Men's road race at the Games of the I Olympiad
|
||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The race start in Athens
|
||||||||||
Venue | Athens–Marathon | |||||||||
Date | April 12 | |||||||||
Competitors | 7 from 3 nations | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Aristidis Konstantinidis Greece |
||
August von Gödrich Germany |
||
Edward Battell Great Britain |
The men's road race was the only road cycling event on the Cycling at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. The course was 87 kilometres long and the race was held on 12 April.
The only road race took place on 12 April. It was 87 kilometres long, with contestants cycling to the city of Marathon and back. Seven cyclists entered the event, including the German August von Gödrich, the Briton Edward Battell, and five Greeks.
Konstantinidis led from the start until after the turn at Marathon. His bicycle broke down on the return journey, allowing Battel time to pass him before he was able to get another bicycle and continue. Both Konstantinidis and Battel fell again before finishing, with Battel's fall being severe enough to drop him from first place to third as both Konstantinidis and Gödrich passed him.