Brazil has little Cycling tradition in general but, over the years, one of the sport’s disciplines has been gaining space: Road Cycling. In the Olympic Games, Road events are among the few that are part of the programme since the first edition. The first time Brazilian cyclists participated was in Berlin 1936. Ferrer Dertonio, Hermógenes Netto and Ricardo Magnani represented Brazil in Road Cycling, in the 100km race.

However, ever since, no Brazilian cyclist has made it to the podium. Anésio Argenton had the best result in Track Cycling. One of Brazil’s great sports legends, Anésio is the only Brazilian that won a gold medal in Cycling in Pan American Games (Chicago 1959) and, in the Rome 1960 Olympic Games, he finished 6th in the 1km time trial.

Last year, Brazil sent nine cyclists to the London 2012 Games. Six of them competed in Track Cycling. The best results among male athletes were those of Murilo Fischer, from the state of Santa Catarina, who finished 32nd in the road race among 144 participants and ahead of renowned cyclists such as US citizen Tyler Farrar and Slovak Peter Sagan, and those of Magno Nazaret, from the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, who finished 26th in the individual time trial.

Among female athletes, Clemilda Fernandes, from the state of Goiás, finished at 23rd place in a Road event, a great improvement from her 51st place in Beijing 2008. She finished 18th in the time trial, a race that ended with Kristin Armstrong being twice Olympic champion.

Kristin Armstrong (R) rides at the head of the paceline during the Women's Road Race Road Cycling (Photo: Stefano Rellandini - IOPP Pool/Getty Images)

For Rio 2016™, one of the cyclist that may place the green and yellow flag on the Olympic podium for the first time is Rafael Andriato, from the state of São Paulo. He had a great performance in the Giro d’Italia 2013 by winning in two categories of the competition. He was the best cyclist in intermediate chases and sprints. He competed in the Rio 2007 Pan American Games but has not competed in an edition of the Olympic Games yet.

Cycling legacy goes beyond infrastructure

The Rio 2016™ Games will bring world sport’s greatest names to Brazil. Many of them will compete in Brazil for the first time in their career. In order to host an event of this level, it is necessary to train a huge number of people so they are able to participate in the event’s organisation.

According to Beatriz Akemi, Rio 2016™ Sport Manager resposible for Cycling, the Games legacy goes beyond the infrastructure that will be built to host the sport’s competitions.

“We will have an important legacy in refereeing, made of people who will be trained to participate in the organisation of events but I believe the main legacy will be related to traffic education. Reaching mutual respect among cyclists and car drivers in Rio de Janeiro is a paramount need”, Akemi said.