| Date | 2 August 1952 — 11:00 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Käpylä, Helsinki | |
| Participants | 107 from 28 countries | |
| Format | 190.4 km. mass start race. Total time of nation's three best riders to count for team time. | |
The lead break in the individual race consisted of three Belgians and a German. With the Belgian riders finishing 1st, 2nd, and 4th, there was no contest for the gold medal. Italy won the silver medal, with their riders finishing in order – 5th thru 7th. The rider who did not place for Belgium, Rik Van Looy, later became one the leading riders in the professional peloton.
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium |  BEL | 15-20:46.6 | Gold | ||
| André Noyelle | 5-06:03.4 | |||||
| Robert Grondelaers | 5-06:51.2 | |||||
| Lucien Victor | 5-07:52.0 | |||||
| Rik Van Looy | AC/DNF | non-scoring | ||||
| 2 | Italy |  ITA | 15-33:27.3 | Silver | ||
| Dino Bruni | 5-10:54.0 | |||||
| Vincenzo Zucconelli | 5-11:16.5 | |||||
| Gianni Ghidini | 5-11:16.8 | |||||
| Bruno Monti | 5-11:35.0 | non-scoring | ||||
| 3 | France |  FRA | 15-38:58.1 | Bronze | ||
| Jacques Anquetil | 5-11:19.0 | |||||
| Alfred Tonello | 5-11:20.0 | |||||
| Claude Rouer | 5-16:19.1 | |||||
| Roland Bezamat | AC/DNF | non-scoring | ||||
| 4 | Sweden |  SWE | 15-41:34.3 | |||
| Yngve Lundh | 5-12:15.2 | |||||
| Stig Mårtensson | 5-13:00.0 | |||||
| Allan Carlsson | 5-16:19.1 | |||||
| Lars Nordwall | AC/DNF | non-scoring | ||||
| 5 | Unified Team of Germany |  GER | 15-43:50.5 | |||
| Edi Ziegler | 5-07:47.5 | |||||
| Oskar Zeißner | 5-11:18.5 | |||||
| Paul Maue | 5-24:44.5 | |||||
| Walter Becker | AC/DNF | non-scoring | ||||
| 6 | Denmark |  DEN | 15-48:02.0 | |||
| Hans Andresen | 5-11:18.5 | |||||
| Jørgen Frank Rasmussen | 5-14:09.4 | |||||
| Wedell Østergaard | 5-22:34.1 | |||||
| Helge Hansen | 5-27:08.8 | non-scoring | ||||
| 7 | Luxembourg |  LUX | 15-49:04.0 | |||
| André Moes | 5-11:19.0 | |||||
| Roger Ludwig | 5-11:20.0 | |||||
| Nicolas Morn | 5-26:25.0 | |||||
| Jean Schmit | AC/DNF | non-scoring | ||||
| 8 | Netherlands |  NED | 15-52:22.7 | |||
| Arend van 't Hof | 5-11:19.0 | |||||
| Jan Plantaz | 5-16:19.1 | |||||
| Adrie Voorting | 5-24:44.6 | |||||
| Jules Maenen | AC/DNF | non-scoring | ||||
| 9 | Switzerland |  SUI | 15-52:49.4 | |||
| Rolf Graf | 5-12:45.3 | |||||
| Josef Schraner | 5-15:06.1 | |||||
| Fausto Lurati | 5-24:58.0 | |||||
| Kobi Scherer | AC/DNF | non-scoring | ||||
| 10 | Norway |  NOR | 15-55:01.7 | |||
| Erling Kristiansen | 5-17:30.2 | |||||
| Odd Berg | 5-17:30.2 | |||||
| Lorang Christiansen | 5-20:01.3 | |||||
| 11 | Great Britain |  GBR | 15-58:51.0 | |||
| Desmond Robinson | 5-18:08.9 | |||||
| Brian Robinson | 5-18:08.9 | |||||
| Graham Vines | 5-22:33.2 | |||||
