Biking has been a part of the Olympics for the reason that fashionable Video games started in 1896. As we lap up the motion from Paris 2024 (see our information on the best way to watch the Video games, right here), let’s make a journey again in time to recollect the most important tales and most astonishing moments in Olympic biking, from the earliest version to Britain’s golden Video games of 2012.
The early Olympics, 1896-1932
Riders contest the 100km observe race on the 1908 London Olympics
(Picture credit score: Alamy)
Heroes are constructs of Greek mythology, and biking has usually been described as a heroic sport, so what a fantastic coincidence that the biking hero of the primary fashionable Olympic Video games – Athens 1896 – was Greek. Aristidis Konstantinidis received the street race, which went from Athens to Marathon, the route of the unique marathon run. The roads had been in horrible situation, and Konstantidinis crashed so many instances that his bike fell aside – he needed to borrow one from a spectator to get to the end.
After that carnage, Olympic biking was track-only for the next three editions: Paris 1900, St Louis 1904 and London 1908. The latter produced essentially the most weird end in biking historical past. There have been 4 finalists within the 1,000m observe dash on the White Metropolis Stadium, however two punctured on grit washed onto the observe after heavy rain, and Maurice Schilles of France ultimately beat the British rider Benjamin Jones – the emphasis on ‘ultimately’ as a result of each riders performed the ultimate so tactically that they exceeded the time restrict for the occasion and had been disqualified. No medals had been awarded.
Highway racing returned in 1912 for the Stockholm Olympics, however as a time trial on a single-loop course of 199 miles (320km). A South African gold miner, Rudolph Lewis, received in a time of 10 hours, 42 minutes, 39 seconds. Not unhealthy going, really. The Olympic street race was diminished in size after Stockholm, and by 1928 in Amsterdam it was a mere 103 miles (168km), although that was lengthy sufficient for some trickery.
After 50km, Denmark’s Harry Hansen led Frank Southall of Nice Britain by 34 seconds. However 34km later Hansen had gained seven minutes on Southall, although the Brit had sustained his tempo. Hansen’s final successful margin was eight-and-a-half minutes. Regardless of an objection by British officers, who suspected Hansen of getting taken a shortcut, the Dane was given the gold and Southall silver.
London 1908, gold within the 660-yard observe occasion, Leonard Meredith
(Picture credit score: Alamy)
The Battle Video games, 1936-1948
There have been two Olympics both aspect of World Battle Two, the primary in Berlin amid rising tensions in Europe. The street race returned to a bunch format, and it proved troublesome for British riders whose solely racing expertise at residence was time trials. Britain received no medals, however returned with a memorable anecdote. Coaching close to Berlin, Charles Holland noticed a crowd of individuals standing on a bridge above an autobahn. When he stopped to see what they had been , an enormous motorcade handed beneath the bridge. In the course of it, sitting in an enormous open- topped automobile, was Adolf Hitler. Recalling that day in an interview a couple of years later, Holland remarked: “I might have prevented the Second World Battle proper then if I’d had a bomb to drop into Hitler’s lap.”
The 1948 London Video games had been meant to be the Harris Olympics: GB’s Reg Harris was the quickest sprinter on the planet. He had survived being blown up in a tank in north Africa, received the 1947 novice dash world title and was nearly unbeatable. He might have turned skilled immediately and earned good cash, however was persuaded to delay it so he might go for gold in London. Sadly, shortly earlier than the Video games he fractured two vertebrae in a automobile crash, then fractured his elbow in a racing fall. Nonetheless, he nonetheless took two silver medals, within the particular person and the tandem sprints.
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London 1948, Reg Harris leads out on Herne Hill observe within the dash competitors
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
The Rock and Roll years
Tandem sprinting was a part of the Olympics from 1920 till 1972, and in 1952 it was one in all two gold medals, the opposite being the 1,000m time trial (the kilo), received by Russell Mockridge of Australia. Mockridge was an unimaginable rider who later received the Paris six-day race and completed sixtieth within the 1955 Tour de France. His life ended tragically in 1958 on the age of 30, when he was hit by a bus whereas on a coaching journey. Mockridge’s ebook, My World on Wheels, is a traditional of the style.
