Team Time Trial (100 kilometres), Men

The Soviet Union had won the last three gold medals in this event and was the World Champion in 1983. The Netherlands had been World Champion in 1982 and was highly considered in the Soviet absence. In the event the Italian team recorded one of the most dominant victories ever, winning by 4:10 over Switzerland. Italy was one of the first teams to use modern carbon-fiber disc wheels, now common in time trial racing. Their time of 1-58:28 was the fastest ever recorded for 100 km. in the team time trial, and would have been faster except for a flat tire that cost them 20 seconds to change the wheel. Wallechinsky has noted that the venue, over a 15½-mile stretch of the Artesia Freeway, was one of the dullest ever at the Olympics and that the winning teams “enjoyed the rare privilege of seeing their national flags raised in front of the Regal Plastic Company and a freeway exit sign for Avalon Boulevard.”