July 28, 2012 (London, UK) – Predictions of rain were banished as the men’s road race started under breezy mid-teen temperatures on The Mall by Buckingham Palace. With the 600 year-old tradition of the palace guards watching over, as well as hundreds of British military, the 250km race commenced as British fans went wild.

The riders headed southwest, riding the Putney Bridge over the River Thames, continuing through Richmond Park as they say a “hello” at Hampton Court Palace, and then head towards the Surrey section of the race, which incorporates nine laps of Box Hill. This is where the race should be determined.

After they depart Box Hill, they head north through Leatherhead, Esher, Kingston-upon-Thames and Richmond Park, over the Putney Bridge again for a finish back on The Mall.

11:08 am -Stuart O’Grady (Australia) and 11 others, including Belgium and Dutch riders have 4:30 min on the field.

11:45 am – The gap has stretched to almost 5min as the pack is not yet ready to chase them back as they approach the Box Hill circuit for the first time – our leaders…

Stuart O’Grady (Australia)
Denis Menchov (Russia)
Marco Pinotti (Italy)
Jonathan Castroviejo (Spain)
Jurgen Roelandts (Belgium)
Fumiyuki Beppu (Japan)
Michael Schar (Switzerland)
Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia)
Alexander Kristoff (Norway)
Sungbaek Park (Korea)
Tim Duggan (USA)
Lieuwe Westra (Netherlands)

11:49 am – There’s a crash in the main pack… riders are down

12:10 pm – The leaders are now on their second time up the Box Hill circuit – just over 160km to go.

12:20 pm – David Millar (Britain) is at the front leading the chase as the peloton is strung out behind.

12:30 pm – Michael Rogers (Australia) has jumped and is now on his own between the peloton and the leaders…

12:45 pm – The gap to the leaders is now over 6 min (?) we believe – Korea’s park is struggling and drops back – about 130km to go. Can Britain close down this break which looks smooth and is working well together? The pressure is on.

13:00 pm –

Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) attacks and takes 4 riders with him… Phillipe Gilbert (Belgium) is one of them

13:15 pm – The Nibali group is reeled in as two riders attack from the pack but they too are caught.

13:20 pm – The gap to the leaders is down to 4:30.

13:30 pm – Team GB continues to operate like the engine of a train in the peloton – the gap to the leaders is now 3:45 min.

13:31 pm – Sorry Andriy Grivko (Ukraine) and Gregory Rast (Switzerland) who attacked earlier were not caught and have been joined by Nibali and Gilbert who attacked again – they’re on their 5th time up the Box Hill climb.

13:35 pm –

The break is looking tired as the gap is down to 1:50 on the lead chasers and only 2:20 on the pack as Britain sees some light.

13:45 pm – The gap is dropping fast now down to 1:15 as the Nibali group eats up the Box Hill circuit.

13:50 pm – Less than 100k to go as the gap to the main pack is now 1:45.

13:55 pm – The leaders are in danger of being caught by the chase group as the pack continues to gain on the chasers

14:00 pm – Gilbert attacks again from the chase group

14:05 pm – With 80km to go Gilbert is still away on his own but the chasers are gaining on him… he’s caught.

14:10 pm – The pack continues to gain on the chase group only 50s behind and 1:30 to the leaders.

14:15 pm –

Gilbert continues to drive the pace behind as the chase group continues to make up ground on the leaders.

14:20 pm – The lead group is 25 sec ahead of chase group and 53 seconds ahead of field – 7 of 9 laps on the Box Hill circuit have been completed.

14:25 pm – The lead group is has now been caught by the chasers

14:30 pm – Gilbert attacks again…

14:45 pm – They’re on the final ascent up Box Hill and Gilbert has a 30+sec lead over the leading chase group

14:50 pm – With less than 50km to go Gilbert is 1-min ahead of the chasing peloton that is only 25s behind the Nibali group in between. Belgium is shadowing Team GB at the front of the peloton.

