The event was won by Chris Hoy of Great Britain, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's track time trial (moving Great Britain into a five-way tie for second-most all-time at two).

Arnaud Tournant of France earned silver after a disappointing fifth-place finish four years earlier.

Stefan Nimke put Germany on the podium for the second consecutive Games with his bronze.

The returning cyclists from 2000 were silver medalist Stefan Nimke of Germany, bronze medalist (and 1992 silver medalist and 1996 competitor) Shane Kelly of Australia, fifth-place finisher Arnaud Tournant of France, sixth-place finisher Dimitrios Georgalis of Greece, and seventh-place finisher Grzegorz Krejner of Poland.

The field included every world championship winner since 1995: Kelly (1995, 1996, 1997), Tournant (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001), Chris Hoy of Great Britain (2002, 2004), and Nimke (2003).