Cycling at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's tandem

Tandem cycling features a series of one-on-one, head-to-head races between teams. The 1960 Olympic competition included six rounds: heats, a two-round repechage, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals.[2]

• Heats: Because there were 14 teams entered, 7 heats were scheduled. The heats were not adjusted after 2 teams withdrew, essentially providing the teams in those heats with a bye. Otherwise, the winner of each heat advanced to the quarterfinals; the loser was relegated to the repechage.
• Repechage: There was a two-round repechage. One of the 5 teams that had lost in the heats did not contest the repechage. The remaining 4 teams paired off into two heats; the winner of each advanced to the repechage final while the loser was eliminated. The repechage final allowed the winner to advance to the quarterfinals; the loser was eliminated.
• Quarterfinals: Beginning with the quarterfinals, each match was best-of-three races. There were 4 quarterfinals contested by the 7 heat winners and 1 repechage winner. The winner of each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals.
• Semifinals: The winner of each semifinal advanced to the gold medal final. The loser of each was scheduled to compete in a bronze medal final, though this was cancelled due to an injury withdrawal.
• Finals: A gold medal final and a bronze medal final were scheduled, but only the gold medal final was held.