14:59 pm – Gilbert is caught by the chase group as Wiggins comes the front of the pack behind at 26s – less than 40km to go and it’s relatively flat to the finish

15:06 pm –

The large break up front lead by Gilbert and Nibali includes some heavy hitters like Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland), Sylvain Chavanel (France), Lars Boom (Netherlands), Luis Leon Sanchez (Spain) and Tejay Van Garderen (USA) who won the Best Young Rider Classification at the Tour de France.

15:10 pm – Van Garderen attacks but is quickly reeled in – the pack is about 1 min behind – with about 30km to go Britain has to make its big move soon.

15:20 pm – There are 33 riders in the lead pack – including many strong players – and with under 20km its questionable whether Britain can bring them back…

15:22 pm – Will anyone help the Brits reel in the leaders…? Germany looks like they’re on board for André Greipel as Britain powers at the front but they cannot do it alone.

15:25 pm – Thru Richmond Park a Norwegian rider Lars Petter Nordhaug attacks off the front…

15:29 pm –

With 17km to go the leaders start to eye each other and lose a bit of momentum – Gesink takes the lead.

15:30 pm – There’s a crash in the lead group – it was Cancellara crashing into a barrier – his elbow is scraped.

15:33 pm – Cancellara is out as the peloton passes him… the lead group has been reduced in numbers.

15:34 pm – With 10km to the gap is coming down fast – but is it enough to bring Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel to the front for the final sprint?

15:37 pm – The attacks at the front begin… Boonen punctures.

15:40pm –

Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) attacks with a Columbia rider Rigoberto Uran at 4km to go – they have a gap of 5s and look like they could do it.

15:43 pm – Britain has waited too long and they’re out of it… there’s not enough time now to reel in the break

15:45 pm – Vinokourov has an Olympic silver medal from Sydney (2000) and will battle Uran for gold – less than 2km to go.