| Les Ingman | AC/DNF | non-scoring | ||||
| 12 | Romania |  ROU | 16-08:03.0 | |||
| Constantin Stănescu | 5-20:01.4 | |||||
| Marin Niculescu | 5-23:34.1 | |||||
| Victor Georgescu | 5-24:27.5 | |||||
| Petre Nuță | AC/DNF | non-scoring | ||||
| 13 | Uruguay |  URU | 16-08:41.4 | |||
| Virgilio Pereyra | 5-22:33.4 | |||||
| Luis Ángel de los Santos | 5-22:34.3 | |||||
| Hugo Machado | 5-23:33.7 | |||||
| Julio Sobrera | AC/DNF | non-scoring | ||||
| Australia |  AUS | – | ||||
| Peter Pryor | 5-22:33.5 | |||||
| Jim Nevin | 5-22:33.6 | |||||
| Ken Caves | AC/DNF | |||||
| Peter Nelson | AC/DNF | |||||
| Austria |  AUT | – | ||||
| Arthur Mannsbarth | AC/DNF | |||||
| Franz Wimmer | AC/DNF | |||||
| Walter Bortel | AC/DNF | |||||
| Bulgaria |  BUL | – | ||||
| Petar Georgiev | 5-24:34.0 | |||||
| Boyan Kotsev | AC/DNF | |||||
| Iliya Velchev | AC/DNF | |||||
| Milko Rusev | AC/DNF | |||||
| Chile |  CHI | – | ||||
| Héctor Droguett | AC/DNF | |||||
| Héctor Mellado | AC/DNF | |||||
| Hernán Masanés | AC/DNF | |||||
| Hugo Miranda | AC/DNF | |||||
| Finland |  FIN | – | ||||
| Raino Koskenkorva | 5-23:34.6 | |||||
| Paul Backman | AC/DNF | |||||
| Paul Nyman | AC/DNF | |||||
| Ruben Forsblom | AC/DNF | |||||
| Hungary |  HUN | – | ||||
| István Lang | AC/DNF | |||||
| István Schillerwein | AC/DNF | |||||
| Lajos Látó | AC/DNF | |||||
| India |  IND | – | ||||
| Netai Bysack | AC/DNF | |||||
| Pradip Bose | AC/DNF | |||||
| Raj Kumar Mehra | AC/DNF | |||||
| Suprovat Chakravarty | AC/DNF | |||||
| Japan |  JPN | – | ||||
| Kihei Tomioka | AC/DNF | |||||
| Masazumi Tajima | AC/DNF | |||||
| Tadashi Kato | AC/DNF | |||||
| Tamotsu Chikanari | AC/DNF | |||||
| Republic of Korea |  KOR | – | ||||
| Im Sang-Jo | AC/DNF | |||||
| Kim Ho-Sun | AC/DNF | |||||
| Gwon Ik-Hyeon | AC/DNF | |||||
| Mexico |  MEX | – | ||||
| Ángel Romero | 5-24:33.9 | |||||
| Francisco Lozano | AC/DNF | |||||
| Julio Cepeda | AC/DNF | |||||
| Ricardo García | AC/DNF | |||||
| South Africa |  RSA | – | ||||
| Jimmy Swift | AC/DNF | |||||
| George Estman | AC/DNF | |||||
| Bobby Fowler | AC/DNF | |||||
| Czechoslovakia |  TCH | – | ||||
| Jan Veselý | AC/DNF | |||||
| Karel Nesl | AC/DNF | |||||
| Milan Perič | AC/DNF | |||||
| Stanislav Svoboda | AC/DNF | |||||
| Soviet Union |  URS | – | ||||
| Yevgeny Klevtsov | 5-23:34.0 | |||||
| Anatoly Kolesov | AC/DNF | |||||
| Nikolay Bobarenko | AC/DNF | |||||
| Vladimir Kryuchkov | AC/DNF | |||||
| United States |  USA | – | ||||
| Don Sheldon | 5-22:33.3 | |||||
| Tom O'Rourke | 5-22:33.7 | |||||
| David Rhoads | AC/DNF | |||||
| Ronald Rhoads | AC/DNF | |||||
| South Vietnam |  VNM | – | ||||
| Lưu Quan | 5-24:34.1 | |||||
| Châu Phươc Vình | AC/DNF | |||||
| Nguyễn Đức Hiền | AC/DNF | |||||
| Lê Văn Phươc | AC/DNF |
