Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

For the cycling competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics (postponed to 2021 ^[1] due to the COVID-19 pandemic ), the following qualification systems are in place.

Qualification summary

Nation	Road				Track												MTB		BMX				Total
	Men		Women		Men						Women						M	W	Men		Women		Q	R
	RR	TT	RR	TT	TS	KE	SP	TP	OM	MD	TS	KE	SP	TP	OM	MD			RC	FR	RC	FR
Algeria	2	1																					3	2
Argentina	1																	1	1				3	3
Australia	4	2	4	2	X	2	2	X	X	X		1	1	X	X	X	1	1	1	1	2	1	35	29
Austria	3	1	1						X	X							1	1					9	8
Azerbaijan	1																						1	1
Belarus	1		1	1					X						X								5	4
Belgium	5	2	3	1					X	X					X	X	1	1			1		18	15
Brazil																	2	1	1		1		5	5
Burkina Faso	1																						1	1
Canada	3	1	3	2		2	2	X		X		2	2	X	X		1	2	1		1		26	24
Chile			1														1					1	3	3
China	1		1			1	1				X	2	2				1	1					11	7
Colombia	5	1	1			1	1												2		1		12	10
Costa Rica	1		1																	1			3	3
Croatia	1																						1	1
Cuba			1																				1	1
Cyprus			1																				1	1
Czech Republic	3	1	1			1	1										1	1					9	7
Denmark	4	1	2	1				X	X	X					X	X	1	2			1		17	17
Ecuador	2	1																	1		1		5	4
Egypt															X								1	1
Eritrea	2	1	1																				4	3
Estonia	2	1																1					4	3
Ethiopia			1																				1	1
France	5	1	1	1	X	2	2		X	X		2	2	X	X	X	2	2	3	1	2		32	28
Germany	4	2	4	2	X	2	2	X	X	X	X	2	2	X		X	2	2			1	1	33	28
Great Britain	4	2	2	1	X	2	2	X	X	X		1	1	X	X	X	1	1	1	1	1	1	28	26
Greece	1								X								1						3	3
Guatemala	1																						1	1
Hong Kong	1											2	2		X	X							7	5
Hungary	1																1	1					3	3
Iran	1	1																					2	1
Ireland	3	1							X	X					X	X							8	7
Israel			1	1													1						3	2
Italy	5	2	4	1				X	X	X				X	X	X	3	1	1				23	24
Japan	2		2	1		2	2		X			1	1		X	X	1	1	1	1	1	1	20	16
Kazakhstan	3	1				1	1		X														7	5
Latvia	2	1																	1		1		5	4
Lithuania	1		1								X	2	2		X								8	5
Luxembourg	2		1	1																			4	3
Malaysia						2	2																4	2
Mexico	1		1	1							X	2	2		X		1	1					11	7
Morocco	1																						1	1
Namibia	1		1														1	1					4	4
Netherlands	5	1	4	2	X	2	2		X	X	X	2	2		X	X	2	2	3		3		36	28
New Zealand	2	2			X	2	2	X	X	X		2	2	X	X	X	1				1		21	19
Norway	4	1	2	1											X		1		1				11	9
Panama	1																						1	1
Paraguay			1																				1	1
Peru	1																						1	1
Poland	3	1	3	1	X	2	2		X	X	X	2	2		X	X	1	1					24	17
Portugal	2	2													X			1					6	4
Refugee Olympic Team		1		1																			2	2
Romania	1																1						2	2
ROC	3	1	1		X	2	2				X	2	2		X	X	1	1	1	1	2	1	24	18
Rwanda	1																						1	1
Slovakia	2	1																					3	2
Slovenia	4	1	1															1					7	6
South Africa	3	1	2	1		1	1		X			1	1				1	1	1				15	11
South Korea			1									1	1										3	2
Spain	5	1	2	1					X	X							2	1					14	12
Suriname						1	1																2	1
Sweden																		1					1	1
Switzerland	4	2	1	1				X	X	X							3	3	2		1	1	21	20
Chinese Taipei	1																						1	1
Thailand			1																				1	1
Trinidad and Tobago			1			2	2																5	3
Turkey	2																						2	2
Ukraine	1		1								X	2	2					1					8	5
United States	2	2	4	2					X	X		1	1	X	X	X	1	3	2	2	3	2	30	27
Uzbekistan	1		1																				2	2
Venezuela	1																			1			2	2
Total: 72 NOCs	130	41	67	26	8	30	30	8	20	16	8	30	30	8	21	16	38	38	24	9	24	9	631	530

