Olympic Games 2021

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Valente wins women's Omnium to take final cycling gold of Tokyo Olympics

Track cycling at the Tokyo Olympic Games concluded August 8 with Jennifer Valente of the United States earning the gold medal in the women’s Omnium, filled with crashes in the opening race. Japan's Yumi Kajihara took the silver medal and Kirsten Wild (Netherlands) claimed the bronze.

Nearly half the field came down in two crashes during the Scratch race. In the final Points race, both the reigning World Champion Kajihara and the gold medallist Valente came down, but both re-joined the race and held their medal positions.

Leading from start to finish, Valente recorded the first gold on the track for the US this Olympic Games, and it was the first track cycling gold since 2000 for Team USA.

Olympics: Jason Kenny wins gold in men’s Keirin by flying out of the field early

Great Britain's Jason Kenny won the men’s Keirin at the Tokyo Olympic Games, making it the third consecutive Olympics for a gold in the discipline. Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia) took silver. 

The bronze went to Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands), who had already taken medals in the Team Sprint and individual Sprint.

Olympics: Denmark win men's Madison

Michael Mørkøv and Lasse Norman Hansen won the gold medal in the men's Madison at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The Danes had finished sixth the last time the Madison was contested in the Games for men, back in 2008. Denmark scored a total of 43 points in the 200-lap and 20 sprint race. 

Great Britain’s Matt Walls and Ethan Hayter were the early race leaders but had to attack late to stay in the medal hunt. They won the final sprint to take the silver medal, with France’s duo of Benjamin Thomas and Donavan Grondin taking bronze. 

Olympics: Great Britain dominate from start to finish to win women's Madison gold

Team Great Britain made history Friday by winning the first-ever gold medal in the women's Madison at the Olympic Games. The pairing of Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald dominated the event from start to finish at the Izu Velodrome. It was the fifth gold in Kenny's Olympic career and Archibald's second.

Denmark's Amalie Dideriksen and Julie Leth took the silver medal with the ROC pairing of Gulnaz Khatuntseva and Mariia Novoldskaia earned the bronze medal.

The Netherlands had been in contention for a medal, but  finished fourth after a crash with 70 laps to go. 

Olympics: Lavreysen beats Hoogland in all-Dutch men's Sprint final

Netherlands battled in the men's Sprint finals, Harrie Lavreysen winning the gold medal with teammate Jeffrey Hoogland taking silver at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Hoogland claimed the first race in the final before Lavreysen edged him to the line after a gripping joust in the second.

In the race for the bronze medal, Jack Carlin (Great Britain) defeated Denis Dmitriev (Russian Olympic Committee) 2-0.

Olympics: Braspennincx wins women's Keirin gold

Shanne Braspennincx of Netherlands won the gold medal in the women's Keirin at the Tokyo Olympic Games, having won both her quarter and semi-final heats.

Ellesse Andrews from New Zealand would take the silver and Canada’s Lauriane Genest who took the bronze. Canada and Ukraine each had two athletes in the finals with six riders.

In the competition among the six semifinal riders who missed out on the medal round, Germany’s Emma Hinze won the race to finish seventh overall.

Olympics: Matthew Walls wins gold in men's Omnium

Matthew Walls (Great Britain) won gold in the men’s Omnium at the Tokyo Olympic Games as Campbell Stewart (New Zealand) took the silver and 2016 Rio champion Elia Viviani (Italy) scored the bronze. 

In the four-race event, Walls began by winning the first event, the Scratch race. He then finished in a tie for second in the Tempo race, was second in the Elimination race, and took a decisive win in the Points race.

Olympics: Italy beat Denmark and break world record in men’s Team Pursuit final

Using a new world record, Italy won the gold medal in the men’s Team Pursuit final at the Tokyo Olympic Games. The quartet of Francesco Lamon, Simone Consonni, Jonathan Milan and Filippo Ganna set a time of 3:42.032.

Denmark set a time of 3:42.198 to take the silver medal, which was inside the world record Italy set in Tuesday’s first round.

In a clash of Australia and New Zealand for the bronze, Australia came out on top for the final podium spot after New Zealand lost a rider in a crash and the other three riders split.

