The program was the same as in 1928. The track events were the kilometer time trial, match sprint, tandem match sprint, and the team pursuit. The track events were held on a wooden track built within the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Probably the “velodrome” with the largest capacity ever (75,000+), it was mostly empty during the track competition, as attendance was sparse. The road events were an individual time trial and a team event based on the individual times. The only difference in the team road race was that it had been previously based on the best three times of four riders, but in 1932, each team had only three riders and all three times had to count. Thus all riders had to finish the race. This would be the last time until 1996 that an individual time trial road event would be conducted at the Olympics.

The cycling competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles consisted of two road cycling events and four track cycling events. The program of events was unchanged from the previous Games

The event was a 100 km. time trial, which started at Moore Park at 8 AM. The course rode mostly along the ocean on the Roosevelt Highway, finishing at Castellammare, just north of Santa Monica. The defending Olympic champion in the event, [Henry Hansen], had won the 1931 World Championships, and was the favorite. But he did not ride well and eventually placed 12th. The other favorites were [Frank Southall], who had finished second to Hansen in 1928, and Italy’s [Giuseppe Olmo]. Olmo did not win, finishing fourth, but the Italians dominated the race, placing 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 7th, led by [Attilio Pavesi], who won the gold medal, and runner-up [Guglielmo Segato]. Pavesi was the 35th and last rider to start but passed six cyclists en route to his gold medal. Segato had been the 27th starter and had been on the same pace as Pavesi until he crashed only a few kilometers from the finish on the Saticoy curve. This was the last time that the Olympic road race was conducted as a time trial, although the time trial returned to the Olympics in 1996 as a separate event. Pavesi turned pro after the Olympics, but never made a big impression, ending up riding six-day events in Argentina.

Only 33 competitors and finishers are listed in the 1932 Official Report, although there are 36 entrants listed in the Official Program and Los Angeles newspapers. Los Angeles newspapers also specifically mention that there were 35 starters. The two “missing” cyclists that we have identified as starting, but not finishing due to flats, were Canadian [Ernie Gates] and German [Henry Tröndle]. Their participation has been confirmed by Canadian and German sources.

The men's individual time trial cycling event at the 1932 Olympic Games took place on August 4. It was competed in a 100 km time trial format.

The Italian foursome finished 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 7th in the individual race, and easily won the team gold medal by over 11 minutes. The defending champions from Denmark placed second.

The men's team time trial cycling event at the 1932 Olympic Games took place on August 4. It was competed in a 100 km time trial format. Team time taken as sum of the team's three best finishers.

The format of the match sprint was changed slightly in 1932. For the first time, the final was conducted as best two of three races. Only nine cyclists came to the mark in the first round, with the only rider who had ever seen the podium at the World Championships being [Bruno Pellizzari] (ITA), third-place finisher in 1930. He survived a quarter-final race against [Ernest Chambers] (GBR), despite protests. Pellizzari had nearly pushed Chambers off the track but the protest was not upheld and Pellizzari made it to the semi-finals where he faced [Jacobus van Egmond] (NED) in the second of two semis. Van Egmond rode outside Pellizzari for the last 1½ laps, but outrode him on the last lap to win quite easily. In the first semi, Frenchman [Louis Chaillot] faced Australian [Dunc Gray]. That race was very close, with Chaillot edging Gray by inches. Gray then elected to bypass the bronze medal race against Pellizzari, with US newspapers noting that Gray was saving himself for the kilometer while Dutch newspapers stated that Gray was protesting the decision in his race against Chaillot. This decision not to race would pay off as Gray won the gold medal in the kilometer time trial.

In the final, Chaillot won the first race, winning as the Los Angeles Times put it, “by a gnat’s whisker,” and European sources noted that many observers felt the decision was incorrect, but no protest was lodged. In the second race, van Egmond won by a bike length. In the final race, van Egmond led out the race, with Chaillot following throughout. But Chaillot could never get by the Dutchman, who won the gold medal by a wheel. Van Egmond would return in 1933 to win the World Sprint Championships.

The men's sprint cycling event at the 1932 Summer Olympics took place on August 1 and 3. The format was a sprint of 1000 metres.

Australia’s [Dunc Gray] had lost in the semi-finals of the match sprint earlier in the day. He was eligible to race for the bronze medal in that event but declined, preferring to save himself for the kilo time trial. It paid off for him as he won the gold medal by 3/10th’s of a second over the silver medalist from the match sprint, [Jacques van Egmond] (NED). Only nine riders started the event. Van Egmond would return in 1933 to win the World Championships in the match sprint. Gray was ill with the flu the week before this event but was cured by a “miracle drug” given to him by his coach, Jim Ev. This contained brandy, which was quite remarkable in the middle of prohibition.The men's 1000m time trial cycling event at the 1932 Summer Olympics took place on August 1

Only five teams were entered. In the first round, the French team of [Maurice Perrin] and [Louis Chaillot] outrode the British team of the Chambers brothers – [Ernest] and [Stanley]. In the second heat of the first round, the Danes [Harald Christensen] and [Willy Gervin] finished ahead of the Dutch team of [Bernard Leene] and [Jacobus van Egmond], but the Danish team was disqualified for cutting off the Dutch in the sprint. In the repêchage, the Dutch and Brits were joined by the American team, with the Americans eliminated. The semi-finals saw France beat Denmark. The British tandem advanced to the finals when the Dutch team forfeited because of a broken bike. This set up a re-match between Chaillot/Perrin and the Chambers brothers. In the final, the Chambers were no match for the French, who won easily by taking the first two races of the best of three final. The French cyclists were supported by being allowed to bring wine into the US, despite prohibition, as it was such a standard part of their diet. There was no bronze medal match but Christensen/Gervin won the bronze medal as they had lost in the semis to the gold medalists, and the Dutch had not competed.