At the 1896 Summer Olympics, six cycling events were contested at the Neo Phaliron Velodrome. They were organized and prepared by the Sub-Committee for Cycling. Events were held on 8 April, 11 April, 12 April and 13 April 1896. Nineteen cyclists, all men, from five nations competed.
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad and commonly known as Rome 1960, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awarded the administration of the 1908 Summer Olympics, but following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906, the city had no choice but to decline and pass the honour to London. The Soviet Union won the most gold and overall medals at the 1960 Games.
The cycling competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles consisted of three road cycling events and five track cycling events. For the first time, women's cycling events were included in the Olympic program. Also newly introduced in these Games was the men's points race event.
Cycling has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics, at which a road race and five track events were held. Mountain bike racing entered the Olympic programme at the Atlanta Olympics, followed by BMX racing in 2008 and freestyle BMX in 2021. Prior to the 2020 Summer Olympics, all events were speed races, but the 2020 programme featured BMX freestyle for the first time.
Knud Enemark Jensen was a Danish cyclist who died while participating in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. During his career, he was involved in an early doping scandal.
Luigi Arienti is an Italian former racing cyclist. At the 1960 Summer Olympics, he and teammates Marino Vigna, Mario Vallotto and Franco Testa won an Olympic gold medal in the team pursuit, with a time of 4:30.90.
The cycling competition at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal consisted of two road cycling events and four track cycling events, all for men only. The 2000m tandem event, contested at the previous 13 Games since 1908, was dropped from the Olympic cycling program.
The cycling competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics consisted of two road cycling events and four track cycling events, all for men only. 215 cyclists from 36 countries competed in the six events.
The men's track time trial was a track cycling event held as part of the Cycling at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme. It was held on 16 October 1964 at the Hachioji Velodrome. Twenty-seven cyclists from 27 nations competed, with each nation limited to one competitor. The event was won by Patrick Sercu of Belgium, the nation's first victory in the men's track time trial and first medal in the event since 1948. Giovanni Pettenella's silver medal put Italy on the podium for the event for the fourth consecutive Games, while Pierre Trentin's bronze was the first medal for France in the event since 1948.
The men's sprint was a track cycling event held as part of the Cycling at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme. It was held on 17 and 18 October 1964 at the Hachioji Velodrome. 39 cyclists from 22 nations competed. Nations were limited to two cyclists each. The event was won by Giovanni Pettenella of Italy, the nation's second consecutive and fourth overall victory in the men's sprint. Sergio Bianchetto took silver, making it the second consecutive Games in which Italy had two men on the podium in the event. It was also the fifth straight Games with Italy taking at least silver. Daniel Morelon of France took bronze, the first of his record four medals in the event.
The men's individual road race was an event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. 115 cyclists from 32 nations took part. The maximum number of cyclists per nation was four. The event was won by Sergei Sukhoruchenkov of the Soviet Union, the nation's second victory in the men's individual road race. His teammate Yuri Barinov took bronze. Czesław Lang's silver put Poland on the podium in the event for the second straight Games.
Cycling has been contested at every Summer Paralympic Games since the 1984 Summer Paralympics.
The men's individual road race at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, was held on 30 August 1960. There were 142 participants from 42 nations. Each nation could enter up to four cyclists. Of the 142 starters 76 rode the distance to the end. The event was won by Viktor Kapitonov of the Soviet Union, the nation's first medal in the event. Livio Trapè of Italy took silver, putting that country on the podium for the second consecutive Games. Willy Vanden Berghen's bronze gave Belgium its fourth medal in four Games.
The men's sprint at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy was held on 26 to 29 August 1960. There were 30 participants from 18 nations. For the first time since 1924, nations were allowed to have more than one competitor each ; for the first time since 1924, one nation took multiple medals. Italians Sante Gaiardoni and Valentino Gasparella won gold and bronze, giving Italy a four-Games podium streak with three total gold medals—second all-time behind France's five. Leo Sterckx's silver was Belgium's first medal in the men's sprint.
The men's sprint cycling event at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place from 31 July to 3 August and was one of eight cycling events at the 1984 Olympics. Once again, the limit on cyclists per nation was raised to 2. The event was won by Mark Gorski of the United States, the nation's first victory in the men's sprint and first medal in the event since John Henry Lake took bronze in 1900. The final was all-American, as Nelson Vails took silver, becoming the first Olympic cycling medalist of African descent. Japan earned its first medal in the men's sprint with Tsutomu Sakamoto's bronze. France's five-Games podium streak in the event ended.
The men's track time trial event at the 1980 Summer Olympics took place on 22 July 1980 in Moscow Olympic Velodrome. There were 18 competitors from 18 nations, with one additional cyclist entered but not starting. The event was won by Lothar Thoms of East Germany, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's track time trial. Aleksandr Panfilov of the Soviet Union took silver, the nation's first medal in the event since 1960. David Weller's bronze remains—through the 2020 Games—Jamaica's only medal outside of track and field athletics. Denmark's three-Games medal streak ended.
This article contains lists of achievements in major cycling competitions according to first-place, second-place and third-place results obtained by cyclists representing different nations. The objective is not to create combined medal tables; the focus is on listing the best positions achieved by cyclists in major international competitions, ranking the nations according to the most podiums accomplished by cyclists of these nations. All major World Championships organized by Union Cycliste Internationale are covered, as well as cycling events at the Olympic Games.
The men's Keirin event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 7 and 8 August 2021 at the Izu Velodrome. 30 cyclists from 18 nations competed.
The women's Keirin event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 4 and 5 August 2021 at the Izu Velodrome. 29 cyclists from 18 nations competed.
