The men's road time trial, one of the cycling events at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, took place on 1 August over a 44 km (27.3 mi) course in southwest London and Surrey.[1]
| Men's road time trial at the Games of the XXX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Winner Bradley Wiggins as he approached Bushy Park, 2 km from the finish line. | |||||||||||||
| Venue | London and Surrey | ||||||||||||
| Date | 1 August | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 37 from 30 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 50:39.54 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain won the gold medal.[2][3][4][5]
Qualification
editEach nation in the top 15 of the 2011 UCI World Tour, top 7 of the UCI Europe Tour, top 4 of the UCI America Tour, top 2 of the UCI Asia Tour and leaders of the UCI Oceania and Africa Tours qualified to have one rider in the race. In addition, ten nations gained an extra rider through the performance of their riders in the 2011 UCI World Time Trial Championships; these were Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, Australia, Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Denmark, Spain, Sweden and Canada. The United States were given an extra rider at the expense of Luxembourg, who were not represented in the race.
Pre-race favourites
editThe defending champion in this discipline was Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland. He was expected to mount a strong challenge, but crashed heavily in the closing stages of the Olympic road race, initially putting his participation in the time trial in doubt. Scans revealed that he had avoided breaking his collarbone for the second time in the season, though, and he started in the time trial.[6]
Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain was also considered a big favourite[failed verification], having won seven previous time trials in the 2012 season.[clarification needed][failed verification]. Current world champion Tony Martin of Germany was tipped as an early favourite, but had suffered an injury-wrecked season, and pulled out of the Tour de France in an effort to be fit for the Olympic race.[7]
Of the other contenders, Great Britain's Chris Froome had shown strong form at the Tour de France, where he finished second in two time trials[citation needed]. Michael Rogers, the 2003–2005 time trial world champion represented Australia, with 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans electing not to start due to fatigue.[citation needed] Young American Taylor Phinney, who won the opening time trial of the 2012 Giro D'Italia represented the United States.[citation needed] Sylvain Chavanel was the sole French rider, along with Luis León Sánchez of Spain and Marco Pinotti, winner of a time trial in the Giro, who represented Italy.[citation needed]
Course
edit
The competition consisted of a time trial over one lap of a 44 km (27.3 mi) course, with staggered starts.[8] Starting and finishing at the historic Hampton Court Palace, the course passed through areas of southwest London and Surrey including Esher, Kingston upon Thames, Teddington and Bushy Park.[9]
Schedule
edit| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 1 August 2012 | 14:15 (BST) | Final |
Results
editThe entry list was published on 1 August.[10]
References
edit- ^ "Olympic sport competition schedule". London 2012. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
- ^ "Bradley Wiggins wins Olympics gold in cycling time trial". BBC Sport. 1 August 2012. Archived from the original on 28 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ Fotheringham, William (1 August 2012). "Bradley Wiggins wins time trial gold to become Britain's most prolific Olympian". Guardian UK. London. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ "Wiggins makes history as Britain wins first golds at London 2012". CNN. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ "Wiggins rides into history in Olympic time trial". Cycling News. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ Skretta, Dave (31 July 2012). "Cycling: 'Hard-man' Fabian Cancellara likely to defend time-trial title". The Independent. London.
- ^ "Martin makes Tour de France exit". BBC Sport.
- ^ "Time Trial competition format". London 2012. Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
- ^ "London 2012 Olympic time trial route unveiled". BikeRadar. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
- ^ "London 2012 Olympic Games: Men's time trial start list". cyclingweekly.co.uk. 24 July 2012.
External links
edit
Media related to Cycling at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's road time trial at Wikimedia Commons