15:46 pm – They won’t be caught with 1km to go

15:47 pm – Vinokourov wins GOLD

Results

1. Alexandr Vinokurov (Kazakhstan) 5:45:57
2. Rigoberto Uran Uran (Colombia)
3. Alexander Kristoff (Norway) 0:08
4. Taylor Phinney (United States of America)
5. Sergey Lagutin (Uzbekistan)
6. Stuart O’grady (Australia)
7. Jurgen Roelandts (Belgium)
8. Gregory Rast (Switzerland)
9. Luca Paolini (Italy)
10. Jack Bauer (New Zealand)
11. Lars Boom (Netherlands)
12. Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark)
13. Rui Alberto Faria Costa (Portugal)
14. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spain)
15. Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic)
16. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Colombia)
17. Andriy Grivko (Ukraine)
18. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spain)
19. Philippe Gilbert (Belgium)
20. Sylvain Chavanel (France)
21. Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia)
22. Fumiyuki Beppu (Japan)
23. Robert Gesink (Netherlands)
24. Alexandr Kolobnev (Russian Federation)
25. Lars Petter Nordhaug (Norway)
26. Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spain) 0:16
27. Andre Greipel (Germany) 0:40
28. Tom Boonen (Belgium)
29. Mark Cavendish (Great Britain)
30. Arnaud Demare (France)
31. Francisco Jose Ventoso Alberdi (Spain)
32. Murilo Antonio Fischer (Brazil)
33. Tyler Farrar (United States of America)
34. Peter Sagan (Slovakia)
35. Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (Costa Rica)
36. Bernhard Eisel (Austria)
37. Kam-Po Wong (Hong Kong, China)
38. Elia Viviani (Italy)
39. Hector Hugo Zamarron Rangel (Mexico)
40. Daryl Impey (South Africa)
41. Matti Breschel (Denmark)
42. Radoslav Rogina (Croatia)
43. Assan Bazayev (Kazakhstan)
44. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spain)
45. Miguel Ubeto Aponte (Venezuela)
46. Borut Bozic (Slovenia)
47. Ramunas Navardauskas (Lithuania)
48. Yukiya Arashiro (Japan)
49. Manuel Antonio Leal Cardoso (Portugal)
50. Rene Mandri (Estonia)
51. Jackson Rodriguez (Venezuela)
52. Vladimir Isaychev (Russian Federation)
53. Yauheni Hutarovich (Belarus)
54. Ivan Stevic (Serbia)
55. David Mccann (Ireland)
56. Aleksejs Saramotins (Latvia)
57. Martin Elmiger (Switzerland)
58. Nicki Sorensen (Denmark)
59. Gediminas Bagdonas (Lithuania)
60. Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland)
61. Danail Andonov Petrov (Bulgaria)
62. Adil Jelloul (Morocco)
63. Ryder Hesjedal (Canada)
64. Jussi Veikkanen (Finland)
65. Arnold Alcolea (Cuba)
66. Dmytro Krivtsov (Ukraine)
67. Kristijan Durasek (Croatia)
68. Nelson Filipe S. Simoes Oliveira (Portugal)
69. Tomas Aurelio Gil Martinez (Venezuela)
70. Lars Ytting Bak (Denmark)
71. Gonzalo Andres Garrido Zenteno (Chile)
72. Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eritrea)
73. Jan Barta (Czech Republic)
74. Sebastian Langeveld (Netherlands)
75. Gustav Larsson (Sweden)
76. Vegard Stake Laengen (Norway)
77. Branislau Samoilau (Belarus)
78. Grega Bole (Slovenia)
79. Cadel Evans (Australia)
80. Daniel Schorn (Austria)
81. Niki Terpstra (Netherlands)
82. Simon Gerrans (Australia)
83. Matthew Harley Goss (Australia)
84. Tony Gallopin (France)
85. Michael Schar (Switzerland)
86. Timothy Duggan (United States of America)
87. Nicolas Roche (Ireland)
88. Daniel Martin (Ireland)
89. Michael Rogers (Australia)
90. Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium)
91. Christopher Horner (United States of America) 0:49
92. Ian Stannard (Great Britain) 0:50
93. Bert Grabsch (Germany)
94. Michael Albasini (Switzerland)
95. Lieuwe Westra (Netherlands)
96. Sacha Modolo (Italy) 0:54
97. Stijn Vandenbergh (Belgium)
98. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) 0:56
99. Marcel Sieberg (Germany) 1:11
100. Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain) 1:17
101. Tejay Van Garderen (United States of America) 1:34
102. John Degenkolb (Germany) 2:52
103. Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) 5:43
104. Marco Pinotti (Italy) 8:07
105. David Millar (Great Britain) 9:19
106. Denis Menchov (Russian Federation)
107. Edvald Hagen (Norway BOASSOH)
108. Christopher Froome (Great Britain)
109. Laurent Didier (Luxembourg)
110. Ioannis Tamouridis (Greece)
111. Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Argentina)
112. Maciej Bodnar (Poland)
113. Mehdi Sohrabi (Islamic Republic of Iran)
114. Gabor Kasa (Serbia)
115. Ahmet Akdilek (Turkey)
116. Byron Patricio Guama De La Cruz (Ecuador)
117. Gregolry Panizo (Brazil)
118. Kemal Kucukbay (Turkey)
119. Magno Prado Nazaret (Brazil)
120. Oleg Berdos (Republic of Moldova)
121. Andrei Nechita (Romania)
122. Michal Golas (Poland)
123. Amir Mustafa Rusli (Malaysia)
124. Krisztian Lovassy (Hungary)
125. Greg Henderson (New Zealand)
126. Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus)
127. Soufiane Haddi (Morocco)
DNF Alireza Haghi (Islamic Republic of Iran)
DNF Azzedine Lagab (Algeria)
DNF Spas Gyurov (Bulgaria)
DNF Muhamad Adiq Husainie Othman (Malaysia)
DNF Mirac Kal (Turkey)
DNF Muradjan Halmuratov (Uzbekistan)
DNF Tony Martin (Germany)
DNF Giorgi Nadiradze (Georgia)
DNF Sungbaek Park (Republic of Korea)
DNF Manuel Rodas Ochoa (Guatemala)
DNF Dan Craven (Namibia)
DNF Mouhcine Lahsaini (Morocco)
DNF Omar Hasannen (Syrian Arab Republic)
DNF Jorge Adelbio Soto Perera (Uruguay)
DNF Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Colombia)
DNF Mickael Bourgain (France)
DNF Amir Zargari (Islamic Republic of Iran)