Olympics: Dutch beat Great Britain to win men's Team Sprint gold

With a new Olympic record of 41.369, the Netherlands captured the gold medal in the men’s Team Sprint at the Tokyo Olympics Games, the Dutch team led by Jeffrey Hoogland, Roy van den Berg and Harrie Lavreysen.

Taking the silver medal was Great Britain’s Jack Carlin, Jason Kenny and Ryan Owens,  with a time of 44.589. The French trio of Florian Grengbo, Rayan Helal and Sebastien Vigier took bronze over Australia.

Olympics: Germany beat Great Britain to win gold in women's team pursuit

Germany set a new world record to win the women’s Team Pursuit gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the foursome of Mieke Kroeger, Franziska Brausse, Lisa Brennauer and Lisa Klein recording a time of 4:04.249. The team had set world bests in each of their two previous runs on the Izu Velodrome. 

Great Britain took the silver, in 4:10.607 and the bronze went to the United States, at 4:08.040.

Olympics: China win women's team sprint

The Chinese pair of Shanju Bao and Tianshi Zhong won the gold medal in the women's Team Sprint, in a time of 32.102. This followed their world-record time of 31.804 in qualifying. 

Germany took silver with the effort of Emma Hinze and Sophie Friedrich a mere 0.085 slower in a time of 31.980. 

The Russian Olympic Committee team (ROC) won the bronze medal beating the Netherlands in the ride-off.

Olympics: Primoz Roglic wins gold for Slovenia in men's time trial

Tokyo Olympics: Men's Individual Time Trial - As it happened

Slovenian Primož Roglič was in full charge of the 44.2km men's individual time trial at the Tokyo Olympic Games to win the gold medal on Wednesday. His time of 55:04 was more than a full minute faster than any of his 38 competitors.

His Jumbo-Visma teammate, Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands) would come the closest, 1:01 back, for the silver medal, repeating his runner-up performance from the 2016 Rio Games. Rohan Dennis (Australia) took the bronze, an additional two seconds off the winning pace. 

Swiss national champion Stefan Küng began the two-lap course two positions behind Dennis and crossed the line just one second slower to finish fourth. The race favourite and final rider on the course, World Champion Filippo Ganna (Italy), recorded the fastest time at the first check, but faded on the undulating course to cross the line at the Fuji International Speedway in fifth place. 

Olympics: Annemiek Van Vleuten races to gold in women's time trial

Tokyo Olympics: Women's Individual Time Trial - As it happened

Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) won her first-ever Olympic gold medal on Wednesday with commanding performance in the women's individual time trial at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Across the undulating 22.1km course, Van Vleuten set the fastest times at every checkpoint and crossed the finish line at the Fuji International Speedway in 30:13.

Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) finished 56 seconds back for the silver, while the Dutch team secured a second spot on the podium with Anna van der Breggen posting a time five seconds slower for the bronze. 

The Swiss time trial national champion moved from fifth at the first check to second at the line, just ahead of World Champion Van der Breggen. Grace Brown of Australia placing fourth, and American Amber Neben finishing fifth.

Olympics: Jolanda Neff storms to women's mountain bike gold in Tokyo

Switzerland took all three medals in the women's cross-country mountain bike race on Tuesday, the gold going to Jolanda Neff, who had broken her hand at the final round of the World Cup just six weeks ago.

Teammates Sina Frei and Linda Indergand rounded out the medal heist, Frei taking silver and Indergand with bronze, a little over a minute back. 

Heavy rains created muddy conditions which impacted many of the race favourites, including a sixth-place finish for France's Loana Lecomte, who is unbeaten this season in World Cup events. Defending Olympic champion Jenny Rissveds (Sweden) encountered a flat tyre to finish 14th, while World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (France) finished10th. 

Olympics: Tom Pidcock takes sensational men's mountain bike gold for Great Britain

Tom Pidcock earned the first gold medal for Great Britain in mountain biking with his victory in the men’s cross-country race at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Mathias Flueckiger (Switzerland) claimed the silver followed by David Valero Serrano (Spain) taking the bronze. 

