Cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's individual pursuit
The men's individual pursuit event in cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics consisted of matches between two cyclists. The riders would start at opposite ends of the track. Each had 16 laps (4 kilometres) in which to catch the other cyclist. If neither was caught before one had gone 16 laps, the times for the distance were used to determine the victor. In the thirteen matches of the 2004 event, no cyclist was lapped.[1]
| Cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
Road cycling_pictogram.svg.png.webp){kind=small} | ||
| Road race | men | women |
| Time trial | men | women |
Track cycling_pictogram.svg.png.webp){kind=small} | ||
| Track time trial | men | women |
| Individual pursuit | men | women |
| Team pursuit | men | |
| Sprint | men | women |
| Team sprint | men | |
| Points race | men | women |
| Keirin | men | |
| Madison | men | |
Mountain biking_pictogram.svg.png.webp){kind=small} | ||
| Cross-country | men | women |
Medalists
 Gold |
 Silver |
 Bronze |
 Bradley Wiggins (GBR) |
 Brad McGee (AUS) |
 Sergi Escobar (ESP) |
Records
| World Record | Christopher Boardman (GBR) | Manchester, United Kingdom | 4:11.114 | 29 August 1996 |
| Olympic Record | Robert Bartko (GER) | Sydney, Australia | 4:18.515 | 17 September 2000 |
Results
Qualifying round
20 August, 16:30
The sixteen riders raced against each other in matches of two. Qualification for the next round was not based on who won those matches, however. The cyclists with the eight fastest times advanced, regardless of whether they won or lost their match.
| Heat | Name | Time | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Yuriy Yuda (KAZ) | 4:29.676 | 14 |
 Hossein Askari (IRI) | 4:39.302 | 15 | |
| 2 |  Linas Balciunas (LTU) | 4:22.392 | 9 |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Vasil Kiryienka (BLR) | 4:29.005 | 13 | |
| 3 | Carlos Castaño (ESP) | 4:27.871 | 12 |
 Levi Heimans (NED) | DNS | — | |
| 4 |  Volodymyr Dyuda (UKR) | 4:18.169 Q | 5 |
 Christian Lademann (GER) | 4:26.760 | 11 | |
| 5 |  Fabien Sanchez (FRA) | 4:20.606 Q | 8 |
 Alexei Markov (RUS) | 4:25.520 | 10 | |
| 6 | Bradley Wiggins (GBR) | 4:15.165 Q | 1 |
| Luke Roberts (AUS) | 4:19.353 Q | 7 | |
| 7 | Rob Hayles (GBR) | 4:17.930 Q | 4 |
| Robert Bartko (GER) | 4:18.991 Q | 6 | |
| 8 | Sergi Escobar (ESP) | 4:16.862 Q | 2 |
| Brad McGee (AUS) | 4:17.510 Q | 3 |
Match round
In the first round of actual match competition, cyclists were seeded into matches based on their times from the qualifying round. The fastest cyclist faced the eighth-fastest, the second-fastest faced the third, and so forth. Winners advanced to the finals while losers in each match received a final ranking based on their time in the round.
- Heat 1
| Rob Hayles (GBR) | 4:19.559 Q | (3rd) |
| Volodymyr Dyuda (UKR) | 4:22.720 | (7th) |
- Heat 2
| Brad McGee (AUS) | 4:17.978 Q | (2nd) |
| Robert Bartko (GER) | 4:26.184 | (8th) |
- Heat 3
| Sergi Escobar (ESP) | 4:19.581 Q | (4th) |
| Luke Roberts (AUS) | 4:20.336 | (5th) |
- Heat 4
| Bradley Wiggins (GBR) | 4:17.215 Q | (1st) |
| Fabien Sanchez (FRA) | 4:21.235 | (6th) |
Medal round
Cyclists were again re-seeded, this time based on their times in the match round. The third- and fourth-fastest riders faced off in the bronze medal match, while the fastest two riders competed for the gold and silver medals.
- Bronze medal match
| Sergi Escobar (ESP) | 4:17.947 |
| Rob Hayles (GBR) | 4:22.291 |
- Gold medal match
In a reversal of the 2002 Commonwealth Games final, where McGee had caught Wiggins before the end, the Brit took the title to make up for the disappointment of his teammate losing the bronze medal match.
| Bradley Wiggins (GBR) | 4:16.304 |
| Brad McGee (AUS) | 4:20.436 |
Final classification
The final results were[1]
- Bradley Wiggins (GBR)
- Brad McGee (AUS)
- Sergi Escobar (ESP)
- Rob Hayles (GBR)
- Luke Roberts (AUS)
- Fabien Sanchez (FRA)
- Volodymyr Dyuda (UKR)
- Robert Bartko (GER)
- Linas Balciunas (LTU)
- Alexei Markov (RUS)
- Christian Lademann (GER)
- Carlos Castaño (ESP)
- Vasil Kiryienka (BLR)
- Yuriy Yuda (KAZ)
- Hossein Askari (IRI)
Did not start: Levi Heimans (NED)
References
- "Cycling at the 2004 Athens Summer Games: Men's Individual Pursuit, 4,000 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2020.