Greg van Avermaet triumphed in the men's road race ©Getty Images

Belgium’s Greg van Avermaet claimed a thrilling victory at the end of a gruelling men’s road race, which saw a dramatic conclusion with a series of crashes and Poland’s Rafal Majka being hunted down in sight of the finish line. 

The 256 kilometres course, which started and finishes in Copacabana, saw riders tackle two separate loops featuring numerous climbs.

A six-man group made an early move on during the first of four laps of the Grumari circuit, which included the Grumari and Grota Funda climbs, with Poland’s 2014 world champion Michal Kwiatkowski being the most notable name.

Kwiatkowski was the only man to stay in the lead group when, later in the race, Colombia’s Sergio Henao, Britain’s Geraint Thomas, Van Avermaet and Italy’s Damiano Caruso broke out from the peloton and launched their own move.

Italian and British hopes of success on the picturesque course were raised further when on the technical descent on the first of the three laps of the Vista Chinesa loop, Vincenzo Nibali and Adam Yates joined the leaders.

Majka and Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang also made the juncture in what proved the winning breakaway, despite the efforts of the Spanish team to bring the race back together for pre-race favourite Alejandro Valverde.

Another of the favourites, Nibali, looked to escape on the final climb of the day but was tracked by Majka and Henao.

Normally famed for his descending Nibali surprisingly crashed out alongside Henao, with the drama seemingly setting up Majka to go clear to the finish.

Italy's race favourite Vincenzo Nibali, right, and Colombia's Sergio Henao, left, crashed out of contention in the closing stages of the Olympic road race in Rio de Janeiro ©Getty Images
Italy's race favourite Vincenzo Nibali, right, and Colombia's Sergio Henao, left, crashed out of contention in the closing stages of the Olympic road race in Rio de Janeiro ©Getty Images

With Thomas also crashing and the chasing group appearing content to battle for silver and bronze medals in the final six kilometres, Majka seemed certain to triumph, but Fuglsang and Van Avermaet then accelerated in pursuit.

The leader, evidently exhausted, was caught by the pair in the closing two kilometres and had to settle for the bronze medal.

Van Avermaet, a strong classics rider, used his superior sprint finish to beat Fuglsang to gold in a time of 6 hours 10min 05sec.

"When I saw the crash I was confused about how many riders were still up the road,” Van Avermaet, the first Belgian man to claim an Olympic gold since swimmer Fred Deburghgraeve triumphed at Atlanta 1996, said. 

“I was working with Fuglsang, and we saw Majka.

“We knew it was possible, I knew I had to hang on.

“I am so happy for gold, everyone said all week it was for everyone else."

Tour de France winner Chris Froome came in 12th, finishing a place down on his British team-mate Thomas.

The grueling climbs on the 256km course ultimately saw an exhausted Rafal Majka get caught in the closing kilometres to deny the Pole a famous solo win at Rio 2016, but he did win the bronze medal ©Getty Images
The grueling climbs on the 256km course ultimately saw an exhausted Rafal Majka get caught in the closing kilometres to deny the Pole a famous solo win at Rio 2016, but he did win the bronze medal ©Getty Images

Tomorrow is due to see the women’s road race take place on 136km course, featuring one lap of both the Grumari and Vista Chinesa circuits.

The Netherlands’ Anna van der Breggen and Britain’s world champion Lizzie Armitstead have been installed as the favourites, along with the United States’ Megan Guarnier.

Armistead will compete having been afforded a reprieve to compete in spite of missing three drugs tests within a 12-month period.

On Monday (August 1), the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that the first of Armitstead’s three missed tests was not valid, clearing her in time for Rio 2016.