A few minutes ago I watched the start of the bicycle road race in the Rio Winter [sic] Olympics. There are about 150 riders, and the road is only wide enough that about six riders can ride abreast. So at the start of the race, the riders are positioned along the road with the first rider about 100 yards (?) ahead of the last rider. Is this difference taken into account when comparing the performance of different riders? I see no practical way to do so. The narrowness of the road makes such bicycle races inherently unfair, because the race cannot be started with all the riders abreast. Right? What determines who is ahead of whom at the start of the race?
Note from KBJ: The race lasts for several hours (in this case, 6:10), so it doesn't matter where a rider starts.
