Olympics

Olympic Games, 2020
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Dates: July 23 – August 8, 2021

Useful links: Event schedule | Road race and time trial courses | Men's road race start list | Women's road race start list | Men's time trial start list | Women's time trial start list | Guide to track cycling | Guide to mountain biking

While cycling has its major annual events in which each rider strives for success, every four years an opportunity arises to take a rare and historic gold medal at the Olympic Games.

For the Tokyo 2020 Olympic cycling events, however, the riders have had to wait five years. Originally scheduled for July/August 2020, the Games were moved to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now taking place between July 23 and August 8 2021, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are still hamstrung by the effects of the coronavirus, with athletes subject to daily testing and restricted movement. Moreover, there will be no spectators at all for the Games in Japan due to a continuing surge of Covid cases.

Fortunately all the scheduled events are still set to go ahead, with the men's road race on Saturday (July 24) the first event to award a medal in the entire 2020 Olympics. That will be followed by the women's road race on Sunday (July 25) before both the men's and women's individual time trials on Wednesday (July 28).

Many of the world's best riders from the professional peloton will be in attendance, with defending champions Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) and Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) both in Tokyo to defend the road race gold medals they won at Rio 2016. There'll be new champions in the time trials after Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) and Kristin Armstrong (USA) retired following the last Olympics.

Of course there's much more than road cycling at the Olympic Games, including a host of track events to enjoy, including the team pursuit, the newly revamped Omnium, the Madison, the sprint, the team sprint, and the keirin. All the track events take place between August 2 and the final day of the Games on August 8.

Elsewhere there'll be the men's and women's cross-country mountain biking races, which take place on Monday July 26 and Tuesday July 27 respectively.

Finally there's the two BMX events, the Freestyle and the Racing. The Freestyle takes place on July 31 and August 1, with the Racing on July 29 and 30.

Road events

The only race you could really compare the Olympics road race to is the World Championships. Both races are usually based around a circuit in the road race and quite long time trials with riders competing for their countries and not their trade teams.

But, of course with the Olympics, riders have to wait for another four, or five, in this case, years before having another go at winning. In the World Championships, riders can try every 12 months. There aren't too many chances to go for a gold medal in a professional career, so it attracts a very exciting field of world-class talent.

In Tokyo, the Olympic men's road race will take place on Saturday, July 24. The Olympic women's road race follows on Sunday, July 25.

On Wednesday, July 28, both men and women will race their respective Olympic time trials.

Track events

After the road events, we see the track riders take to the Izu Velodrome on Monday, August 2 through to Sunday, August 8.

The riders will compete in the team pursuit, sprint, team sprint, omnium, and the newly added madison.

The Tokyo 2020 track cycling has a new format for the omnium with four endurance races, those being the scratch, elimination, tempo, and points race all in one day of competition, compared to the old two-day fight that had a flying lap, individual pursuit, and a time trial.

For an in-depth explanation of each event, check out our guide to track cycling disciplines.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic cycling schedule

Road race events

Saturday July 24, men's road race, 11.00am-6.15pm, (234km) Route

Sunday July 25, women's road race, 1.00pm-5.35pm (137km) Route

Time trial events

Wednesday July 28, men's and women's time trials, 11.30am-5.20pm (44.2km and 22.1km) Route

Track events

Monday August 2, 3.30pm - 6.30pm

Women's Team Sprint Qualifying

Women's Team Pursuit Qualifying

Women's Team Sprint First round

Men's Team Pursuit Qualifying

Women's Team Sprint Finals

Women's Team Sprint Victory Ceremony

Tuesday August 3, 3.30pm - 6.10pm

Women's Team Pursuit First round

Men's Team Sprint Qualifying

Men's Team Pursuit First round

Men's Team Sprint First round

Women's Team Pursuit Finals

Men's Team Sprint Finals

Women's Team Pursuit Victory Ceremony

Men's Team Sprint Victory Ceremony

Wednesday August 4, 3.30pm - 7.00pm

Men's Sprint Qualifying

Women's Keirin First round

Men's Sprint 1/32 Finals

Women's Keirin First round Repechages

Men's Sprint 1/32 Finals Repechages

Men's Team Pursuit Finals

Men's Sprint 1/16 Finals

Men's Team Pursuit Victory Ceremony

Men's Sprint 1/16 Finals Repechages

Thursday August 5, 3.30pm - 6:50pm

Men's Omnium Scratch Race 1\4

Men's Sprint 1/8 Finals

Women's Keirin Second Round

Men's Sprint 1/8 Finals Repechages

Men's Omnium Tempo Race 2\4

Men's Sprint 1/4 Finals

Women's Keirin Third Round

Men's Omnium Elimination Race 3\4

Women's Keirin Final Places 7 to 12

Women's Keirin Finals

Men's Omnium Points Race 4\4

Men's Sprint Final Places 5 to 8

Women's Keirin Victory Ceremony

Men's Omnium Victory Ceremony

Friday August 6, 3.30pm - 5.15pm

Women's Sprint Qualifying

Men's Sprint 1/2 Finals

Women's Sprint 1/32 Finals

Women's Sprint 1/32 Finals Repechages

Women's Madison Final

Men's Sprint Final Places 3-4 & 1-2

Women's Sprint 1/16 Finals

Women's Madison Victory Ceremony

Women's Sprint 1/16 Finals Repechages

Men's Sprint Victory Ceremony

Saturday, August 7, 3.30pm - 6.25pm

Women's Sprint 1/8 Finals

Men's Keirin First Round

Women's Sprint 1/8 Finals Repechages

Men's Keirin Repechages

Women's Sprint Quarterfinals

Men's Madison Final

Men's Madison Victory Ceremony

Sunday, August 8, 10am - 1.15pm

Women's Omnium Scratch Race 1/4

Women's Sprint Semifinals

Men's Keirin Quarterfinals

Women's Omnium Tempo Race 2/4

Women's Sprint Race for 5th-8th Places

Men's Keirin Semifinals

Women's Sprint Finals

Women's Omnium Elimination Race 3/4

Men's Keirin Final 7-12

Men's Keirin Final 1-6

Men's Keirin Victory Ceremony

Women's Omnium Points Race 4/4

Women's Sprint Victory Ceremony

Women's Omnium Victory Ceremony

BMX events

Thurs July 29, BMX Racing Qualifiers, 10am-12pm

Fri July 30, BMX Racing Finals, 10am-12.20pm

Sat July 31, BMX Freestyle Qualifiers, 10.10am-12.20pm

Sun August 1, BMX Freestyle Finals, 10.10am-12.45pm

MTB events

Mon July 26, men's cross country, 3pm-5pm

Tues July 27, women's cross country, 3pm-5pm

Reigning champions: Rio 2016 Olympic cycling winners

• Men’s road race: Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium)
• Women’s road race Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands)
• Women’s time trial: Kristin Armstrong (USA)
• Men’s time trial: Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)
• Men’s team sprint: Great Britain
• Women’s team sprint: China
• Men’s team pursuit: Great Britain
• Women’s team pursuit: Great Britain
• Men’s sprint: Jason Kenny (Great Britain)
• Women’s sprint: Kristina Vogel (Germany)
• Men’s keirin: Jason Kenny (Great Britain)
• Women’s keirin: Elis Ligtlee (Netherlands)
• Men’s omnium: Elia Viviani (Italy)
• Women’s omnium: Laura Trott (Great Britain)
• Men’s BMX: Connor Fields (USA)
• Women’s BMX: Mariana Pajon (Colombia)
• Men’s mountain bike: Nino Schurter (Switzerland)