On the first of seven laps of the 4.1-kilometre circuit the race favourites were off the front that included Pidcock, Flueckiger, Nino Schurter (Switzerland) and Mathieu van der Poel (Belgium). Pidcock would avoid a crash by Van der Poel before reaching the second lap, and the Belgian withdrew later from the race. 

The British rider picked his lines on the Izu MTB course to the victory. Former champion, Schurter, was forced to settle for fourth at the finish line.

Olympics: Shock gold for Anna Kiesenhofer in women's road race

Tokyo Olympics: Women's Road Race - As it happened

Anna Kiesenhofer (Austria) pulled off one of the biggest ever shocks in women's elite road racing to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games. 

After questionable tactics from the major nations during the race and a reported lack of communication on the road, Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands), who said she was unaware of that Kiesenhofer was still up the road, attacked out of the field with 2km to go and crossed the line thinking she had won the Olympic title only to learn later that she had taken silver. 

Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) finished with the bronze medal and Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) was fourth, while Marianne Vos (Netherlands) took the small group sprint for fifth. Lisa Brennauer (Germany) was sixth, Coryn Rivera (USA) seventh, Marta Cavali (Italy) eighth, Olga Zabelinskaya (Uzbekistan) ninth, and Uttrup Ludwig 10th.

The elite women's 137km road race started from Musashinonomori Park and included two mid-race climbs over Donushi Road and Kagosaka Pass, for 2,692 metres of elevation gain, before a punchy final at the Fuji International Speedway.

Kiesenhofer, who lined up with no teammates, was part of an early-race move with Carla Oberholzer (South Africa), Vera Looser (Namibia), Omer Shapira (Israel), and Anna Plichta (Poland) that gained more than 10 minutes on the main field. Kiesenhofer was strong enough  to hold on for a solo victory at the Fuji International Speedway.

Olympics: Richard Carapaz claims men's road race title

Tokyo Olympics: Men's Road Race - As it happened

Richard Carapaz (Ecuador) won the gold medal in the elite men's road race at the Tokyo Olympic Games on Saturday, July 24. Carapaz crossed the line with a solo victory over one minute ahead of a chase group sprint where Wout van Aert (Belgium) captured the silver medal and Tadej Pogačar (Slovienia) the bronze.

The men’s 234km road race was contested by 134 riders with five major climbs on the route between Musashinonomori Park and the Fuji International Speedway. The dominant nations of France, Italy, Belgium, Colombia, Spain and the Netherlands each lined up with five riders, while Carapaz lined up with only one teammate, Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado.

Tokyo Olympic Games

The 2020 Olympic Games, due to start on July 24 in Tokyo, were forced to be postponed to 2021 by a global pandemic of a new type of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that causes in some people severe pneumonia that has resulted in thousands of deaths worldwide.

Even as Japan fought against the Olympics going forward amid low vaccination rates and increasing infections, the world's athletes, supporters and media will begin to arrive in the country for the XXXII Olympiad.

The men's road race takes place on Saturday, July 24 as one of the first events, with superstars like Tadej Pogačar, Primož Roglič, Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert among the favourites.

The women's road race is next on July 25, where Anna van der Breggen will try to repeat her gold medal performance with the support of a strong Dutch team.

Mountain bike cross country is next with the men on July 26, where Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock will try to take the title from the full time riders. The women's field compete on July 27 on the Izu course.

The time trials will be held on the Fuji International Speedway on July 28, with Tom Dumoulin returning from a few months' time-out to try to upgrade his silver in Rio to gold. The women, racing the same day, will see a new champion in the absence of three-time winner Kristin Armstrong. Her compatriot Chloe Dygert is a favourite against the Dutch riders Van der Breggen and Annemiek van Vleuten.

Track cycling closes out the cycling events at the Games, with six events for men and women: Team Pursuit, Team Sprint, Individual Sprint, Keirin, Omnium, and Madison.

You can find out how to watch all cycling events of the Tokyo Olympics, as well as all other events with our handy guide using ExpressVPN.

