Olympic Games 2016: Olympic Men's Road Race
January 1 - August 21, Fort Copacabana, Rio, Road - JO
Welcome to live coverage of the men's road race at the Olympic Games in Rio
10 riders to watch for the men's road race
How and where to watch the 2016 Rio Olympic Games cycling
The Olympic Games were declared open last night and the cycling events are already underway with the men's road race first up in around 40 minutes. The full start list can be found here.
The Rio road race has been touted at the most challenging in Olympic history. There is no doubt that it's going to be an arduous day out there, with heat and humidity to contend with out there as well as the climbing. We can expect the race to be really broken up with only a small group, if a group at all, making it to the finish.
This is what the riders can expect to face, including a few cobbles.
Checking for bike motors before sign on in #RioOlympics2016 https://t.co/yEfq3NrJ8A
@reecehomfray Sat, 6th Aug 2016 11:53:16
At the London Games, there was lots of issues with timing. The organisers cited excessive use of twitter out on course. We're hoping we have some better luck today but the stopwatch is at the ready just in case. 30-minute call for the start!
The Olympic road race is unlike any other bike race throughout the season. With no more than five riders per team, it is very difficult to control and almost anything can happen. There are a long list of potential contenders, including Spain's Alejandro Valverde, Tour de France champion Chris Froome, and Italy's Vincenzo Nibali. We tried to condense the list of contenders into 10 and you can see who we picked right here.
Russian cyclist Alexey Kurbatov was a late edition to the road race start list yesterday. He has taken Ilnur Zakarin's place. Zakarin was cleared to race, along with many more Russian athletes, but the call came too late for him to travel. Read the full story here.
Froome and Stannard make final checks. Racing starts at 1.30pm. https://t.co/zBUFQjvxBj #Rio2016 #CyclingRoad https://t.co/mHn9oqex4b
@BritishCycling Sat, 6th Aug 2016 12:11:34
The Olympics are always a chance to spot some interesting kit designs. There have been plenty good and bad for Rio 2016, but perhaps the best is Denmark's retro-look kit design sported here by Jakob Fuglsang.
We're just minutes away from the start of the race and most of the riders are already lined-up on the beachfront.
Let us know who you think the medallists will be today by tweeting us on @Cyclingnewsfeed or @SadhbhOS
UCI president Brian Cookson drops the flag to start the race and they're off.
Dutchman Tom Dumoulin is near the front of the bunch. He has made the start despite breaking his wrist at the Tour de France only a couple of weeks ago. Dutch media is reporting that he will abandon soon into the race to save himself for the time trial during the week.
It is the GB team that is spread across the front of the group at the moment as they make their way down the seafront and we wait for the action to start.
One GB rider that isn't up front is Adam Yates. He's dangling off the back at the moment having a little natter with his trade teammate Chris Juul-Jensen. The Irish-born Danish rider who moved to Orica this season.
@Cyclingnewsfeed @SadhbhOS Medals will have to go to riders that had their feet up for the Tour! @nicholasroche for a surprise bronze
@DavidHollywood_ Sat, 6th Aug 2016 12:34:28
The race is properly underway and there is a lot of movement on the front. Some of the smaller cycling nations thinking about forming an attack very early on. The pace has strung the bunch out.
A group of six have a small gap on the peloton but they don't make much headway. They continue to wind their way down the coast.
227km remaining from 237km
Most of the Spanish team are sitting at the back of the bunch for now, as is Dumoulin. How far will he go into the race?
A problem for one of the Turkish riders. He got squeezed up against the barriers and the incident seems to have dislodged his handlebars somewhat. He takes some time to get going again.
Tony Martin now pushing the pace on the front of the peloton. Germany don't have an outright favourite for this race so they will want a very tough race.
Dumoulin has decided to call it quits after just over 10km. He waits patiently on the side of the road for his team car. Or maybe he's waiting for the traffic to clear so he can ride back to the start.
Geschke takes over from his German teammate and keeps up this very high pace as the bunch negotiates a hairpin bend. One of the Swiss riders struggles to keep up with Geschke and overcooks the corner.
Geschke's tempo forces a split and he has taken two with him. One of those is Kwiatkowski. They sit up a little as they wait for a few more riders to join the fore.
The leading group has six riders in it. Kwiatkowski, Geschke, Bystrom, Albasini are all in there. It also looks like Miguel Angel Lopez is in the group, along with one of the Russians.
Sorry it is Pantano that is representing Colombia in that group. The Russian is Pavel Kochetkov. While Petr Vakoc tries to bridge across.
The peloton looks pretty happy with this and they've knocked off the pace all of a sudden.
The gap has balooned to 54 seconds. Vakoc is not making much ground and is being pulled back to the bunch.
This is an unusually strong early break for an Olympic road race.
