| Rk | Final | time |   | gap | L | _______  |  | 1. |   West Germany | 7:39.70 |   |   | 2 |  |  | Klaus Steinbach 1:53.32, Werner Lampe 1:56.12, Folkert Meeuw 1:55.88, Peter Nocke 1:54.38 |  | 2. |   Soviet Union | 7:42.06 |   | 2.36s | 4 |  |  | Aleksandr Samsonov 1:54.41, Andrey Krylov 1:56.82, Viktor Aboimov 1:55.45, Georgijs Kuļikovs 1:55.38 |  | 3. |   Sweden | 7:43.10 |   | 3.40s | 3 |  |  | Bernt Zarnowiecki 1:56.75, Anders Bellbring 1:55.78, Peter Pettersson 1:56.17, Bengt Gingsjö 1:54.40 |  | 4. |   East Germany | 7:43.43 |   | 3.73s | 5 |  |  | Roger Pyttel 1:54.22, Wilfried Hartung 1:56.28, Roland Matthes 1:56.22, Steffen Böhmert 1:56.71 |  | 5. |   France | 7:49.08 |   | 9.38s | 7 |  |  | Marc Lazzaro 1:57.53, Olivier Middleton 1:57.51, Colin Ress 1:57.64, Michel Rousseau 1:56.40 |  | 6. |   Italy | 7:49.91 |   | 10.21s | 6 |  |  | Roberto Pangaro 1:56.88, Paolo Barelli 1:58.11, Lorenzo Marugo 1:59.19, Marcello Guarducci 1:55.73 |  | 7. |   Spain | 8:00.41 |   | 20.71s | 8 |  |  | Santiago Esteva 1:58.33, José Pujol 1:59.98, Enrique Melo 2:01.41, José Bas 2:00.69 |  | 8. |   Great Britain | 8:00.86 |   | 21.16s | 1 |  |  | Alan McClatchey 2:01.62, Jim Carter 2:00.88, Brian Brinkley 1:58.78, Gordon Hewit 1:59.58 |   
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  |  | Best 8 times advanced to Final.  |   
| Rk | Heat 2 | time |   | gap | L | Rk | _______  |  | 1. |   Sweden | 7:51.89 |   | 6.09s | - | 3. |  |  | Bernt Zarnowiecki 1:57.68, Peter Pettersson 1:57.86, Rolf Pettersson 1:57.62, Sven von Holst 1:58.73 |  | 2. |   West Germany | 7:57.67 |   | 11.87s | - | 5. |  |  | Werner Lampe 2:01.07, Stefan Wenz 1:57.94, Gerhard Schiller 1:59.36, Kersten Meier 1:59.30 |  | 3. |   Great Britain | 7:59.78 |   | 13.98s | - | 7. |  |  | Alan McClatchey 2:01.51, Jim Carter 2:01.03, Brian Brinkley 1:56.36, Gordon Hewit 2:00.88 |  | 4. |   Norway | 8:01.15 |   | 15.35s | - | 9. |  |  | Fritz Warncke 1:58.22, Håkon Iversøn 2:01.02, Gunnar Gundersen 1:58.98, Atle Melberg 2:02.93 |  | 5. |   Bulgaria | 8:10.94 |   | 25.14s | - | 10 |  |  | Stefan Georgiev 2:01.13, Krasimir Enchev 2:02.32, Lyudmil Stoev 2:04.20, Toni Statelov | 2:03.29 |   
     | Rk | Heat 1 | time |   | gap | L | Rk | _______  |  | 1. |   Soviet Union | 7:45.80 |   |   | - | 1. |  |  | Viktor Aboimov 1:55.55, Georgijs Kuļikovs 1:56.96, Vladimir Mikheyev 1:56.41, Anatoly Rybakov 1:56.88 |  | 2. |   East Germany | 7:50.95 |   | 5.15s | - | 2. |  |  | Steffen Böhmert 1:56.93, Peter Bruch 1:58.49, Hartmut Flöckner 1:57.49, Andreas Meier 1:58.04 |  | 3. |   Italy | 7:55.87 |   | 10.07s | - | 4. |  |  | Paolo Barelli 1:57.03, Lorenzo Marugo 2:00.05, Marcello Guarducci 1:57.67, Francesco Marcucci 2:01.12 |  | 4. |   France | 7:58.51 |   | 12.71s | - | 6. |  |  | Marc Lazzaro 2:00.44, Olivier Middleton 1:59.19, Colin Ress 1:56.95, Pierre Amardeilh 2:01.93 |  | 5. |   Spain | 8:00.03 |   | 14.23s | - | 8. |  |  | Santiago Esteva 1:58.39, José Pujol 2:00.04, Enrique Melo 2:00.84, José Bas 2:00.76 |   
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