Cycling Road

The rules of the cycling road race are simple – all riders begin together on the start-line, and the first one to finish secures the gold. 

The route is contested by completing laps of the route up to a final distance of 160km for men, and 112km for women. The event is one of the most demanding physical endeavours at the Games and requires competitors to dig deep within themselves just to get through the race. 

An event that pits cyclists directly against each other, prepare for no shortage of exciting attacking moves as these incredible athletes strain every sinew to press ahead of their rivals. 

Held on public roads, this is an event that takes the Games to the very heart of the community, and the route will be lined by hordes of expectant spectators, roaring their heroes on to victory. 

Women were not introduced into the road cycling programme until the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games. At Atlanta 1996, professional cyclists were allowed to partake in the competition, where previously they had been excluded.

New Zealand Road Cyclists

NZ first competed in road cycling at the Los Angeles 1932 Olympic Games.

Road cycling has been represented by the NZ team at 17 Olympiads. New Zealand is still seeking its first road cycling medal at an Olympic Games*.

The first New Zealand rider was Ron Foubister OLY#29, Los Angeles 1932

The first female to compete was Madonna Harris OLY#523, Seoul 1988

Within the New Zealand Team, there have been 55 Olympic road cyclists. 13 of them have competed in two or more Olympic Games.