Ercole Baldini was the star of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. He was the person pursuit world champion that 12 months, and set a brand new outright World Hour report earlier than the Video games. Regardless of not being an skilled street rider, he nonetheless received by two minutes.
Olympic biking historical past was made in 1968 on the Mexico Metropolis Video games when 4 Swedish brothers, Gösta, Sture, Erik and Tomas Petterson took the silver medal within the 100km workforce time trial. Additionally they received three consecutive world titles on the occasion from 1968 to 1970.
RR podium at Mexico 1968 (l to r): Mortensen, Vianelli, G. Petterson
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
Modernising the Olympics, 1972-1988
The Olympic Video games developed quickly throughout the Seventies and Eighties. There was a shift in mindset, each in athletes and the organisers, because the Olympics moved from amateur-only to permitting professionals to compete from the mid-Eighties onwards. Earlier than that, many cyclists from western Europe, significantly street cyclists from the standard nations of France, Italy, Spain and Belgium, regarded Olympic medals as bargaining chips for good skilled contracts. There’s no higher instance than that of Dutchman Hennie Kuiper, winner of the 1972 Olympic street race in Munich.
“The very first thing my workforce supervisor stated to me after I received was, ‘Hennie, that is the beginning of huge issues for you. With this medal, you will get an excellent contract with a professional workforce, and subsequent 12 months you may be within the huge races just like the Tour de France.’ And yeah, that’s what I assumed too at the moment,” Kuiper says. “Now, although, I’m happy with my Olympic gold medal. It means way more to me as we speak than it did in 1972.”
The Montreal Video games in 1976 had been proper initially of an aerodynamics revolution in biking, though Olympic officers weren’t fairly in line with it. West Germany dominated the workforce pursuit in these days, successful 4 out of the earlier 5 world titles. They did it by good coaching strategies and having a watch on know-how. In 1976 they took one-piece silk skinsuits to Montreal, however the Olympic officers banned them, saying they gave the workforce an unfair benefit.
That modified for the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and in 1984 there have been even larger modifications. It’s fairly unbelievable now, however till then there have been no races for girls within the Olympic biking programme. Los Angeles 1984 noticed the introduction of a street race for girls, received by Connie Carpenter-Phinney of the USA. Astonishingly, it was one other 28 years earlier than ladies had occasion parity in Olympic biking.
Seoul 1988 noticed two biking occasions for girls: a street race received by Monique Knol of the Netherlands, and a observe dash during which the silver medalist scored a novel Olympic double. Christi Luding-Rothenburger received gold and silver medals on the 1988 winter Video games in Calgary, earlier than switching to biking for her summer time coaching and turning into the primary individual to win medals in two Olympic sports activities in the identical 12 months.
Montreal 1976, German Gregor Braun received gold within the particular person pursuit
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
128 years of velocity positive aspects
How a lot sooner are cyclists now in comparison with the early Olympics? Since 1920 the lads’s workforce pursuit has taken place over the identical distance, with largely the identical guidelines – making it excellent for monitoring the evolution in velocity
Our evaluation begins in 1920 on the Antwerp Olympics, when the workforce pursuit was raced over 4,000m, simply because it has been ever since – so let’s have a look at the successful time from every year’s ultimate, the ride-off for gold and silver. The winner of the 1920 workforce pursuit Olympic ultimate was Nice Britain in a time of 5 minutes, 14 seconds. That was improved in 1928 when Italy recorded 5 minutes, one second.
The five-minute barrier – or 30mph – was damaged in 1932, by Italy once more, in a time of 4 minutes, 52 seconds. France went sooner nonetheless in 1936 with 4 minutes, 45 seconds.The enhancements had been probably because of elevated coaching information. There was an obvious step again in 1948 in London, the place the winners, France once more, did 4 minutes, 57 seconds. The 333m observe utilized in Melbourne in 1956 may need helped in France’s decreasing the successful time to 4 minutes, 37 seconds; and the Rome observe will need to have helped in 1960 as the house workforce, Italy, received in 4 minutes, 30 seconds.
