie Longo France | Imelda Chiappa Italy | Clara Hughes Canada |
| 2000 Sydney details | Leontien Zijlaard Netherlands | Hanka Kupfernagel Germany | Diana Žiliūtė Lithuania |
| 2004 Athens details | Sara Carrigan Australia | Judith Arndt Germany | Olga Slyusareva Russia |
| 2008 Beijing details | Nicole Cooke Great Britain | Emma Johansson Sweden | Tatiana Guderzo Italy |
| 2012 London details | Marianne Vos Netherlands | Lizzie Armitstead Great Britain | Olga Zabelinskaya Russia |
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro details | Anna van der Breggen Netherlands | Emma Johansson Sweden | Elisa Longo Borghini Italy |
| 2020 Tokyo details | Anna Kiesenhofer Austria | Annemiek van Vleuten Netherlands | Elisa Longo Borghini Italy |
| 2024 Paris details | Kristen Faulkner United States | Marianne Vos Netherlands | Lotte Kopecky Belgium |

#### Multiple medallists

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Jeannie Longo | France (FRA) | 1992–1996 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 1 | Marianne Vos | Netherlands (NED) | 2008–2024 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Monique Knol | Netherlands (NED) | 1988–1992 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Emma Johansson | Sweden (SWE) | 2008–2016 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Elisa Longo Borghini | Italy (ITA) | 2016–2020 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |

#### Medallists by country

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Netherlands (NED) | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | Australia (AUS) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | United States (USA) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | France (FRA) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Great Britain (GBR) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Austria (AUT) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Germany (GER) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Italy (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 10 | West Germany (FRG) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Russia (RUS) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Lithuania (LTU) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Soviet Union (URS) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

### Men's team

A men's team event was held for four Games—1936, 1948, 1952, and 1956. It was not a separate competition, but an event that involved the results of the individual road race. The Belgian team, winners in 1948, were unaware that there was a team competition and left London without receiving their medals. For the first three editions of the event, the times of the fastest three cyclists (out of a maximum four individual competitors) for each nation were summed. In the final edition in 1956, a point-for-place system was used instead. In 1936 and 1948, only the top three cyclists for each team were awarded medals. In 1952 and 1956, all members of the team—including the cyclist whose score did not count—were medalists.
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1936 Berlin details | France (FRA) Robert Charpentier Robert Dorgebray Guy Lapébie | Switzerland (SUI) Edgar Buchwalder Ernst Nievergelt Kurt Ott | Belgium (BEL) Auguste Garrebeek Armand Putzeyse Jean-François Van Der Motte |
| 1948 London details | Belgium (BEL) Lode Wouters Leon De Lathouwer Eugène Van Roosbroeck | Great Britain (GBR) Bob Maitland Gordon Thomas Ian Scott | France (FRA) José Beyaert Alain Moineau Jacques Dupont |
| 1952 Helsinki details | Belgium (BEL) André Noyelle Robert Grondelaers Lucien Victor Rik Van Looy | Italy (ITA) Dino Bruni Vincenzo Zucconelli Gianni Ghidini Bruno Monti | France (FRA) Jacques Anquetil Alfred Tonello Claude Rouer Roland Bezamat |
| 1956 Melbourne details | France (FRA) Arnaud Geyre Maurice Moucheraud Michel Vermeulin René Abadie | Great Britain (GBR) Alan Jackson Arthur Brittain William Holmes Harold Reynolds | United Team of Germany (EUA) Horst Tüller Gustav-Adolf Schur Reinhold Pommer Erich Hagen |

#### Medalists by country

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | France (FRA) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 2 | Belgium (BEL) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Italy (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Switzerland (SUI) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | United Team of Germany (EUA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

## Intercalated Games

The 1906 Intercalated Games were held in Athens and at the time were officially recognised as part of the Olympic Games series, with the intention being to hold a games in Greece in two-year intervals between the internationally held Olympics. However, this plan never came to fruition and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) later decided not to recognise these games as part of the official Olympic series. Some sports historians continue to treat the results of these games as part of the Olympic canon.
Fernand Vast won the 1906 title, with France sweeping the medals as Maurice Bardonneau finished second and Edmond Luguet third.
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1906 Athens details | Fernand Vast (FRA) | Maurice Bardonneau (FRA) | Edmond Luguet (FRA) |