Belgium earned its first medal in the men's road race since 1964 with Axel Merckx's bronze.

In a race that showed numerous break away attempts, it wasn't until Paolo Bettini and Sérgio Paulinho broke away from the group with a couple of laps remaining and opened up a comfortable gap on the final lap that an idea of the medal positions could be gained.

With the peloton giving up the chase of the leaders, Axel Merckx broke away to open up a sufficient gap for him to take bronze.

Lance Armstrong, having just won his sixth consecutive Tour de France, did not compete.

Using a city-streets course, "[r]ather than riding in the hilly country outside of Athens", resulted in a "relatively flat course" that did not challenge the professional peloton.