Legend

• TS – Team sprint
• KE – Keirin
• SP – Sprint
• TP – Team pursuit
• OM – Omnium
• MD – Madison
• RR – Road race
• TT – Individual time trial
• RC – Race
• FR – Freestyle
• Q – Quotas
• R – Riders

Track cycling

Track cycling is done entirely through UCI nation rankings. The quotas per event are as follows:

• Team sprint – top 8 teams per gender
• Team pursuit – top 8 teams per gender
• Madison – all NOCs with a qualified team pursuit, in addition to the next 8 teams per gender (total of 16 teams)
• Omnium – NOCs directly qualifying for Madison, in addition to the next 12 (men) or 13 (women) (21 individuals)
• Sprint – NOCs qualifying in team sprint enter 2 individuals, in addition to the next 7 best-ranked in individual sprint, and the next 7 best-ranked in Keirin (total of 30 individuals)
• Keirin – NOCs qualifying in team sprint enter 2 individuals, in addition to the next 7 best-ranked in individual sprint, and the next 7 best-ranked in Keirin (total of 30 individuals)

Road cycling

Majority of the places in road cycling are attributed through the UCI nation rankings (122 for men, 62 for women), with special provisions for highly-ranked individuals whose nations do not make it. A small number of additional places are available through individual road race continental championships (2 men and 1 woman each for Africa, Americas, and Asia). Host nation Japan has obtained 2 guaranteed spots per gender in the road race. For the road time trial, the NOC must have qualified for the road race. The top 30 (men) or 15 (women) NOCs in the nation rankings may enter a time trial cyclist. The 2019 World Championships also afford 10 places per gender in the time trial. NOCs can have a maximum of 2 time trial entries if they qualify through each of those two methods.

Mountain biking

For mountain biking, 38 spots per gender are allocated. Thirty places will be allocated through the UCI nation rankings and three through continental championships with one each for Africa, Americas, and Asia. One spot per gender has been reserved for host nation Japan. The remaining four spots will be awarded to the top mountain bikers competing at the 2019 UCI World Championships, with two each in the elite and under-23, respectively.

BMX

In the BMX race, twenty-four spots are available for each gender, with one reserved for host nation Japan. Eighteen places will be awarded to the highest-ranked NOCs through the UCI qualification rankings, three through the UCI individual rankings, and the remaining two through the 2020 UCI World Championships. In the BMX freestyle events, nine spots are available for each gender, with one reserved for host nation Japan, six for the highest-ranked NOCs through the UCI rankings, and the remaining two for those competing at the 2019 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships.

Timeline

The following is a timeline of the qualification events for the cycling events at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Event	Date	Venue
Road [2]
2019 African Continental Championships	March 15–20, 2019	Ethiopia
2019 Asian Continental Championships	April 27–28, 2019	Tashkent
2019 Pan American Continental Championships	May 2–5, 2019	Mexico
2019 UCI Road World Championships	September 22–29, 2019	Harrogate
Establishment of the UCI World Rankings by Nations	October 22, 2019	—
Track [3]
Establishment of the UCI Olympic Track Ranking 2018–2020 (at end of 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships)	March 2, 2020	—
Mountain biking [4]
2019 Pan American Continental Championships	April 3–7, 2019	Aguascalientes
2019 African Continental Championships	April 12–14, 2019	Windhoek
2019 Asian Continental Championships	July 25–28, 2019	Kfardebian
2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships	August 28 – September 1, 2019	Mont-Sainte-Anne
Establishment of the UCI Olympic qualification ranking	May 18, 2021	—
BMX [5] [6]
2019 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships	November 6–10, 2019	Chengdu
UCI Individual Rankings (BMX race)	June 1, 2021	—
Establishment of the UCI Rankings by Nation (BMX race)	June 1, 2021
Establishment of the UCI Rankings by Nation (BMX freestyle)	June 8, 2021

