Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

For the cycling competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics (postponed to 2021^[1] due to the COVID-19 pandemic), the following qualification systems are in place.

Qualification summary

Nation	Road				Track												MTB		BMX				Total
	Men		Women		Men						Women						M	W	Men		Women		Q	R
	RR	TT	RR	TT	TS	KE	SP	TP	OM	MD	TS	KE	SP	TP	OM	MD	M	W	RC	FR	RC	FR	Q	R
Algeria	2	1																					3	2
Argentina	1																	1	1				3	3
Australia	4	2	4	2	X	2	2	X	X	X		1	1	X	X	X	1	1	1	1	2	1	35	29
Austria	3	1	1						X	X							1	1					9	8
Azerbaijan	1																						1	1
Belarus	1		1	1					X						X								5	4
Belgium	5	2	3	1					X	X					X	X	1	1			1		18	15
Brazil																	2	1	1		1		5	5
Burkina Faso	1																						1	1
Canada	3	1	3	2		2	2	X		X		2	2	X	X		1	2	1		1		26	24
Chile			1														1					1	3	3
China	1		1			1	1				X	2	2				1	1					11	7
Colombia	5	1	1			1	1												2		1		12	10
Costa Rica	1		1																	1			3	3
Croatia	1																						1	1
Cuba			1																				1	1
Cyprus			1																				1	1
Czech Republic	3	1	1			1	1										1	1					9	7
Denmark	4	1	2	1				X	X	X					X	X	1	2			1		17	17
Ecuador	2	1																	1		1		5	4
Egypt															X								1	1
Eritrea	2	1	1																				4	3
Estonia	2	1																1					4	3
Ethiopia			1																				1	1
France	5	1	1	1	X	2	2		X	X		2	2	X	X	X	2	2	3	1	2		32	28
Germany	4	2	4	2	X	2	2	X	X	X	X	2	2	X		X	2	2			1	1	33	28
Great Britain	4	2	2	1	X	2	2	X	X	X		1	1	X	X	X	1	1	1	1	1	1	28	26
Greece	1								X								1						3	3
Guatemala	1																						1	1
Hong Kong	1											2	2		X	X							7	5
Hungary	1																1	1					3	3
Iran	1	1																					2	1
Ireland	3	1							X	X					X	X							8	7
Israel			1	1													1						3	2
Italy	5	2	4	1				X	X	X				X	X	X	3	1	1				23	24
Japan	2		2	1		2	2		X			1	1		X	X	1	1	1	1	1	1	20	16
Kazakhstan	3	1				1	1		X														7	5
Latvia	2	1																	1		1		5	4
Lithuania	1		1								X	2	2		X								8	5
Luxembourg	2		1	1																			4	3
Malaysia						2	2																4	2
Mexico	1		1	1							X	2	2		X		1	1					11	7
Morocco	1																						1	1
Namibia	1		1														1	1					4	4
Netherlands	5	1	4	2	X	2	2		X	X	X	2	2		X	X	2	2	3		3		36	28
New Zealand	2	2			X	2	2	X	X	X		2	2	X	X	X	1				1		21	19
Norway	4	1	2	1											X		1		1				11	9
Panama	1																						1	1
Paraguay			1																				1	1
Peru	1																						1	1
Poland	3	1	3	1	X	2	2		X	X	X	2	2		X	X	1	1					24	17
Portugal	2	2													X			1					6	4
Refugee Olympic Team		1		1																			2	2
Romania	1																1						2	2
ROC	3	1	1		X	2	2				X	2	2		X	X	1	1	1	1	2	1	24	18
Rwanda	1																						1	1
Slovakia	2	1																					3	2
Slovenia	4	1	1															1					7	6
South Africa	3	1	2	1		1	1		X			1	1				1	1	1				15	11
South Korea			1									1	1										3	2
Spain	5	1	2	1					X	X							2	1					14	12
Suriname						1	1																2	1
Sweden																		1					1	1
Switzerland	4	2	1	1				X	X	X							3	3	2		1	1	21	20
Chinese Taipei	1																						1	1
Thailand			1																				1	1
Trinidad and Tobago			1			2	2																5	3
Turkey	2																						2	2
Ukraine	1		1								X	2	2					1					8	5
United States	2	2	4	2					X	X		1	1	X	X	X	1	3	2	2	3	2	30	27
Uzbekistan	1		1																				2	2
Venezuela	1																			1			2	2
Total: 72 NOCs	130	41	67	26	8	30	30	8	20	16	8	30	30	8	21	16	38	38	24	9	24	9	631	530

