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

Cycling at the Olympics

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.

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.

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."

Flynn had a puncture at about the halfway mark. Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Leon Meredith 33:21.0 Q (Qualified for final by place) 2 Hermann Martens 33:21.2 3 Joseph Werbrouck 33:21.4 q (Qualified for final by laps) 4 André Lapize Unknown 5 Georgius Damen Unknown 6 Frederick McCarthy Unknown 7–8 Pierre Hostein Unknown Rudolf Katzer Unknown Daniel Flynn DNF (Did not finish)

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Clarence Kingsbury 32:33.8 Q (Qualified for final by place) 2 Charlie Brooks 32:34.0 3 Floris Venter 32:34.4 4 Georges Lutz Unknown 5 Gerard Bosch van Drakenstein Unknown 6 François Bonnet Unknown q (Qualified for final by laps) 7–9 Walter Andrews Unknown Jean van Benthem Unknown Paul Schulze Unknown

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Louis Weintz 33:39.8 Q (Qualified for final by place) 2 Frank Shore 33:40.0 3 Harry Young 33:45.2 4 Herbert Bouffler Unknown 5 Max Triebsch Unknown 6–7 Henri Cunault Unknown Dorus Nijland Unknown Frederick Hamlin DNF (Did not finish)

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Benjamin Jones 32:39.0 Q (Qualified for final by place) 2 George Cameron 32:39.2 3 Thomas Passmore 32:39.4 4 Octave Lapize Unknown q (Qualified for final by laps) 5 Henri Baumler Unknown 6–7 Alwin Boldt Unknown Johannes van Spengen Unknown William Lower DNF (Did not finish)

Santorinaios and Texier crashed with half a lap remaining; Robertson was slowed by having to ride around them. Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Andrew Hansson 34:53.6 Q (Qualified for final by place) 2 David Robertson 34:53.8 3 William Anderson 34:55.6 Ioannis Santorinaios DNF (Did not finish) Pierre Texier DNF (Did not finish)

"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." Rank Cyclist Nation Time Clarence Kingsbury 34:13.6 Benjamin Jones Unknown Joseph Werbrouck Unknown 4 Louis Weintz Unknown 5–9 François Bonnet Unknown Arthur Denny Unknown Andrew Hansson Unknown Octave Lapize Unknown Leon Meredith Unknown