100 kilometres Team Time Trial, Men

The team time trial, actually over 104 km., came down to the Netherlands, Sweden, and Italy. Sweden led with the fastest split for the first 50 km., 1-03:10.20, but they had only a narrow lead over the Dutch team, who recorded 1-03:11.50. Italy was 40 seconds back with 1-30:50.65. But the second half of the race belonged to the Dutch team. Their final split of 1-04:37.66 was almost 2 minutes faster than Sweden’s and brought them the gold medal. The Netherlands was led by Joop Zoetemelk, who turned pro in 1970 and had a long, successful career in the pro ¬peloton. In his first two years, he placed second in the Tour de France. He would finally win the Tour de France in 1980, after five second place finishes (and a sixth in 1982), and he also won the Vuelta a España in 1979. In 1985, Zoetemelk became the oldest ever winner of the World Professional Road Race. The Swedish team was unique in Olympic history, consisting of four brothers, the Pettersson’s – Erik, Gösta, Sture, and Tomas. World Champions in 1967, 1968, and 1979, they would later change their name to Fåglum, in honor of the village in which they grew up.