Cycling at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 20 kilometres

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Men's 20 kilometres
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
OS Spiele 1908 20-km-Rennen.jpg
Venue White City Stadium
DateJuly 14
Competitors44 from 10 nations
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Clarence Kingsbury Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
Silver medal icon.svg Benjamin Jones Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
Bronze medal icon.svg Joseph Werbrouck Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium

The men's 20 kilometres was one of seven track cycling events on the Cycling at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Its distance was the second longest of the individual event distances. Each nation could enter up to 12 cyclists. [1]

Competition format

The 20 kilometres in 1908 was a unique race in Olympic history. It was in some ways like a very long sprint but with elements of a points race. Each race consisted of slightly over 33 laps of the 660 yard track. The time limit for the race was 40 minutes. The competition was held in two rounds (semifinals and a final). There were 6 semifinals. The winner of each semifinal advanced to the final, encouraging tactical riding similar to a sprint race despite the long distance. However, for the three fastest semifinals, the cyclist who led for the most laps would also advance. The final comprised 9 cyclists.

Results

Semifinals

There were two methods of qualifying for the final. A cyclist could either finish first in one of the six semifinals or be the leader "of the greatest number of laps in the three fastest heats. [2] "

Semifinal 1

Flynn had a puncture at about the halfway mark. [3]

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Leon Meredith Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 33:21.0Q
2 Hermann Martens Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany 33:21.2
3 Joseph Werbrouck Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 33:21.4q
4 André Lapize Flag of France.svg  France Unknown
5 Georgius Damen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Unknown
6 Frederick McCarthy Canadian Red Ensign (1868-1921).svg  Canada Unknown
7–8 Pierre Hostein Flag of France.svg  France Unknown
Rudolf Katzer Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany Unknown
Daniel Flynn Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain DNF

Semifinal 2

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Clarence Kingsbury Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 32:33.8Q
2 Charlie Brooks Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 32:34.0
3 Floris Venter Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  South Africa 32:34.4
4 Georges Lutz Flag of France.svg  France Unknown
5 Gerard Bosch van Drakenstein Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Unknown
6 François Bonnet Flag of France.svg  France Unknownq
7–9 Walter Andrews Canadian Red Ensign (1868-1921).svg  Canada Unknown
Jean van Benthem Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium Unknown
Paul Schulze Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany Unknown

Semifinal 3

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Louis Weintz US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 33:39.8Q
2 Frank Shore Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  South Africa 33:40.0
3 Harry Young Canadian Red Ensign (1868-1921).svg  Canada 33:45.2
4 Herbert Bouffler Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Unknown
5 Max Triebsch Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany Unknown
6–7 Henri Cunault Flag of France.svg  France Unknown
Dorus Nijland Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Unknown
Frederick Hamlin Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain DNF

Semifinal 4

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Benjamin Jones Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 32:39.0Q
2 George Cameron US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 32:39.2
3 Thomas Passmore Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  South Africa 32:39.4
4 Octave Lapize Flag of France.svg  France Unknownq
5 Henri Baumler Flag of France.svg  France Unknown
6–7 Alwin Boldt Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany Unknown
Johannes van Spengen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Unknown
William Lower Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain DNF

Semifinal 5

Santorinaios and Texier crashed with half a lap remaining; Robertson was slowed by having to ride around them. [4]

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Andrew Hansson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 34:53.6Q
2 David Robertson Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 34:53.8
3 William Anderson Canadian Red Ensign (1868-1921).svg  Canada 34:55.6
Ioannis Santorinaios Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece DNF
Pierre Texier Flag of France.svg  France DNF

Semifinal 6

"With nine laps to go, Coeckelberg's tyre punctured, and two laps further on the Belgian was again unlucky. He left the track, cut across the grass, seized another machine, and remounted, but was disqualified." [4]

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Albert Denny Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 33:40.6Q
2 Charles Avrillon Flag of France.svg  France 33:40.8
3 Gustaf Westerberg Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 33:41.4
4 Guglielmo Morisetti Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy Unknown
Léon Couckelberg Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium DSQ

Final

Meredith and Denny suffered punctures early on. Hansson fell near the end. Bonnet led most of the first half of the race. Kingsbury started his sprint shortly after the bell, "hotly challenged" by Jones, Werbrouck, and Weintz for "one of the most exciting finishes of the Games, which Kingsbury just won by three inches." [5]

RankCyclistNationTime
Gold medal icon.svgClarence KingsburyFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 34:13.6
Silver medal icon.svgBenjamin JonesFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Unknown
Bronze medal icon.svgJoseph WerbrouckFlag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium Unknown
4Louis WeintzUS flag 45 stars.svg  United States Unknown
5–9François BonnetFlag of France.svg  France Unknown
Arthur DennyFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Unknown
Andrew HanssonFlag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Unknown
Octave LapizeFlag of France.svg  France Unknown
Leon MeredithFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Unknown

Notes

  1. Official Report, p. 33.
  2. Olympic Report, p. 120
  3. Official Report, p. 118.
  4. 1 2 Official Report, p. 119.
  5. Official Report, p. 120.

Sources

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