Small adjustments can have a tremendous impact on an elite-level rider’s results. Engineers use wind tunnels to test their designs for aerodynamic improvements. After a cyclist reaches 20 mph, aerodynamics become crucial. The way the spokes are designed plays a big role in how much air a cyclist is pushing. Some experts predict that metal spokes will be obsolete in the next few years.
Cyclists also say clipless pedals give them an edge. With them, the shoe hooks directly into the pedal, so that the pull harnesses as much power as the push.
Road
Riders clip their shoes into this 15-gear minimum bike made of titanium.
Distinguishing features:
Mountain
"Fat tires" keep you upright, unbent and moving. Some add hydraulic suspension over the front forks for a smoother ride.
Distinguishing features:
Track
Sprint and Points
This is your basic track bike, made to withstand a pounding in the breakaways.
Distinguishing features:
Pursuit and Time Trial
Aerodynamic molded frame tubing makes these bikes lookers.
Distinguishing features:
Road race is an individual event in which each country enters four riders. Bringing home a medal may call for an individual, called a domestique, to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. It’s up to the coach to organize an approach and communicate with the riders.
Coaches use various techniques to optimize expended energy. The most common is called drafting. When riders are tight together, riding one behind the other, the one in the slipstream expends up to 30 percent less energy than the lead. When turning, cyclists form an echelon, or pace line, in which they all take staggered, orderly turns at the lead to get maximum protection from the wind. Sometimes one rider will do a lead-out, intentionally pulling a teammate on the rear wheel in a sprint, then letting him or her jump ahead to take the lead.
But it can get even more aggressive. Riders strike a sprint attack or force the pace by riding faster than others in the pack. They also may stage a block, usually when team members are ahead of the main field in a breakaway, a rider will hold back and keep opponents from passing. And sometimes a rider will hook another, accidentally or purposefully, catching the front wheel of the rider behind him or her with their rear wheel.
Accidents do happen. Cyclists will fix a blown tire. And people have died. Cycling is no ride in the park.
The road course begins in a northerly counterclockwise direction from the start/finish line at the Cathedral of St. Philip. At the gun, the riders race over rolling hills toward Roswell Road, where they head uphill and are narrowed into the two left lanes. From there, they wind their way through the streets of the Buckhead Community, a wealthy and commercial area of Atlanta, past the Governor’s Mansion. But the cyclists aren’t looking at the houses; their concentration is all on jockeying for place and fighting to pull the strength and stamina from their legs to propel them over the finish line to gold.
Action | Location | Terrain | km | mi |
---|---|---|---|---|
Start | Peachtree Road, Cathedral of St. Philip | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
Left | Roswell Road | rolling, slightly uphill | 1.13 | 0.7 |
Left | Powers Ferry Road | uphill after turn, begin downhill | 3.06 | 1.9 |
Left | Putnam Road | sharp left, downhill | 3.70 | 2.3 |
Right | Blackland Road | 3.86 | 2.4 | |
Left | Tuxedo Road | winding downhill | 4.34 | 2.7 |
Cross Valley Road | begin slight uphill | |||
Left | Woodhaven Road | uphill immediately, begin rolling | 5.07 | 3.15 |
Neutral Pit #1 | section that flattens | |||
Left | West Paces Ferry | 6.28 | 3.9 | |
Right | Arden Road | 6.44 | 4.0 | |
Midway Point | 6.52 | 4.05 | ||
Left | Northside Drive | downhill then rolling | 7.89 | 4.9 |
Left | Woodward Way | sharp left | 9.49 | 5.9 |
Neutral Pit #2 & Medical | ||||
Left | Dellwood Drive | course narrows | 10.46 | 6.5 |
Right | Peachtree Battle | 11.03 | 6.85 | |
Left | Peachtree Road | uphill to finish | 11.91 | 7.4 |
Finish | Cathedral of St. Philip | 13.05 | 8.1 | |
Feed Zone | ||||
Neutral Pit #3 |
This is an official publication of The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.
Written by Jennifer Knight.
| Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Games involved a crew of 2,100 who worked with more than 3,500 performers as well as thousands of athletes who celebrated on the field of Olympic Stadium. |