Road cycling

Men's road race

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
UCI World Ranking	1 to 6	Belgium   Italy   Netherlands   France   Colombia   Spain	5
	7 to 13	Slovenia   Germany   Australia   Denmark   Great Britain   Norway   Switzerland	4
	14 to 21	Austria   Poland   Ireland   ROC   South Africa   Kazakhstan   Canada   Czech Republic	3
	22 to 32	Ecuador   Portugal   Slovakia   Eritrea   United States   New Zealand   Estonia   Algeria   Luxembourg   Latvia   Turkey	2
	33 to 50	Belarus   Ukraine   Costa Rica   Greece   Romania   Iran   Sweden   Hungary   Venezuela   Japan   Morocco   Azerbaijan   Lithuania   Rwanda   Mexico   Guatemala   Argentina   China	1
2019 African Championships	1 to 2	Namibia   Burkina Faso	1
2019 Asian Championships	1 to 2	Chinese Taipei   Uzbekistan	1
2019 Pan American Championships	1 to 2	Peru   Panama	1
Reallocation of unused quota	—	Hong Kong   Croatia	1
Total			130

* Quota reduced by one to accommodate for the individual qualifiers

Men's individual time trial

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
UCI World Ranking	1 to 30	Belgium   Italy   Netherlands   France   Colombia   Spain   Slovenia   Germany   Australia   Denmark   Great Britain   Norway   Switzerland   Austria   Poland   Ireland   ROC   South Africa   Kazakhstan   Canada   Czech Republic   Ecuador   Portugal   Slovakia   Eritrea   United States   New Zealand   Estonia   Algeria   Iran**	1
2019 UCI Road World Championships	1 to 10	Australia   Belgium   Italy   New Zealand   Great Britain   United States   Estonia   Portugal   Germany   Switzerland	1
Invitational place	1	Ahmad Wais  (EOR)	1
Reallocation of unused quota	—	Latvia	1
Total			41

** Qualified as a continental representative

Women's road race

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
UCI World Ranking	1 to 5	Netherlands   Italy   Germany   United States   Australia	4
	6 to 13	Belgium	3
		Denmark   Canada   Poland   Spain   Great Britain   Norway   South Africa	2*
	14 to 22	Luxembourg   France   Cuba   Mexico   Switzerland   Slovenia   Belarus   Japan   ROC	1*
	Individual top 100	Uzbekistan   Thailand   Trinidad and Tobago   Israel   Finland   Cyprus   China   Austria   Sweden   Colombia   Ukraine   Chile   Costa Rica   Czech Republic   Lithuania   Namibia   Eritrea	1
2019 African Championships	1	Ethiopia	1
2019 Asian Championships	1	South Korea	1
2019 Pan American Championships	1	Paraguay	1
Reallocation of unused quota	—	Canada   Poland	1
Total			67

* Quota reduced by one to accommodate for the individual qualifiers

Women's individual time trial

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
UCI World Ranking	1 to 15	Netherlands   Italy   Germany   United States   Australia   Belgium   Denmark   Canada   Poland   Spain   Great Britain   Norway   South Africa   Luxembourg   Japan**	1
2019 UCI Road World Championships	1 to 10	United States   Netherlands   Germany   Switzerland   Belarus   Australia   Canada   Israel   Sweden   France	1
Invitational place	1	Masomah Ali Zada  (EOR)	1
Reallocation of unused quota	—	Mexico	1
Total			26

** Qualified as a continental representative

Track cycling

Track cycling quotas were released by the UCI in March 2020. ^[7]

