Complete guide to Olympic cycling events: schedule, how to watch and more

Complete guide to Olympic cycling events: schedule, how to watch and more

All eyes turn to the Izu Velodrome

Pascal Guyot/AFP via Getty Images

Published: August 1, 2021 at 6:00 pm

If you came here looking for information about cycling events at the 2024 Paris Olympics, check out our full guide to this year's racing!


One year later than planned, the Tokyo Olympic Games finally get underway this weekend, with the opening ceremony taking place on Friday (July 23). Among the many sports on show, in the home of keirin racing, this year’s Games are once again packed with cycling – be it road, track, mountain biking or BMX.

There is cycling of some form every day of the Games, with a total of 22 gold medals up for grabs across the four disciplines.

The men’s road race (controversially, not the women’s) climbs the lower slopes of Mount Fuji as the two-wheeled action kicks off on the opening weekend of the Games.

Attention then quickly turns to the cross-country mountain bike racing, before the men’s and women’s individual time trials on the road.

Four days of BMX action conclude the outdoor events, before the action kicks off in the Izu Velodrome – with medals up for grabs every day from then on.

Whether you’re a road, MTB, track or BMX fan – and perhaps all four – let’s take a closer look at when you can catch the cycling action at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Olympic cycling TV coverage and streaming in the UK, USA and Australia

How can I watch cycling at the Olympic Games in the UK?

The BBC will be providing blanket coverage of the Games again, so viewers in the UK can tune in whenever they wish to watch the best of the cycling action.

How can I watch cycling at the Olympic Games in the USA?

NBC will be the place to go for US viewers, with all coverage in the United States broadcast by NBC and its affiliates – this includes both live and delayed coverage.

How can I watch cycling at the Olympic Games in Australia?

Channel 7 are the team behind blanket Olympic coverage in Australia, with 7Plus boasting more than 40 channels to ensure you don’t miss any of the events you are interested in.

Time differences from Japan for Olympic coverage

  • British Summer Time (BST): –8 hours
  • Eastern Standard Time (EST): –13 hours
  • Pacific Time (PT): –16 hours
  • Australian Eastern Standard Time: +1 hours

Schedule of cycling events at the Tokyo Olympic Games

Olympic road cycling schedule

Greg van Avermaet 2016 Olympics
Greg Van Avermaet won the men's road race at the last Games. - Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

Men’s Olympic road race route

Tokyo 2020 - ME RR FINAL PDF WEB
Japan might hit 30 degrees celcius for the race which will make this a gruelling day out.
  • Date: Saturday 24 July
  • Start time: 11:00am local time, 3:00am BST, 11:00pm EST (23 July), 8:00pm PT (23 July), 12:00pm AEST
  • Distance: 234km
  • Elevation gain: 4,865m

The men’s road race kicks off the cycling action, with a climb of the lower slopes of Mount Fuji the stand-out of a lumpy 234km course.

The men’s road race kicks off the cycling action. With over 4,865m of climbing, the lumpy 234km course scales 14.3km up the lower slopes of Mount Fuji and features the Mikuni Pass, a 6.5km climb at 10.6km.

Tokyo 2020 - ME RR FINAL PDF WEB
Climbs on Mount Fuji and Mikuni Pass will likely make this one for the climbers, but don't rule out puncheurs who might be able to get back to the front on the final descent.

Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar and third-place finisher Richard Caparaz will be ones to watch, as the course could suit a climber. But a long downhill running into a relatively flat finish could suit a puncheur like Wout van Aert who, after his stage victory at the Tour on Mont Ventoux, is one of the top favourites.

Women’s Olmypic road race route

Tokyo 2020 - WE RR FINAL PDF WEB
At 137km long, the women's course has 2,692m of climbing.
  • Date: Sunday 25 July
  • Start time: 1:00pm local time, 5:00am BST, 0:00am EST, 9:00pm PT (24 July), 2:00pm AEST
  • Distance: 137km
  • Elevation gain: 2,692m

The women’s event doesn’t follow the same route as the men’s race – missing out Mount Fuji – but the 137km race still features 2,692m of climbing.

The course will suit riders who can get over climbs but still sprint to the line. The Dutch team will have a formidable presence at the race with Marianne Vos and Anne van der Breggan, who just won the Giro Donne. British rider Lizzie Deignan and Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma will also be ones to watch.

Tokyo 2020 - WE RR FINAL PDF WEB
The women's road race misses out the climb on the slopes of Mount Fuji and will suit a rider who can get over climbs but finish fast.