Legend

TS – Team sprint
KE – Keirin
SP – Sprint
TP – Team pursuit
OM – Omnium
MD – Madison
RR – Road race
TT – Individual time trial
RC – Race
FR – Freestyle
Q – Quotas
R – Riders

Track cycling

Track cycling is done entirely through UCI nation rankings. The quotas per event are as follows:

Team sprint – top 8 teams per gender
Team pursuit – top 8 teams per gender
Madison – all NOCs with a qualified team pursuit, in addition to the next 8 teams per gender (total of 16 teams)
Omnium – NOCs directly qualifying for Madison, in addition to the next 12 (men) or 13 (women) (21 individuals)
Sprint – NOCs qualifying in team sprint enter 2 individuals, in addition to the next 7 best-ranked in individual sprint, and the next 7 best-ranked in Keirin (total of 30 individuals)
Keirin – NOCs qualifying in team sprint enter 2 individuals, in addition to the next 7 best-ranked in individual sprint, and the next 7 best-ranked in Keirin (total of 30 individuals)

Road cycling

Majority of the places in road cycling are attributed through the UCI nation rankings (122 for men, 62 for women), with special provisions for highly-ranked individuals whose nations do not make it. A small number of additional places are available through individual road race continental championships (2 men and 1 woman each for Africa, Americas, and Asia). Host nation Japan has obtained 2 guaranteed spots per gender in the road race. For the road time trial, the NOC must have qualified for the road race. The top 30 (men) or 15 (women) NOCs in the nation rankings may enter a time trial cyclist. The 2019 World Championships also afford 10 places per gender in the time trial. NOCs can have a maximum of 2 time trial entries if they qualify through each of those two methods.

Mountain biking

For mountain biking, 38 spots per gender are allocated. Thirty places will be allocated through the UCI nation rankings and three through continental championships with one each for Africa, Americas, and Asia. One spot per gender has been reserved for host nation Japan. The remaining four spots will be awarded to the top mountain bikers competing at the 2019 UCI World Championships, with two each in the elite and under-23, respectively.

BMX

In the BMX race, twenty-four spots are available for each gender, with one reserved for host nation Japan. Eighteen places will be awarded to the highest-ranked NOCs through the UCI qualification rankings, three through the UCI individual rankings, and the remaining two through the 2020 UCI World Championships. In the BMX freestyle events, nine spots are available for each gender, with one reserved for host nation Japan, six for the highest-ranked NOCs through the UCI rankings, and the remaining two for those competing at the 2019 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships.

Timeline

The following is a timeline of the qualification events for the cycling events at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Event	Date	Venue
Road^[2]
2019 African Continental Championships	March 15–20, 2019	Ethiopia
2019 Asian Continental Championships	April 27–28, 2019	Tashkent
2019 Pan American Continental Championships	May 2–5, 2019	Mexico
2019 UCI Road World Championships	September 22–29, 2019	Harrogate
Establishment of the UCI World Rankings by Nations	October 22, 2019	—
Track^[3]
Establishment of the UCI Olympic Track Ranking 2018–2020 (at end of 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships)	March 2, 2020	—
Mountain biking^[4]
2019 Pan American Continental Championships	April 3–7, 2019	Aguascalientes
2019 African Continental Championships	April 12–14, 2019	Windhoek
2019 Asian Continental Championships	July 25–28, 2019	Kfardebian
2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships	August 28 – September 1, 2019	Mont-Sainte-Anne
Establishment of the UCI Olympic qualification ranking	May 18, 2021	—
BMX^[5]^[6]
2019 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships	November 6–10, 2019	Chengdu
UCI Individual Rankings (BMX race)	June 1, 2021	—
Establishment of the UCI Rankings by Nation (BMX race)	June 1, 2021
Establishment of the UCI Rankings by Nation (BMX freestyle)	June 8, 2021