Latest news - road

• Kristin Armstrong: Van Vleuten's Olympic gold medal ride was 'on a completely different planet'
• Dygert turns attention to track as USA finish outside the medals in Olympic time trial
• Tokyo Olympics: Ganna turns attention to team pursuit after fifth in time trial
• Masomah Ali Zada brings message of hope for women’s rights and refugees at Tokyo Olympics
• Roglic bounces back from Tour disappointment with dominant Tokyo Olympics time trial gold
• Tokyo Olympics: Van Aert and Evenepoel finish outside medals in time trial
• Tom Dumoulin 'happy to be a cyclist again' after Olympic silver
• Rohan Dennis 'proud' to upgrade to bronze in Tokyo Olympics time trial
• Küng pipped to Olympic bronze despite an 'almost perfect' time trial
• Olympics: Anna van der Breggen says 'it wasn't there' for win in time trial
• Annemiek van Vleuten puts social media negativity behind her to win Olympic gold
• Olympics: Reusser in disbelief over beating Van der Breggen to silver
• Sarah Gigante ‘so proud’ of injury comeback and Olympic Games performances
• Tokyo Olympics women's time trial - start times
• Tokyo Olympics men's time trial – start times
• Tokyo Olympics: 7 riders to watch for the women’s individual time trial
• Tokyo Olympics: 7 riders to watch in the men's individual time trial
• Van der Breggen pulled from bike by Tokyo Olympics official during time trial training
• Geraint Thomas: I’ve crashed in my two main targets but I've not had a bad year
• Richard Carapaz: Olympic gold is the best thing that could happen in my life
• Richie Porte disappointed with Olympics road race, looks to time trial
• Woods: 'I did all I could' in hunt for a medal at Olympics
• Geraint Thomas: I must have done something wrong in a previous life
• Adam Yates: I didn't have the legs in Olympic Games road race
• Tokyo Olympics: Crash for Great Britain’s Thomas and Geoghegan Hart in men's road race
• Van Avermaet: Winning Olympic gold changed my life
• Simon Geschke out of Tokyo Olympics after positive COVID-19 test
• Spain's road teams clear to race Tokyo Olympics after COVID-19 positive
• Tokyo Olympics: Simon Yates thankful to start after Tour de France crash
• Tokyo Olympics: Greg Van Avermaet's BMC Teammachine SLR01
• Tokyo Olympics: Wout Van Aert shrugs off the target on his back
• Tokyo Olympics: 12 riders to watch in the men's road race
• Rohan Dennis to skip Olympic road race and focus on time trial
• Olympics bikes and tech: What we're hoping and expecting to see
• Chaves hopes to keep consistent season going at Tokyo Olympics
• Tokyo Olympics: 12 riders to watch in the women's road race
• Moolman Pasio's insider knowledge of Dutch team an advantage at Tokyo Olympics
• Tokyo Olympics: Mexico loses two spots due to misinterpretation of qualifying rules
• Geraint Thomas: We have no egos in the Olympics team
• Mollema: My Tour de France condition is the perfect basis for the Olympics
• Annemiek van Vleuten blog: I'm ready to suffer at the Olympic Games
• Lizzie Deignan: Being underdogs at the Tokyo Olympics isn’t a bad thing
• Kasia Niewiadoma: Ready for anything at the Olympics
• Sarah Gigante: From howls of pain and disappointment to an Olympics dream
• Pogacar: I don't know what I was thinking with my Olympics attack
• Olympics: Wout van Aert sees the silver lining
• Brandon McNulty: Sixth place is 'super big for me' at Tokyo Olympics
• Olympics: Van Vleuten celebrates but mistakes silver for gold
• Anna Kiesenhofer: Mathematician, amateur cyclist, Olympic champion
• Deignan frustrated with 'weird agendas' in Olympic road race
• No confusion or disappointment for Longo Borghini as she secures second Olympics bronze
• Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig calls 'passive' women's race 'bullshit’ at Tokyo Olympics
• Dutch divided at Olympics: Vos knew Kiesenhofer was away, Van der Breggen didn't