Men's team sprint

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Teams per NOC
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 8	Australia   France   Germany   Great Britain   Netherlands   New Zealand   Poland   ROC	1
Total			8

Men's sprint

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs qualified for team sprint	—	Australia   France   Germany   Great Britain   Netherlands   New Zealand   Poland   ROC	up to 2
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 7	Canada   China   Japan   Malaysia   South Africa*   Suriname   Trinidad and Tobago	1
NOCs qualified for Keirin	—	Canada   Colombia   Czech Republic   Japan   Kazakhstan   Malaysia   Trinidad and Tobago	1
Total			30

* Qualified as a continental representative

Men's Keirin

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs qualified for team sprint	—	Australia   France   Germany   Great Britain   Netherlands   New Zealand   Poland   ROC	up to 2
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 7	Canada   Colombia   Czech Republic   Japan   Kazakhstan   Malaysia   Trinidad and Tobago	1
NOCs qualified for sprint	—	Canada   China   Japan   Malaysia   South Africa   Suriname   Trinidad and Tobago	1
Total			30

Men's team pursuit

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Teams per NOC
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 8	Australia   Canada   Denmark   Germany   Great Britain   Italy   New Zealand   Switzerland	1
Total			8

Men's Madison

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs qualified for team pursuit	—	Australia   Canada   Denmark   Germany   Great Britain   Italy   New Zealand   Switzerland	1
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 8	Austria   Belgium   Spain   France   Ireland   Poland   Netherlands   United States	1
Total			16

Men's Omnium

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs directly qualified for Madison	—	Austria   Belgium   Spain   France   Ireland   Poland   Netherlands   United States	1
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 12	Australia   Belarus   Denmark   Germany   Great Britain   Greece   Italy   Japan   Kazakhstan   New Zealand   South Africa*   Switzerland	1
Total			20

* Qualified as a continental representative

Women's team sprint

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Teams per NOC
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 8	Australia   China   Germany   Lithuania   Mexico   Netherlands   Poland   ROC	1
Reallocation of unused quota	—	Ukraine	1
Total			8

Women's sprint

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs qualified for team sprint	—	China   Germany   Lithuania   Mexico   Netherlands   Poland   ROC   Ukraine	up to 2
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 7	Australia   Canada   France   Great Britain   Hong Kong   New Zealand   South Africa*	1
NOCs qualified for Keirin	—	Canada   France   Hong Kong   Japan   New Zealand   South Korea   United States	1
Total			30

* Qualified as a continental representative

Women's Keirin

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs qualified for team sprint	—	China   Germany   Lithuania   Mexico   Netherlands   Poland   ROC   Ukraine	up to 2
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 7	Canada   France   Hong Kong   Japan   New Zealand   South Korea   United States	1
NOCs qualified for sprint	—	Australia   Canada   France   Great Britain   Hong Kong   New Zealand   South Africa	1
Total			30

Women's team pursuit

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Teams per NOC
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 8	Australia   Canada   France   Germany   Great Britain   Italy   New Zealand   United States	1
Total			8

Women's Madison

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs qualified for team pursuit	—	Australia   Canada   France   Germany   Great Britain   Italy   New Zealand   United States	1
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 8	Belgium   Denmark   Hong Kong   Ireland   Japan   Netherlands   Poland   ROC	1
Total			15

Cycling Canada declined to enter a team in the women's madison due to a lack of competitive experience in the event, and the event being prior to the omnium in the Olympic program. ^[8]

Women's Omnium

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs qualified for Madison	—	Belgium   Denmark   Hong Kong   Ireland   Japan   Netherlands   Poland   ROC	1
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 13	Australia   Belarus   Canada   China   Egypt*   France   Great Britain   Italy   Mexico   New Zealand   Norway   Portugal   United States	1
Rellocation	14	Lithuania [9]	1
Total			21