Road cycling

Men's road race

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
UCI World Ranking	1 to 6	Belgium Italy Netherlands France Colombia Spain	5
	7 to 13	Slovenia Germany Australia Denmark Great Britain Norway Switzerland	4
	14 to 21	Austria Poland Ireland ROC South Africa Kazakhstan Canada Czech Republic	3
	22 to 32	Ecuador Portugal Slovakia Eritrea United States New Zealand Estonia Algeria Luxembourg Latvia Turkey	2
	33 to 50	Belarus Ukraine Costa Rica Greece Romania Iran ~~Sweden~~ Hungary Venezuela Japan Morocco Azerbaijan Lithuania Rwanda Mexico Guatemala Argentina China	1
2019 African Championships	1 to 2	Namibia Burkina Faso	1
2019 Asian Championships	1 to 2	Chinese Taipei Uzbekistan	1
2019 Pan American Championships	1 to 2	Peru Panama	1
Reallocation of unused quota	—	Hong Kong Croatia	1
Total			130

* Quota reduced by one to accommodate for the individual qualifiers

Men's individual time trial

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
UCI World Ranking	1 to 30	Belgium Italy Netherlands France Colombia Spain Slovenia Germany Australia Denmark Great Britain Norway Switzerland Austria Poland Ireland ROC South Africa Kazakhstan Canada Czech Republic Ecuador Portugal Slovakia Eritrea United States New Zealand ~~Estonia~~ Algeria Iran**	1
2019 UCI Road World Championships	1 to 10	Australia Belgium Italy New Zealand Great Britain United States Estonia Portugal Germany Switzerland	1
Invitational place	1	Ahmad Wais (EOR)	1
Reallocation of unused quota	—	Latvia	1
Total			41

** Qualified as a continental representative

Women's road race

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
UCI World Ranking	1 to 5	Netherlands Italy Germany United States Australia	4
	6 to 13	Belgium	3
	6 to 13	Denmark Canada Poland Spain Great Britain Norway South Africa	2*
	14 to 22	Luxembourg France Cuba Mexico Switzerland Slovenia Belarus Japan ROC	1*
	Individual top 100	Uzbekistan Thailand Trinidad and Tobago Israel ~~Finland~~ Cyprus China Austria ~~Sweden~~ Colombia Ukraine Chile Costa Rica Czech Republic Lithuania Namibia Eritrea	1
2019 African Championships	1	Ethiopia	1
2019 Asian Championships	1	South Korea	1
2019 Pan American Championships	1	Paraguay	1
Reallocation of unused quota	—	Canada Poland	1
Total			67

* Quota reduced by one to accommodate for the individual qualifiers

Women's individual time trial

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
UCI World Ranking	1 to 15	Netherlands Italy Germany United States Australia Belgium Denmark Canada Poland Spain Great Britain Norway South Africa Luxembourg Japan**	1
2019 UCI Road World Championships	1 to 10	United States Netherlands Germany Switzerland Belarus Australia Canada Israel ~~Sweden~~ France	1
Invitational place	1	Masomah Ali Zada (EOR)	1
Reallocation of unused quota	—	Mexico	1
Total			26

** Qualified as a continental representative

Track cycling

Track cycling quotas were released by the UCI in March 2020.^[7]

Men's team sprint

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Teams per NOC
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 8	Australia France Germany Great Britain Netherlands New Zealand Poland ROC	1
Total			8

Men's sprint

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs qualified for team sprint	—	Australia France Germany Great Britain Netherlands New Zealand Poland ROC	up to 2
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 7	Canada China Japan Malaysia South Africa* Suriname Trinidad and Tobago	1
NOCs qualified for Keirin	—	Canada Colombia Czech Republic Japan Kazakhstan Malaysia Trinidad and Tobago	1
Total			30

* Qualified as a continental representative

Men's Keirin

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs qualified for team sprint	—	Australia France Germany Great Britain Netherlands New Zealand Poland ROC	up to 2
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 7	Canada Colombia Czech Republic Japan Kazakhstan Malaysia Trinidad and Tobago	1
NOCs qualified for sprint	—	Canada China Japan Malaysia South Africa Suriname Trinidad and Tobago	1
Total			30

