The men's individual road race was an event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. 115 cyclists from 32 nations took part. The maximum number of cyclists per nation was four. The event was won by Sergei Sukhoruchenkov of the Soviet Union, the nation's second victory (after 1960; tying France for second-most behind Italy) in the men's individual road race. His teammate Yuri Barinov took bronze. Czesław Lang's silver put Poland on the podium in the event for the second straight Games.
Background This was the 11th 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). The traditional western powers (Italy, France, Belgium, Sweden) in the sport participated in the Moscow Games amid the American-led boycott. In previous years, the boycott would have had little effect on the competition, but in the late 1970s, the United States had its first international cycling star: Greg LeMond (who would turn professional in 1981 and never compete in the Olympics) who would have been the favorite. Instead, host-nation cyclist Sergei Sukhoruchenkov was the pick to win. Gilbert Glaus of Switzerland (1978) and Gianni Giacomini of Italy (1979) had won world championships and were also significant contenders.
Libya and Zimbabwe each made their debut in the men's individual road race. Great Britain made its 11th 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 189 kilometre course at the Krylatskoye Sports Complex in Moscow.Official Report, vol. 3, p. 211.
Schedule
All times are Moscow Time (UTC+3)
Date Time Round Monday, 28 July 1980 10:00 Final
Results
Sukhoruchenkov broke away on lap 3, with a chase group including Glaus and Giacomini catching him on lap 5. Sukhoruchenkov broke away from that pack with 32 kilometres to go, riding by himself the rest of the way to the largest margin of victory in the event since 1896.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Sergei Sukhoruchenkov 4:48:28.9 Czesław Lang + 2' 58" Yuri Barinov 4 Thomas Barth + 7' 44"5 Tadeusz Wojtas 6 Anatoly Yarkin + 8' 26"7 Adri van der Poel 8 Christian Faure 9 Marc Madiot + 8' 32"10 Andreas Petermann + 8' 49"11 Gilbert Glaus 12 Harry Hannus 13 Jiří Škoda 14 Marco Cattaneo 15 Jacques Hanegraaf + 8' 52"16 Peter Jonsson + 9' 05"17 Vlastibor Konečný + 9' 10"18 Gianni Giacomini 19 Herbert Spindler 20 Jesús Torres 21 John Herety 22 Krzysztof Sujka 23 Yury Kashirin 24 Kari Puisto 25 Michael Wilson 26 Peter Winnen 27 Giuseppe Petito 28 András Takács 29 Richard Trinkler + 12' 09"30 Francis Castaing + 15' 39"31 Henning Jørgensen 32 Olaf Ludwig 33 Jacques van Meer 34 Mario Medina 35 Hubert Seiz 36 Johann Traxler + 17' 19"37 Ladislav Ferebauer 38 Mauno Uusivirta 39 Bernt Scheler 40 Zoltán Halász 41 Billy Kerr 42 Verner Blaudzun 43 Régis Clère 44 Anders Adamson + 17' 29"45 Stephen Roche + 20' 29"46 Luc De Smet + 20' 37"47 Jeff Williams 48 Jürg Luchs 49 Neil Martin 50 Bruno Bulić + 22' 07"51 György Szuromi + 24' 44"52 László Halász — Kevin Bradshaw Remo Sansonetti Graham Seers Johann Lienhart Jan Nevens Ronald Van Avermaet Jan Wijnants Gilson Alvaristo José Carlos de Lima Fernando Louro Davis Pereira Borislav Asenov Yordan Penchev Andon Petrov Nencho Staykov Joseph Evouna Joseph Kono Thomas Nyemeg Nicolas Owona Gregorio Aldo Arencibia Carlos Cardet Antonio Quintero Michal Klasa Allan Jacobsen Per Sandahl Jørgensen Zeragaber Gebrehiwot Jemal Rogora Tilahun Woldesenbet Musse Yohannes Sixten Wackström Joseph Waugh Bernd Drogan Tony Lally Alberto Minetti Peter Aldridge Salloum Kaysar Kamal Ghalayni El-Munsif Ben Youssef Ali Hamid El-Aila Mohamed Ganfud Nuri Kaheil Joseph Farrugia Carmel Muscat Alfred Tonna Luvsandagvyn Jargalsaikhan Batsükhiin Khayankhyarvaa Dorjpalamyn Tsolmon Dashjamtsyn Tömörbaatar Jan Jankiewicz Mircea Romaşcanu Teodor Vasile Maurizio Casadei Mats Gustafsson Olinto Silva Juan Arroyo Vinko Polončič Bojan Ropret Bojan Udovič David Gillow Michael McBeath Kurt Zellhofer Albert Micallef Roberto Tomassini
References
External links Official Report