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

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.

## Competition format

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.

## Results

### Semifinals

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."

**Semifinal 1**

Flynn had a puncture at about the halfway mark.

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Leon Meredith | Great Britain | 33:21.0 | Q |
| 2 | Hermann Martens | Germany | 33:21.2 | |
| 3 | Joseph Werbrouck | Belgium | 33:21.4 | q |
| 4 | André Lapize | France | Unknown | |
| 5 | Georgius Damen | Netherlands | Unknown | |
| 6 | Frederick McCarthy | Canada | Unknown | |
| 7–8 | Pierre Hostein | France | Unknown | |
| 7–8 | Rudolf Katzer | Germany | Unknown | |
| — | Daniel Flynn | Great Britain | DNF | |

**Semifinal 2**

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Clarence Kingsbury | Great Britain | 32:33.8 | Q |
| 2 | Charlie Brooks | Great Britain | 32:34.0 | |
| 3 | Floris Venter | South Africa | 32:34.4 | |
| 4 | Georges Lutz | France | Unknown | |
| 5 | Gerard Bosch van Drakenstein | Netherlands | Unknown | |
| 6 | François Bonnet | France | Unknown | q |
| 7–9 | Walter Andrews | Canada | Unknown | |
| 7–9 | Jean van Benthem | Belgium | Unknown | |
| 7–9 | Paul Schulze | Germany | Unknown | |

**Semifinal 3**

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Louis Weintz | United States | 33:39.8 | Q |
| 2 | Frank Shore | South Africa | 33:40.0 | |
| 3 | Harry Young | Canada | 33:45.2 | |
| 4 | Herbert Bouffler | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| 5 | Max Triebsch | Germany | Unknown | |
| 6–7 | Henri Cunault | France | Unknown | |
| 6–7 | Dorus Nijland | Netherlands | Unknown | |
| — | Frederick Hamlin | Great Britain | DNF | |

**Semifinal 4**

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Benjamin Jones | Great Britain | 32:39.0 | Q |
| 2 | George Cameron | United States | 32:39.2 | |
| 3 | Thomas Passmore | South Africa | 32:39.4 | |
| 4 | Octave Lapize | France | Unknown | q |
| 5 | Henri Baumler | France | Unknown | |
| 6–7 | Alwin Boldt | Germany | Unknown | |
| 6–7 | Johannes van Spengen | Netherlands | Unknown | |
| — | William Lower | Great Britain | DNF | |

**Semifinal 5**

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 | Sweden | 34:53.6 | Q |
| 2 | David Robertson | Great Britain | 34:53.8 | |
| 3 | William Anderson | Canada | 34:55.6 | |
| — | Ioannis Santorinaios | Greece | DNF | |
| — | Pierre Texier | France | DNF | |

**Semifinal 6**

"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 | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Albert Denny | Great Britain | 33:40.6 | Q |
| 2 | Charles Avrillon | France | 33:40.8 | |
| 3 | Gustaf Westerberg | Sweden | 33:41.4 | |
| 4 | Guglielmo Morisetti | Italy | Unknown | |
| — | Léon Couckelberg | Belgium | DSQ | |

### Final

Meredith and Denny suffered punctures early on. Hansson fell near the end. Bonnet led most of the first half of the race. Kingsbury started his sprint shortly after the bell, "hotly challenged" by Jones, Werbrouck, and Weintz for "one of the most exciting finishes of the Games, which Kingsbury just won by three inches."

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Clarence Kingsbury | Great Britain | 34:13.6 |
| | Benjamin Jones | Great Britain | Unknown |
| | Joseph Werbrouck | Belgium | Unknown |
| 4 | Louis Weintz | United States | Unknown |
| 5–9 | François Bonnet | France | Unknown |
| 5–9 | Arthur Denny | Great Britain | Unknown |
| 5–9 | Andrew Hansson | Sweden | Unknown |
| 5–9 | Octave Lapize | France | Unknown |
| 5–9 | Leon Meredith | Great Britain | Unknown |