* Qualified as a continental representative

Mountain biking

Quotas were released in May 2021. ^{[10] [11]}

Men's cross-country race

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
2020 UCI Olympic qualification ranking	1 to 2	Switzerland   Italy	3
	3 to 7	France   Brazil   Netherlands   Spain   Germany	2
	8 to 21	Czech Republic   Austria   Canada   Denmark   United States   Belgium   ROC   South Africa   New Zealand   Poland   Norway   Greece   Hungary   Romania	1
2019 African Championships	1	Namibia	1
2019 Pan American Championships	1	Mexico	1
2019 Asian Championships	1	China	1
2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships (elite)	1 to 2	Australia   Israel	1
2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships (under-23)	1 to 2	Chile   Great Britain	1
Total			38

Women's cross-country race

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
2020 UCI Olympic qualification ranking	1 to 2	Switzerland   United States	3
	3 to 7	Netherlands   Canada   France   Denmark   Germany	2
	8 to 21	Great Britain   Italy   South Africa   Poland   Ukraine   Czech Republic   Belgium   Austria   Argentina   Estonia   Brazil   Hungary   Spain   Australia	1
2019 African Championships	1	Namibia	1
2019 Pan American Championships	1	Mexico	1
2019 Asian Championships	1	China	1
2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships (elite)	1 to 2	Slovenia   Sweden	1
2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships (under-23)	1 to 2	Portugal   ROC	1
Total			38

BMX

Racing quotas were released on June 4, 2021. ^{[12] [13]}

Men's BMX race

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
UCI Olympic qualification ranking	1 to 2	France   Netherlands	3
	3 to 5	United States   Switzerland   Colombia	2
	6 to 11	Australia   Great Britain   Argentina   Brazil   Ecuador   South Africa**	1
UCI BMX individual ranking	1 to 3	Norway   Canada   ROC	1
World Championship Re-Allocation	1 to 2	Italy   Latvia	1
Total			24

** Qualified as a continental representative

Women's BMX race

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
UCI Olympic qualification ranking	1 to 2	Netherlands   United States	3
	3 to 5	France   ROC   Australia	2
	6 to 11	Colombia   Brazil   New Zealand   Denmark   Switzerland   Canada	1
UCI BMX individual ranking	1 to 3	Great Britain   Ecuador   Latvia	1
World Championship Re-Allocation	1 to 2	Belgium   Thailand	1
Total			24

** Qualified as a continental representative

Men's BMX freestyle

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
UCI Olympic qualification ranking	1	United States	2
	2 to 5	Australia   ROC   Great Britain   France	1
2019 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships	1 to 2	Venezuela   Costa Rica	1
Total			9

Women's BMX freestyle

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
UCI Olympic qualification ranking	1	United States	2
	2 to 5	Germany   Great Britain   Switzerland   ROC	1
2019 UCI Urban Cycling World Championship	1 to 2	Chile   Australia	1
Total			9

References

1. "Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee". IOC. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
2. "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Road Cycling" (PDF). UCI . Retrieved 9 June 2021.
3. "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Track Cycling" (PDF). UCI . Retrieved 9 June 2021.
4. "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Mountain Biking" (PDF). UCI . Retrieved 9 June 2021.
5. "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – BMX Race" (PDF). UCI . Retrieved 9 June 2021.
6. "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – BMX Freestyle" (PDF). Retrieved 29 June 2021.
7. "Athletes Quota Places for Track Cycling At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
8. "Cycling Canada Amended XXXII Olympic Games Team Selection Policy" (PDF). www.cyclingcanada.ca/. Cycling Canada. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021. Due to the risks inherent in the event, its place prior to the Omnium in the Olympic program and the lack of athletes with sufficient competition experience, Canada will not be entering the women's Madison
9. Tokijo olimpinėse žaidynėse dalyvaus dar viena lietuvė: startuos dviratininkė O. Baleišytė
10. "Mountain Bike Athletes quota for Cycling – Mountain Bike men's events" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
11. "Mountain Bike Athletes quota for Cycling – Mountain Bike women's events" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
12. "BMX Racing Athletes quota for Cycling – BMX Racing men's events" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
13. "BMX Racing Athletes quota for Cycling – BMX Racing women's events" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.