17 of the best pictures from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Some of the best shots from the most memorable moments in Japan

Olympics
(Image credit: Getty)

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have come to a close, leaving us with some amazing moments from multiple sports and especially in cycling.

We saw an amateur take gold in the women's road race, the Italians break the world record and snatch gold from Denmark in the men's team pursuit, Jason Kenny catching the rest napping in the men's Keirin final and many more besides.

Of course, these are memories that will stay in our minds for a long time. But there have also been some truly special photos taken during the Games out on the road and the track.

>>> Here is the Ineos Grenadiers squad for the Vuelta a España 2021

We've picked out 17 of them for you to look through and enjoy: 

Richard Carapaz takes Ecuador's second ever gold medal at the Olympic Games

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The men's road race kicked things off for the cycling with a bang. The racing was superb on a very tough course that brought the best climbers to the front.

Richard Carapaz went away with young American Brandon McNulty and they got a large gap. The Ecuadorian dropped McNulty as they went into the Fuji International Speedway to solo to Ecuador's second-ever gold medal at the Olympic Games. The podium was a clearly emotional moment.

Anna Kiesenhofer

(Image credit: Getty)

That moment you realise you've just won gold from the breakaway. Anna Kiesenhofer, a rider who does not have a pro contract, went into the breakaway from the start, she then attacked solo with about 40km to go and stayed clear all the way to the line to take a gold medal that shocked the cycling world.

BMX medals for Team GB for the first time ever

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Team GB had a magical day in the BMX racing with Kye Whyte taking Britain's first ever medal in the BMX closely followed by Beth Shriever who took Team GB's first ever gold in the sport at the Games.

It was very emotional for both riders as Whyte carried Shriever to get her gold medal.

Katie Archibald (left) and Laura Kenny

(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

The amazing duo of Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald proved to be unstoppable in the first ever women's Madison as they won by a huge margin of over 40 points on their nearest rivals.

Jason Kenny wins the gold in the men's Keirin

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Jason Kenny surprised everyone in the final of the men's Keirin after the main group of riders gave the reigning champion too much space from the start. Kenny hit out early and won by a large margin over the rest making him the most successful British athlete in the Olympic Games.

Filippo Ganna celebrates winning gold in the team pursuit

(Image credit: Getty Images)

It was not all Team GB in the velodrome, though. Italy stole the gold from the red hot favourites of Denmark in the men's team pursuit final thank to Filippo Ganna hammering the final two laps to pull the Danish back and to not only beat them by the smallest of gaps but also breaking the world record for the second time.

Frederik Rodenberg Madsen crashed into the back of Charlie Tanfield in the team pursuit

(Image credit: Getty Images)

There were some mad moments along the way, this probably being craziest as Frederik Rodenberg Madsen was so concentrated on his aero position he didn't notice he was riding towards the back of Charlie Tanfield who was making his Olympic debut after Ed Clancy was forced to abandon due to injury.

Jennifer Valente celebrates winning the women's Omnium

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Jessica Valente was in tears after taking gold in the women's Omnium where there was a huge crash taking out several top names. The 26-year-old took her first Omnium medal adding to her silver from the team pursuit in Rio 2016.

Sprints at the Olympics

(Image credit: Getty Images)

At times it felt like we would never see any other sort of cycling other than the sprints, but the finals did bring a lot of drama with the Dutch dominating the men's race and Kelsey Mitchell of Canada took gold in the women's.

Primož Roglič winning gold in the men's individual time trial for Slovenia

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Primož Roglič absolutely smashed the opposition in the men's individual time trial with the Slovenian star beating fellow Jumbo-Visma team-mate and Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin by just over a minute after the 44km course. Australian, Rohan Dennis was just three seconds further back to take the bronze.

Annemiek van Vleuten took gold in the women's ITT

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Annemiek van Vleuten finally took her gold medal in the time trial after thinking she won gold in the road race. It was a powerful performance where she beat Swiss rider Marlen Reusser by almost a minute.

She won the Clásica San Sebastián in Spain just three days later.

Evie Richards on her way to 7th in the women's cross-country mountain biking

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Evie Richards flying through the Cosmos (flowers). The British rider rode to a very impressive seventh place in the cross-country mountain biking on a beautiful course. A vision of colour helped by the stunning Trek special Olympic spray.

Tom Pidcock

(Image credit: Getty)

A hugely special moment for British cycling and Tom Pidcock after he took gold in the men's cross-country mountain biking. Winning by a decent gap, the lad from Leeds had chance to collect a flag and celebrate to the line with it flapping behind him.

Mathieu van der Poel crashing in the men's cross-country mountain bike race

(Image credit: Getty Images)

One of the more shocking moments in the mountain biking was the crash of pre-race favourite, Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands. He crashed at the rock drop as he was expecting a ramp to be in place as there was in the warmup laps. However, there was no ramp and he crashed out of the race in spectacular fashion.

Charlotte Worthington ins gold in the BMX Freestyle

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Much like in the BMX racing the BMX Freestyle saw amazing British success with a gold from Charlotte Worthington and a bronze from Declan Brooks. It also brought some amazing photos with the amazing tricks they can execute being perfect for photography.

Declan Brooks riding the BMX Freestyle

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Brooks pulled off a superb ride to take the bronze medal in the men's event of the BMX Freestyle.

Kelsey Mitchell celebrating winning gold in the women's Keirin

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Kelsey Mitchell got a bit tangled up while trying to celebrate with the Canadian flag and ride her bike after she won gold in the women's Keirin final in a... Blinding performance.

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Tim Bonville-Ginn

Hi, I'm one of Cycling Weekly's content writers for the web team responsible for writing stories on racing, tech, updating evergreen pages as well as the weekly email newsletter. Proud Yorkshireman from the UK's answer to Flanders, Calderdale, go check out the cobbled climbs!


I started watching cycling back in 2010, before all the hype around London 2012 and Bradley Wiggins at the Tour de France. In fact, it was Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck's battle in the fog up the Tourmalet on stage 17 of the Tour de France.


It took me a few more years to get into the journalism side of things, but I had a good idea I wanted to get into cycling journalism by the end of year nine at school and started doing voluntary work soon after. This got me a chance to go to the London Six Days, Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour of Britain to name a few before eventually joining Eurosport's online team while I was at uni, where I studied journalism. Eurosport gave me the opportunity to work at the world championships in Harrogate back in the awful weather.


After various bar jobs, I managed to get my way into Cycling Weekly in late February of 2020 where I mostly write about racing and everything around that as it's what I specialise in but don't be surprised to see my name on other news stories.


When not writing stories for the site, I don't really switch off my cycling side as I watch every race that is televised as well as being a rider myself and a regular user of the game Pro Cycling Manager. Maybe too regular.


My bike is a well used Specialized Tarmac SL4 when out on my local roads back in West Yorkshire as well as in northern Hampshire with the hills and mountains being my preferred terrain.