The following huge enhance in velocity in 1968 – 4 minutes, 22 seconds, by Denmark – owed a lot to the altitude of Mexico Metropolis. Then the aero arms race started, with Russia successful in Moscow in 1980 with a time of 4 minutes, 15 seconds, sporting Lycra skinsuits. By 1988 in Seoul, the place Russia received once more, in 4 minutes, 13 seconds, they had been driving ‘low-pro’ bikes with double disc wheels and sporting aero helmets, in addition to improved skinsuits. Aero enhancements snowballed after Seoul, and Germany received in Barcelona with 4 minutes, eight seconds, then broke the four-minute barrier in 2000, successful gold in Sydney. Australia went a second sooner in 2004 to report a final-winning time of three minutes, 58 seconds.
Staff GB broke the report in 2008 after which lowered it once more to 3 minutes, 50 seconds in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. However now the world had caught up. Each nation now spends every part it will possibly on researching and enhancing aerodynamics. In Tokyo 2020, Italy received the workforce pursuit in three minutes, 42 seconds – simply shy of 65kph (40.3mph) – an enchancment of 92 seconds in precisely 100 years. How briskly will they be entering into 2124?
The technological revolution,1992-2004
British cyclists have received extra Olympic medals than another nation, and the overwhelming majority of these medals had been received from 2008 onwards. The groundwork for this cascade of gold, silver and bronze began in 1992 when Chris Boardman received the person pursuit in Barcelona. Boardman dominated, and attracted consideration from the British press not simply due to his medal – the primary British biking gold for 72 years – however due to his radical Lotus bike.
Boardman’s success had extra to do along with his coaching, working with sports activities scientist Peter Eager. “Peter stripped away the myths of biking and targeted on confirmed information of physiology, and that appealed to me,” Boardman says. “When British Biking appointed Peter as its full-time head coach, he applied what he’d carried out with me on a wider scale by adopting a marketing strategy for sport. That plan was the catalyst for all of the success we’ve had since,” Boardman says.
One other revolution occurred in Atlanta in 1996 when the Olympics grew to become absolutely open to professionals, and the lads’s TT was received by Spain’s five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain. Atlanta additionally noticed mountain bike racing make its Olympic debut.
Staff GB picked up Boardman’s golden thread on the 2000 Sydney Olympics with one of many greatest surprises of the Video games. Jason Queally, a former water polo participant who began biking on the age of 25 and located a expertise for sprinting, received gold within the 1,000m time trial. In the meantime the sprinters took a silver medal within the workforce dash.
British domination, 2008-2020
London 2012, Laura Kenny (née Trott) on her option to the omnium gold
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
It began within the rain on the street, with Nicole Cooke’s fabulous gold medal on the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and continued with a gold medal nearly daily on the observe. Chris Hoy received three dash golds, one of many biggest achievements in British sport. There have been many fabulous performances in Beijing, however none extra trendy than Fabian Cancellara’s gold within the males’s time trial, sealing his standing as the very best male time triallist of his technology.
Staff GB did even higher at London 2012. Bradley Wiggins was on his lifetime finest type, and 2012 was his 12 months – as the primary British winner of the Tour de France, he was not only a bicycle owner, however a nationwide movie star. He had grown up in London, and successful the time trial on the streets of the capital despatched his recognition hovering.
After that, each British workforce member felt they needed to win gold, however none fought tougher or had such a nail-biter as Laura Kenny. Going into the ultimate spherical, the 500m time trial, she not solely needed to beat the competitors chief, Sarah Harmer, however beat her by two locations. She did, and her 35.110 seconds was an Olympic report. Kenny’s husband Jason took the household haul to 4 golds in the identical Video games when he took the dash ultimate in opposition to Grégory Baugé of France in two straight rides.
“I used to be there to do a job, all of us had been,” Jason Kenny says. “You simply get your head down and do it. You don’t really feel the ambiance, you simply concentrate on what you might be doing, each step of it. You might be on this bubble of the workforce and too busy to take anything in.”
Britain completed with eight golds, two silvers and two bronze medals – 12 in complete, a tally matched in Rio 2016. Can we do higher? The motion continues in Paris.
