Cycling at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's individual road race

The men's individual road race at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, was held on Friday 7 December 1956. There were 88 participants from 28 nations. Of the 88 starters 44 rode the distance to the end.[1] The event was won by Ercole Baldini of Italy, the nation's first medal in the men's individual road race. Arnaud Geyre took silver, France's first medal since back-to-back golds in 1936 and 1948. Alan Jackson's bronze was Great Britain's first medal in the event since 1896.

Men's cycling road race
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
French team at a drink station
VenueBroadmeadows, Victoria, Melbourne
187.73 km (116.7 mi)
Date7 December 1956
Competitors88 from 28 nations
Winning time5:21:17
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Ercole Baldini
 Italy
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Arnaud Geyre
 France
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Alan Jackson
 Great Britain
← 1952
1960 →

French and British officials protested against Baldini's victory, claiming that he was protected from the hot sun by the Olympic film unit van that drove alongside him, but the protest was upheld.[2] The start of the race was delayed fifteen minutes when it was discovered that two 'unauthorised' Irish cyclists, Tom Gerrard and Paudie Fitzgerald were in the starting field.[2] The two were removed and then "joined 200 supporters in passing out Irish nationalist literature."[3]

Each nation could enter up to four cyclists; nations entering at least three cyclists had the scores of their best three finishers used for the team road race event.

Background

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This was the fifth 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). Ercole Baldini was a "heavy favorite" after setting an amateur world record in the one-hour ride and winning the 1956 individual pursuit world championship.[3]

Colombia, Ethiopia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela each made their debut in the men's individual road race; East and West Germany competed as the United Team of Germany. Great Britain made its fifth appearance in the event, the only nation to have competed in each appearance to date.

Competition format and course

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The mass-start race was on a course that covered 11 laps of a 17.0665 kilometres circuit, for a total of 187.73 kilometres. The course was "a fairly hilly ride" with "two large climbs that both peaked at 12% grades, the second of which [was] over a full kilometre."[3][4]

Schedule

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All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)

The day started mild, but it became "rather warm" during the afternoon.[4]

Date Time Round
Friday, 7 December 1956 10:00 Final

Results

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The race started "rather quiet," with pressure picking up from lap 3 to lap 5. Many riders fell behind in the heat during that stretch. Feeding was allowed in lap 5. There were not many falls during this race, but the most serious happened then, with a bag tangling in Trickey's wheel and resulting in a crash that eliminated him and Mengistou. Baldini separated from the pack in lap 8, with 50 kilometres left, and was not challenged the rest of the way as he only increased his lead. A pack of four riders competed for second through fifth places.[3][4]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
  Ercole Baldini   Italy 5:21:17
  Arnaud Geyre   France 5:23:16
  Alan Jackson   Great Britain 5:23:16
4 Horst Tüller   United Team of Germany 5:23:16
5 Gustav-Adolf Schur   United Team of Germany 5:23:16
6 Arthur Brittain   Great Britain 5:23:40
7 Arnaldo Pambianco   Italy 5:23:40
8 Maurice Moucheraud   France 5:23:40
9 Magdaleno Cano   Mexico 5:23:40
10 Lars Nordwall   Sweden 5:23:40
11 Paul Nyman   Finland 5:23:40
12 Michel Vermeulin   France 5:23:40
13 Ramón Hoyos   Colombia 5:23:40
14 William Holmes   Great Britain 5:23:50
15 Anatoly Cherepovich   Soviet Union 5:23:50
16 Mykola Kolumbet   Soviet Union 5:23:50
17 Karl-Ivar Andersson   Sweden 5:23:50
18 Reinhold Pommer   United Team of Germany 5:24:38
19 Harold Reynolds   Great Britain 5:24:44
20 Roland Ströhm   Sweden 5:24:44
21 Juan Pérez   Chile 5:25:38
22 Erich Hagen   United Team of Germany 5:26:38
23 Norbert Verougstraete   Belgium 5:26:47
24 Gustaaf De Smet   Belgium 5:26:47
25 Guremu Demboba   Ethiopia 5:26:58
26 Veselin Petrović   Yugoslavia 5:26:58
27 René Abadie   France 5:27:28
28 Dino Bruni   Italy 5:27:28
29 Patrick Murphy   Canada 5:27:28
30 Franz Wimmer   Austria 5:27:28
31 Gunnar Göransson   Sweden 5:30:45
32 Viktor Kapitonov   Soviet Union 5:30:45
33 René Deceja   Uruguay 5:31:58
34 Aurelio Cestari   Italy 5:34:20
35 Viktor Vershinin   Soviet Union 5:34:21
36 Mesfen Tesfaye   Ethiopia 5:34:25
37 Kim Ho-soon   South Korea 5:34:37
38 Zehaye Bahta   Ethiopia 5:34:37
39 Pablo Hurtado   Colombia 5:34:49
40 Jaime Villegas   Colombia 5:34:49
41 John O'Sullivan   Australia 5:36:58
42 François Van Den Bosch   Belgium 5:38:16
43 Joe Becker   United States 5:38:16
44 Jim Nevin   Australia 5:47:02
Jim Nestor   Australia DNF
Jack Trickey   Australia DNF
Walter Bortel   Austria DNF
Kurt Schein   Austria DNF
Rudolf Maresch   Austria DNF
François De Wagheneire   Belgium DNF
Fred Markus   Canada DNF
James Davies   Canada DNF
Jorge Luque   Colombia DNF
František Jursa   Czechoslovakia DNF
Jaroslav Cihlář   Czechoslovakia DNF
Jiří Nouza   Czechoslovakia DNF
Jiří Opavský   Czechoslovakia DNF
Palle Lykke   Denmark DNF
Negousse Mengistou   Ethiopia DNF
Tetsuo Osawa   Japan DNF
Im Sang-jo   South Korea DNF
Gaston Dumont   Luxembourg DNF
Francisco Lozano   Mexico DNF
Felipe Liñán   Mexico DNF
Rafael Vaca   Mexico DNF
Muhammad Naqi Mallick   Pakistan DNF
Din Meraj   Pakistan DNF
Saleem Farooqi   Pakistan DNF
Shazada Muhammad Shah-Rukh   Pakistan DNF
Alfred Swift   South Africa DNF
Robert Fowler   South Africa DNF
Jan Hettema   South Africa DNF
Charles Jonker   South Africa DNF
Hylton Mitchell   Trinidad and Tobago DNF
David Rhoads   United States DNF
Erhard Neumann   United States DNF
George Van Meter   United States DNF
Alberto Velázquez   Uruguay DNF
Eduardo Puertollano   Uruguay DNF
Walter Moyano   Uruguay DNF
Arsenio Chirinos   Venezuela DNF
Antonio Montilla   Venezuela DNF
Domingo Rivas   Venezuela DNF
Franco Cacioni   Venezuela DNF
Trần Gia Thu   Vietnam DNF
Nguyễn Hw Thoa   Vietnam DNF
Ngô Thành Liêm   Vietnam DNF
Trung Trung Lê   Vietnam DNF

References

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  1. ^ "Cycling at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Road Race, Individual". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  2. ^ a b Wallechinsky, David (1984). The Complete Book of the Olympics. England: Penguin Books. p. 207. ISBN 0140066322.
  3. ^ a b c d "Road Race, Individual, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Official Report, p. 415.
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