Cycling at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's individual road race

The men's road race was the only road cycling event in the 1896 Summer Olympics. The course was 87 kilometres long. It was on 12 April. 7 cyclists from 3 nations were in the race. The event was won by Aristidis Konstantinidis of Greece. August von Gödrich was in second. Edward Battell was in third.

Men's road race at the Games of the I Olympiad
Venue	Athens–Marathon
Date	12 April 1896
Competitors	7 from 3 nations
Medalists
Aristidis Konstantinidis  Greece   August von Gödrich  Germany   Edward Battell  Great Britain
	1936»

Background

This was the first time that this race was held in the Olympics. It would not be held again until 1936. Since 1936, this race has been held at every other Summer Olympics. The cycling race had the same course as the marathon. 7 cyclists were in the event. The German athlete August von Gödrich, the British athlete Edward Battell, and five other Greek athletes were in the race. Battell worked in the British Embassy and was almost not allowed to compete.

Competition

The race was on an 87 kilometres course. The course went from Athens to Marathon and back. At Marathon, the cyclists had to sign a document that showed that they were there. The end of the course was at the velodrome. Along the road, there were many Officials.

Schedule

Date		Time	Round
Gregorian	Julian
Sunday, 12 April 1896	Sunday, 31 March 1896	12:00	Final

Race

Aristidis Konstantinidis was in the front of the race until the turn at Marathon. His bicycle broke when he was riding back to Athens. This allowed Edward Battell to pass Konstantinidis before he was able to get another bicycle. Battel fell afterwards, however. This allowed both Konstantinidis and August von Gödrich to pass Battell. Battell finished in third place.

Results

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time
	Aristidis Konstantinidis	Greece	3:22:31
	August von Gödrich	Germany	3:42:18
	Edward Battell	Great Britain	Unknown
4–7	Georgios Aspiotis	Greece	Unknown
	Miltiades Iatrou	Greece	Unknown
	Konstantinos Konstantinou	Greece	Unknown
	Georgios Paraskevopoulos	Greece	Unknown

References

• Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J.; Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at [1] Archived 2008-05-27 at the Wayback Machine)
• Mallon, Bill; Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at [2] Archived 2008-04-11 at the Wayback Machine)
• Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.