Men's team pursuit

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Teams per NOC
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 8	Australia Canada Denmark Germany Great Britain Italy New Zealand Switzerland	1
Total			8

Men's Madison

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs qualified for team pursuit	—	Australia Canada Denmark Germany Great Britain Italy New Zealand Switzerland	1
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 8	Austria Belgium Spain France Ireland Poland Netherlands United States	1
Total			16

Men's Omnium

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs directly qualified for Madison	—	Austria Belgium Spain France Ireland Poland Netherlands United States	1
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 12	Australia Belarus Denmark Germany Great Britain Greece Italy Japan Kazakhstan New Zealand South Africa* Switzerland	1
Total			20

* Qualified as a continental representative

Women's team sprint

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Teams per NOC
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 8	~~Australia~~ China Germany Lithuania Mexico Netherlands Poland ROC	1
Reallocation of unused quota	—	Ukraine	1
Total			8

Women's sprint

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs qualified for team sprint	—	China Germany Lithuania Mexico Netherlands Poland ROC Ukraine	up to 2
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 7	Australia Canada France Great Britain Hong Kong New Zealand South Africa*	1
NOCs qualified for Keirin	—	Canada France Hong Kong Japan New Zealand South Korea United States	1
Total			30

* Qualified as a continental representative

Women's Keirin

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs qualified for team sprint	—	China Germany Lithuania Mexico Netherlands Poland ROC Ukraine	up to 2
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 7	Canada France Hong Kong Japan New Zealand South Korea United States	1
NOCs qualified for sprint	—	Australia Canada France Great Britain Hong Kong New Zealand South Africa	1
Total			30

Women's team pursuit

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Teams per NOC
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 8	Australia Canada France Germany Great Britain Italy New Zealand United States	1
Total			8

Women's Madison

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs qualified for team pursuit	—	Australia ~~Canada~~ France Germany Great Britain Italy New Zealand United States	1
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 8	Belgium Denmark Hong Kong Ireland Japan Netherlands Poland ROC	1
Total			15

Cycling Canada declined to enter a team in the women's madison due to a lack of competitive experience in the event, and the event being prior to the omnium in the Olympic program.^[8]

Women's Omnium

Event	Ranking by Nation	Qualified NOC	Athletes per NOC
NOCs qualified for Madison	—	Belgium Denmark Hong Kong Ireland Japan Netherlands Poland ROC	1
2018–2020 Olympic track ranking	1 to 13	Australia Belarus Canada China Egypt* France Great Britain Italy ~~Mexico~~ New Zealand Norway Portugal United States	1
Rellocation	14	Lithuania^[9]	1
Total			21

* Qualified as a continental representative

Mountain biking

Quotas were released in May 2021.^[10]^[11]

Men's cross-country race

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
2020 UCI Olympic qualification ranking	1 to 2	Switzerland Italy	3
	3 to 7	France Brazil Netherlands Spain Germany	2
	8 to 21	Czech Republic Austria Canada Denmark United States Belgium ROC South Africa New Zealand Poland Norway Greece Hungary Romania	1
2019 African Championships	1	Namibia	1
2019 Pan American Championships	1	Mexico	1
2019 Asian Championships	1	China	1
2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships (elite)	1 to 2	Australia Israel	1
2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships (under-23)	1 to 2	Chile Great Britain	1
Total			38

Women's cross-country race

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
2020 UCI Olympic qualification ranking	1 to 2	Switzerland United States	3
	3 to 7	Netherlands Canada France Denmark Germany	2
	8 to 21	Great Britain Italy South Africa Poland Ukraine Czech Republic Belgium Austria Argentina Estonia Brazil Hungary Spain Australia	1
2019 African Championships	1	Namibia	1
2019 Pan American Championships	1	Mexico	1
2019 Asian Championships	1	China	1
2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships (elite)	1 to 2	Slovenia Sweden	1
2019 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships (under-23)	1 to 2	Portugal ROC	1
Total			38

BMX

Racing quotas were released on June 4, 2021.^[12]^[13]