Men’s and women’s Olympic time trial route

  • Date: Wednesday 28 July
  • Start time women’s: 11:30am local, 3:30am BST, 10:30pm EST (27 July), 7:30pm PT (27 July), 12:30pm AEST
  • Start time men’s: 2:00pm local, 6:00am BST, 1:00am EST, 10:00pm PT (27 July), 3:00pm AEST
  • Distance: 44.2km (men’s), 22.1km (women’s)
  • Elevation gain: 846m (men’s), 423m (women’s)

The men’s and women’s time trials take place the following Wednesday. The course starts and ends at Fuji International Speedway and follows the same 22.1km circuit, but the men will complete two laps and the women will do one lap.

The loop has 423m of climbing starting with a descent and is quickly followed by a tough incline before a more rolling section.

Olympic mountain biking schedule

tom pidcock riding cross-country
British rider Tom Pidcock will be one to watch in the men's mountain bike. - Svoboda Jaroslav/BSR Agency/Getty Images

In between the road races and the time trials, Tokyo’s cross-country mountain bike racing fills the void on the first Monday and Tuesday of the Games.

Located just outside Tokyo on the Izu MTB Course, the men are the first to bid for gold medals before the women ride the following day.

The course is a 4km lap with 150m of climbing. It hasn’t been specified yet how many laps the riders will be completing, but it is expected to be between seven and nine laps.

The course has various sections named Amagigoe, Joren-no-taki, Hashi, Wasabi, Odorikohodo and Karesansui, which reflect their characteristics. It features steep ascents and descents as well as rocky sections that will test the riders’ strength and fitness as well as their technical ability.

The races will have mass starts with riders jostling for position, which might prove essential as any rider that has a time 80 per cent slower than the racer leader’s first lap will be eliminated.

Men’s Olympic cross-country mountain biking schedule

2022 Scott Spark RC Team Issue AXS cross country mountain bike
Schurter will likely be on the new Scott Spark. - Alex Evans
  • Date: Monday 26 July
  • Start time: 3:00pm local time, 7:00am BST, 2:00am EST, 11:00pm PT (25 July), 4:00pm AEST
  • Distance: TBC
  • Elevation gain: TBC

Nino Schurter will be one to watch in the men’s race, as reigning Olympic champion. Tom Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel are also serious contenders.

Women’s Olympic cross-country mountain biking schedule

Evie Richards riding the women's elite XCO cross-country race at the 2020 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships
Evie Richards riding the women's elite XCO cross-country race at the 2020 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. - Alex Whitehead / SWPix.com
  • Date: Tuesday 27 July
  • Start time: 3:00pm local time, 7:00am BST, 2:00am EST, 11:00pm PT (25 July) 4:00pm AEST
  • Distance: TBC
  • Elevation gain: TBC

Jenny Rissveds is the reigning Olympic champion but isn’t considered one of the top contenders. France’s Pauline Ferrand Prévot and Britain’s Evie Richards are two of the favourites.

Olympic BMX racing schedule

bmx racing at the olympics
The BMX racing will take place before the track cycling. - David Ramos/Getty Images

Before attention turns to the velodrome, the Tokyo Bay Zone hosts the BMX action – both the racing and freestyle events.

Qualifiers for the former take place on the Thursday, before the semi-finals and medal events the following day. The freestyle heats are the second Saturday, and the finals on the Sunday.

Thursday July 29

  • BMX Racing (men and women) – qualifiers

Friday July 30

  • BMX Racing (men and women) – semi-finals, finals

Saturday July 31

  • BMX Freestyle (men and women) – heats

Sunday August 1

  • BMX Freestyle (men and women) – finals

Track cycling

2020 UEC European Track Championships women's madison
Women's madison at the 2020 UEC European Track Championships. - Alex Whitehead / SWpix.com

Finally, track cycling takes over on Monday 2 August, with medals up for grabs every day from then on until the final day of the Games on Sunday 8 August.

Monday August 2

  • Men’s team pursuit – heats
  • Women’s team pursuit – heats
  • Women’s team sprint – heats, semi-finals, final

Tuesday August 3

  • Men’s team pursuit – semi-finals
  • Women’s team pursuit – semi-finals, final
  • Men’s team sprint – heats, semi-finals, final

Wednesday August 4

  • Men’s team pursuit – final
  • Men’s sprint – heats
  • Women’s keirin – heats

Thursday August 5

  • Women’s keirin – quarter-finals, semi-finals, final
  • Men’s omnium – scratch race, tempo race, elimination race, points race
  • Men’s sprint – heats, quarter-finals

Friday August 6

  • Men’s sprint – semi-finals, final
  • Women’s Madison
  • Women’s sprint – heats

Saturday August 7

  • Men’s Madison
  • Men’s keirin – heats
  • Women’s sprint – quarter-finals

Sunday August 8

  • Men’s keirin – quarter-finals, semi-finals, finals
  • Women’s omnium – scratch race, tempo race, elimination race, points race
  • Women’s sprint – semi-finals, final