The event started and finished at Pontal, a small peninsula and beach area in the Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighborhood, located in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The race start and finish were part of the Barra venues cluster and one of seven temporary venues of the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Following his stage win in the final time trial of the 2016 Tour de France, Chris Froome of Great Britain was projected as the favourite for the gold medal.
Time trial specialists like Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara , Germany's Tony Martin, Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands and reigning world time trial champion Vasil Kiryienka of Belarus were also possible contenders.
Course: The men's course was two laps of the 29.8km 18.5mi Grumari circuit for a race distance of 54.5km 33.9mi. The race start and finish of the course was at the Tim Maia Square Estrada do Pontal, then entering the Grumari circuit clockwise to reach the first climb Grumari climb after 9.7km 6.0mi and the second climb Grota Funda climb at 19.2km 11.9mi.
At the finish during the event Richie Porte of Australia, Vincenzo Nibali of Italy and Wout Poels of the Netherlands were due to participate, but had to withdraw due to injuries as a result of their crashes in the men's road race.
Algeria, Colombia, New Zealand and Venezuela also forfeited places for which they had qualified. Dan Craven of Namibia, and Geraint Thomas of Great Britain were invited to fill two of the vacancies in the field.
Switzerland
Netherlands
Great Britain
Spain
Australia
Poland
Portugal
Slovenia
Czechia
Germany
Austria
Belarus
Ukraine
Denmark
Belgium
Canada
United States
Kazakhstan
Argentina
Italy
Russia
France
Norway
Iran
Morocco
Turkey
Namibia
Venezuela
Algeria
Colombia
Great Britain
United States
New Zealand