@Laura_Weislo Sat, 6th Aug 2016 12:59:30
Vakoc is back with the group. Behind, there is a mechanical problem for Laurens de Plus and he has to come to a halt to have it fixed by a mechanic. There isn't too much worry with the peloton taking it very easy for now.
It's an interesting tactic from Poland to send Kwiatkowski up the road in the early break. They've got two cards to play with Kwiatkowski and Rafal Majka, and they're obviously banking on Majka being the stronger of the two if this comes all back together before the finish.
@Cyclingnewsfeed how do team cars work for Olympic cycling road race?
@sgarchik Sat, 6th Aug 2016 12:51:41
In answer to that last question. Unlike the other races throughout the season, not all teams will have their own vehicle. Bigger nations such as Italy, the Netherland and Great Britain will but smaller nations such as Namibia - who only has one entry - will share with others. Namibia is actually sharing with the Dominican Republic and the USA.
After most of the peloton has been off for a comfort break, Spain decides to speed things up a little. Castroviejo is riding tempo at the front as Wout Poels drops back to his team car for a quick chat.
Notification in that we had one DNS today and that was the German Max Levy. It is no surprise really as Levy is intended for the track competition.
The leaders are briefly descending along the coast as they approach the first, shorter climb of the day. Their advantage is now a whopping 7:51.
It is coming up to 10:30 local time and it is already a hot 31 degrees Celcius. There's not much of a sea breeze to help them at the moment.
The leaders have just gone over a cobbled sector and while it's not quite the Arenberg Forrest they are a bit gnarly. It could cause some riders a little bit of trouble.
194km remaining from 237km
There are some tarmacked sections next to these cobbles and the riders quickly avail of it while it lasts. The breakaway still working very well together.
The peloton turn away from the coast as they begin to climb. Garmany and the Netherlands give Spain and Italy a hand at the front. In the break it is Michael Albasini that lead them up the ascent with Pantano at the back.
Crash as the peloton go onto the cobbles. It is Ahmet Örken of Turkey that has hit the deck. A few riders have to take to the dirt on the side of those part of the sector to avoid coming down.
191km remaining from 237km
A mechanical problem for Richie Porte, his chain has bounced off over the cobbles.
A small group of riders brave enough to stick with the cobbles but most of the peloton jump onto that minute bit of tarmac on the right side of the road before rejoining soon after.
There are some riders already off the back of the bunch. Tim Wellens is one of those who is chasing back on. Wellens should be one of Belgium's wildcard options today, if he can make it back.
The peloton is on one of the toughest sections of the first climb. This punch affair has gradients of up to 18 per cent.
Screeching of brakes from the TV moto as it tries to keep up with the riders on the descent of this climb. It's narrow and twisty, and generally just very difficult.
184km remaining from 237km
There are some big cross winds on this flat section of road and there are riders losing touch. No echelons just yet but the bunch has started to string out.
Almost 50km into the day and the riders pick up some food from the soigneurs stationed around the course.
The gap has dropped down a bit to 6:57. The peloton has been putting in a concerted effort since they hit the circuit.
The Colombian representation in the breakaway, Jarlinson Pantano was a late inclusion into the Olympics. He got the call up when Nairo Quintana decided to pull out in order to rest up after the Tour de France. Pantano enjoyed a very successful Tour de France, winning stage 15 to Culoz after an exciting battle with Rafal Majka.
Spain, Italy and Great Britain are sharing the effort on the front with Castorviejo, De Marchi and Stannard. Behind those three is the remainder of the Great Britain team, ensuring that they stay safe in case of a crash.
175km remaining from 237km
Another huge chunk taken out of the advantage over the peloton. After peaking at almost 8 minutes, it is down to 5:35.
The Olympic Games are very strict when it comes to sponsorship. Athletes are not allowed to wear anything that has a visible logo not officially affiliated to the Olympics. For cyclists, they are however allowed to ride the bikes of their trade teams. Bike manufacturers have taken advantage of that and have gone for some stand-out colour schemes. Specialized opted for a torch-themed colour scheme that changes colour in the heat. You can take a look at that here.
170km remaining from 237km
Onto the second of four laps and the leaders are back on the cobbles. Their advantage is still coming down and they're going to struggle to keep the peloton at bay for the two laps after this if the pace continues like this.
Albasini loses a bottle and almost his chain as he bounces across the cobbles. This is not his normal terrain.
168km remaining from 237km
A problem for Bystrom, he appears to be having gear issues. He looks like he's about to stop but he carries on. The leaders are back on the tarmac now as the peloton reach the cobbles and there are yet more mechanical problems for a litany of riders, including representation from Ireland and the Netherlands.
It's hard to tell but it looks like it might have been Mollema who was the Dutch rider on the side of the road trying to put his chain back on.
Bystrom gets a replacement bike and he's back on his way. It was actually a problem with his seatpost that was causing the issues.