Men's BMX race

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
UCI Olympic qualification ranking	1 to 2	France Netherlands	3
	3 to 5	United States Switzerland Colombia	2
	6 to 11	Australia Great Britain Argentina Brazil Ecuador South Africa**	1
UCI BMX individual ranking	1 to 3	Norway Canada ROC	1
World Championship Re-Allocation	1 to 2	Italy Latvia	1
Total			24

** Qualified as a continental representative

Women's BMX race

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
UCI Olympic qualification ranking	1 to 2	Netherlands United States	3
	3 to 5	France ROC Australia	2
	6 to 11	Colombia Brazil New Zealand Denmark Switzerland Canada	1
UCI BMX individual ranking	1 to 3	Great Britain Ecuador Latvia	1
World Championship Re-Allocation	1 to 2	Belgium Thailand	1
Total			24

** Qualified as a continental representative

Men's BMX freestyle

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
UCI Olympic qualification ranking	1	United States	2
UCI Olympic qualification ranking	2 to 5	Australia ROC Great Britain France	1
2019 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships	1 to 2	Venezuela Costa Rica	1
Total			9

Women's BMX freestyle

Event	Ranking by nation	Qualified	Athletes per NOC
Host nation	—	Japan	1
UCI Olympic qualification ranking	1	United States	2
UCI Olympic qualification ranking	2 to 5	Germany Great Britain Switzerland ROC	1
2019 UCI Urban Cycling World Championship	1 to 2	Chile Australia	1
Total			9

References

^ "Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee". IOC. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Road Cycling" (PDF). UCI. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Track Cycling" (PDF). UCI. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Mountain Biking" (PDF). UCI. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – BMX Race" (PDF). UCI. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – BMX Freestyle" (PDF). Retrieved 29 June 2021.
^ "Athletes Quota Places for Track Cycling At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
^ "Cycling Canada Amended XXXII Olympic Games Team Selection Policy" (PDF). www.cyclingcanada.ca/. Cycling Canada. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021. Due to the risks inherent in the event, its place prior to the Omnium in the Olympic program and the lack of athletes with sufficient competition experience, Canada will not be entering the women's Madison
^ Tokijo olimpinėse žaidynėse dalyvaus dar viena lietuvė: startuos dviratininkė O. Baleišytė
^ "Mountain Bike Athletes quota for Cycling – Mountain Bike men's events" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
^ "Mountain Bike Athletes quota for Cycling – Mountain Bike women's events" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
^ "BMX Racing Athletes quota for Cycling – BMX Racing men's events" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
^ "BMX Racing Athletes quota for Cycling – BMX Racing women's events" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.

[1] "Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee". IOC. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2022.

[cycling_(road)_qual-2] "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Road Cycling" (PDF). UCI. Retrieved 9 June 2021.

[cycling_(track)_qual-3] "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Track Cycling" (PDF). UCI. Retrieved 9 June 2021.

[cycling_(mountain_biking)_qual-4] "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Mountain Biking" (PDF). UCI. Retrieved 9 June 2021.

[cycling_(BMX)_qual-5] "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – BMX Race" (PDF). UCI. Retrieved 9 June 2021.

[BMX_freestyle_qual-6] "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – BMX Freestyle" (PDF). Retrieved 29 June 2021.

[7] "Athletes Quota Places for Track Cycling At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2021.

[8] "Cycling Canada Amended XXXII Olympic Games Team Selection Policy" (PDF). www.cyclingcanada.ca/. Cycling Canada. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021. Due to the risks inherent in the event, its place prior to the Omnium in the Olympic program and the lack of athletes with sufficient competition experience, Canada will not be entering the women's Madison

[9] Tokijo olimpinėse žaidynėse dalyvaus dar viena lietuvė: startuos dviratininkė O. Baleišytė

[10] "Mountain Bike Athletes quota for Cycling – Mountain Bike men's events" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.

[11] "Mountain Bike Athletes quota for Cycling – Mountain Bike women's events" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.

[12] "BMX Racing Athletes quota for Cycling – BMX Racing men's events" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.

[13] "BMX Racing Athletes quota for Cycling – BMX Racing women's events" (PDF). www.uci.org/. Union Cycliste Internationale. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.

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