Latest news - mountain bike

• Neff decries Ferrand-Prévot's 'stupid move' in Tokyo Olympics mountain bike race
• Tokyo Olympics: Courtney, Batten have mixed fortunes on altered MTB course
• Olympics: Course changes take their toll on Evie Richards despite blistering start
• Ramp back for women’s Olympic mountain bike race with extreme weather course changes
• Ferrand-Prévot looking to add missing piece in Tokyo Olympics
• Batten 'embracing the chaos' as Typhoon Nepartak heads for Olympics
• Tom Pidcock takes ‘unbelievable’ Olympic gold just weeks after collarbone break
• No fractures for Van der Poel after Tokyo Olympics crash
• Mathieu van der Poel blames ramp removal for Tokyo Olympics mountain bike crash
• Mathieu van der Poel crashes out of Olympic Games mountain bike race
• Tokyo Olympics: Heat chamber helps Tom Pidcock to 'best possible shape'

Latest news - track

• Great Britain tops Tokyo Olympics cycling medal table
• Tokyo Olympics: What is the Keirin?
• Tokyo Olympics: What is the Madison?
• Tokyo Olympics: What is the Individual Sprint?
• Tokyo Olympics: What is the Omnium?
• Tokyo Olympics 2021: What is the Team Sprint
• Tokyo Olympics 2021: What is the team pursuit
• Lotte Kopecky: ‘Giving up an Olympic race is a terrible feeling’
• After 13 years, Mørkøv claims Olympic gold in Madison's return
• Madison gold just out of reach for British pair Walls and Hayter
  Laura Kenny’s Olympics ends with crash in Omnium but Briton heads home proud of Madison gold
• Laura Kenny wins historic fifth Olympic gold medal
• New Zealand’s Stewart goes from harrowing miss to Olympic silver
• Olympics: Jason Kenny's reign as Individual Sprint champion ends in Tokyo
• Olympics: Katy Marchant and Laurine van Riessen crash out of Keirin quarter finals
• Olympics: Gate gutted after New Zealand Team Pursuit medal race crash
• Olympics: Australia's team pursuit bronze feels like gold after early setback
• Italian riders reveal how they set up Ganna to defeat Denmark and win Olympic team pursuit gold
• Kaarle McCulloch embraces the unpredictable with Olympics Keirin tilt
• Danish rider apologies for Olympics team pursuit crash with Tanfield
• Great Britain's Ed Clancy ends Olympic career due to back injury
• USA take bronze in Olympic Games women's team pursuit
• Team GB's Stephen Park wants Denmark disqualified for 'shin tape' use
• Olympics: Crash between Denmark and Great Britain in men's Team Pursuit
• Bastion confirms its handlebar was in use during Australia's Olympics Team Pursuit crash
• AusCycling: Identifying exact reason for Olympics Team Pursuit incident will take time
• Argon 18: It was not our handlebar in Australian Olympic Team Pursuit crash
• Australian rider's bars break and lead to crash in Olympic team pursuit qualifying
• Matthew Glaetzer: From cancer to a shot at Tokyo Olympics track cycling medal
• Rally Cycling duo ready for Olympic Games debut in women's Team Pursuit

Latest news - BMX

• Tokyo Olympics: BMX Freestyle gallery
• Olympic BMX champion Shriever: Crowdfunded en route to gold
• Connor Fields suffered brain hemorrhage in Olympics BMX crash but is out of ICU
• Logan Martin wins BMX Freestyle, first Tokyo Olympics cycling gold for Australia
• Charlotte Worthington takes first Olympics BMX freestyle gold for Great Britain
• Olympics: Defending champion Connor Fields 'stable and awake' after semifinal crash

Start lists

• Tokyo Olympics road race and time trial start list
• Tokyo Olympics MTB events start list
• Tokyo Olympics track events start list

Teams

• Tokyo Olympics: Italy for cycling events
• Tokyo Olympics: Australia for cycling events
• Tokyo Olympics: Belgium for cycling events
• Tokyo Olympics: Great Britain for cycling events
• Tokyo Olympics: Team USA for cycling events

Road routes

• Tokyo Olympic Games road race routes
• Tokyo Olympic Games individual time trial routes

2021 Olympic Games Cycling schedule

• Tokyo Olympic Games detailed cycling schedule