Rebecca James (Great Britain) advanced to the semis
Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) wins Olympic Gold in Rio
Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) on his way to winning the gold medal at Rio Olympics(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
2016 Olympic Games men's road race at Fort Copacabana
Anna van der Breggen starts to celebrate after beating Emma Johansson in the sprint with Elisa Longo Borghini claiming third(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Mara Abbott (USA) with Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) were leading the race on the final climb(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Italian women pose with the Olympic rings
Kristin Armstrong is congratulated by her son Lucas
Krisitn Armstrong (USA)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tayor Phinney (United States)
Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) won gold in the time trial in the Rio Olympic Games
Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) en route to gold in the time trial in the Rio Olympic Games
Bradley Wiggins on the front during the Team GB team pursuit training session
Laura Trott (Great Britain) celebrates her Omnium gold medal
Sarah Hammer (USA) leads Laura Trott (Great Britain) in the points race
Anna Meares (Australia) took another medal(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner go shoulder to shoukder
Elia Viviani (Italy) can't believe his gold medal victory
Elia Viviani (Italy) gets up having been involved in the crash
Callum Skinner, Jason Kenny and Philip Hindes of Great Britain celebrate after winning gold and getting an Olympic record in the Men's Team Sprint
The socks of team Australia are checked before the Women's Team Pursuit
Patrick Constable of Australia competes in the Men's Sprint Qualifying
Jason Kenny edges ahead in the sprint to win the keirin and his sixth gold medal
China's Zhong Tianshi (L) and China's Gong Jinjie compete in the women's Team Sprint
Team Great Britain on the way to team pursuit gold
The USA team in action in the women's team pursuit(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
South Korea's Park Sanghoon and Elia Viviani (Italy) hit the deck as Glenn O'Shea (Australia) tries to stay upright
Lasse Norman Hansen (Denmark)
There was plenty of British support in the stands(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Jason Kenny (Great Britain) nudges ahead of Matthijs Buchli (Netherlands) to take gold(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Kristina Vogel (Germany) expresses her delight with winning gold
Nino Schurter goes airborne on his way to Gold.
Peter Sagan (Slovakia) had his hopes dashed by flat tires(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
Majka, Van Avermaet and Fuglsang on the podium
As athletes return home from the Olympic Games and the dust settles on the two weeks of competition, we look back at the cycling events with this special gallery of images from Rio.
The cycling action at the Olympics began on the first day of competition on Sunday August 6, with the hilly men’s road race course providing a spectacular race. Greg Van Avermaet won gold for Belgium after a thrilling finale that saw Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) and Sergio Henao (Colombia) crash on the descent. That left Rafal Majka (Poland) out front alone but he was caught by Van Avermaet and Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark) with two kilometres to race.
The women’s race was even more thrilling with Mara Abbott of the USA left heartbroken after being caught within sight of the finish by Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands), Emma Johansson (Sweden) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy). Annemiek Van Vleuten crashed on the descent when ahead of Abbott but fortunately was not seriously injured, but this did not quieten complaints that the final road race descent was overly demanding and so dangerous.
The time trial events were dominated by two giants of the sport, with Fabian Cancellara taking gold in one of the final major races of his long career, and Kristin Armstrong of the USA taking a third Olympic gold after coming out of retirement.
Britain won a total of six gold medals, with Bradley Wiggins taking his fifth gold while anchoring the men’s team pursuit and Laura Trott again won two gold medals in the women’s team pursuit and the omnium. The other nations struggled and were left confounded with German Kristina Vogel one of the few to break the British stranglehold by winning her second career gold medal, adding the individual sprint to her team sprint title from 2012. Jason Kenny also increased his haul of gold, winning medals in the men's team sprint, the sprint and the keirin, after risking disqualification the latter due to problems with the derny.
After the BMX racing during the second week, the cross country mountain bike races ended the games on two wheels, with Nino Schurter (Switzerland) skilfully avoiding flats and riding strong to out perform his rivals, including Peter Sagan (Slovakia), who started strongly and jumped to the head of the race, only to suffer two flats. Jenny Rissveds (Sweden) stole the show in the women’s race, beating the bigger-name contenders to take gold.
Click or swipe through the gallery of images to relive the cycling events of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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