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LATEST NEWS: THE YEAR OF SPAIN: SANCHEZ WINS OLYMPIC ROAD RACE GOLD IN BEIJING
Tim Maloney-European Editor
August 9, 2008
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As the sounds of the Marcha Real, Spain's national anthem soared above the Great Wall Of China, Samuel Sanchez tried to control the wave of emotions that almost overcame him as he realized his gold medal dreams had become reality in the 2008 Mens Olympic Road Race. The 30 year old from Oviedo, in the rugged coal-mining region of Asturias said of his greatest career win "It's like a dream, I still can't believe I've just won the gold medal. It's something that is out of the world. I was worried whether we could control the race as a team. There were only five of us on the (Spanish) team and we were all at the front working as a unit. Sastre was our captain and was keeping us calm. I was saving my legs for the final lap. So it's like a victory for all of us."
Photo Rob Jones / Canadian Cyclist: Sanchez On The Attack
Sanchez, who rides for the Eukaltel-Euskadi team and has just one win in 2008 talked about how his race unfolded, saying "Yes, I am surprised (to win), but at the same time I am not surprised, since I knew there were big favorites in this race, guys like Bettini and Valverde. I saw myself as a second tier favorite. But I knew I was on good form after finishing seventh place in the Tour.” Sanchez's Olympic victory comes just a few weeks after teammate Carlos Sastre, who played a pivotal role in Spain's first Olympic road race triumph, claimed the world famous Tour de France yellow jersey, barely a month after Spain's football team triumphed at the European championships held in Austria and Switzerland and tennis #1 Rafael Nadal's Wimbleon title. "We have a great generation of athletes in Spain who work hard, but who also get a lot of support from the government," said Sanchez.
It was Davide Rebellin's 37th birthday today and he missed the biggest present of his life by one bike length, the margin by which Sanchez beat the evergreen Italian, who is looking for a new team in 2009 as his current Gerolsteiner squad is folding at the end of the season. A clearly disappointed Rebellin tried to put a positive spin on winning his first Olympic medal. "The gold medal is the gold medal, but winning a silver medal is like a prize in itself. I've had plenty of runner-up places in my career, but this one is by far the best," said the 37 year old rider. "Today, Bettini was always the team leader but in the finale when I found myself in front I decided to go for it. To finish second always leaves a bitter taste. You're only one step away from gold. But we saw who was the strongest today, and it was Samuel."
Photo Rob Jones / Canadian Cyclist: The Canceman Can (win ths Bronze Medal)
World Time Trial champion Fabien Cancellara of Switzerland, who was riding alone in the race because his one teammate Michael Albasini had crashed in training, made a brilliant attack on the final descent of the day to bridge up to the lead riders Schleck, Sánchez, Rebellin Kolobnev and Rogers, then had a solid sprint to take 3rd place and the Bronze medal. "I think I did something special", said Cancellara. "I was good today and this race it wasn't my focus here at the Olympics. I told myself I need to follow people today. At the end, I took a risk and it worked." Cancellara is a favorite for a gold medal in next Wednesday's individual time trial.
The top North American in the 2008 Mens Olympic Road Race was Canada’s Michael Barry, who had an excellent day to finishin ninth place, 16" behind Sanchez. "I had good legs today and had to ride conservatively,” Barry explained. “I knew that if I attacked and used too much energy I could lose everything. On a course as hard as this with the heat so bad you have to ride conservatively.”
Italy's defending Olympic champion Paolo Bettini said he was happy with the result of Italian team. "All in all, we raced well today," said the double World champion. "But we had a minute of hesitation when the break went away. I am truly happy for Davide Rebellin and his silver medal; he deserved this chance today after the way he worked hard for me in Stuttgart last year. Sure, it would have been better to win, but overall, it was a great day for us." As for his own race, World Champion Bettini explained "I am not very happy about my race but I am happy for Davide. He did a great job controlling Sánchez. When I was back in the chase group Rebellin was already up the road and the so finale went like that. "I made the mistake of watching Valverde too closely," said Bettini. "With the legs I had today I should have just concentrated on my own race. Davide has twice sacrificed himself for me, at the world championships in 2006 and 2007, so I'm happy for him although I'm sorry he finished second. The plan was for me to watch Valverde, and for Davide to keep an eye on Sanchez. Maybe I should have just gone with my instinct."
Photo Rob Jones / Canadian Cyclist: Mao & The Olympic Cyclists
How It Happened:
On a hazy morning in Yongdingmen Park, the 2008 Mens Olympic Road Race commenced with the temperature at 85 degrees and the relative humidity at 92% under hazy skies, but the air seemed slightly cleaner than in previous days. There were sparse crowds on hand to see defending Olympic champion Paolo Bettini wearing dossard #1 and his Italian team were on the front row, next to Alejandro Valverde's Spanish team that would be their main rivals for the day. As is usually the case in the Mens Olympic Road Race where top pros are mixed with amateurs, two South Americans went on the move after a few kilometers. Horacio Gallardo (Bolivia) and Patricio Almonacid (Chile) attacked and no one bothered to follow the no-hopers.
The first real attack in the 2008 Mens Olympic Road Race came after 35km on the Badaling Expressway came Italian Vicenzo Nibali and was covered by Fisher (Brzil) Hunter (RSA) Kairelis (Ltu) Boassen Hagen (Nor) and Gerrans (Aus). Voigt accelerated behind and close the gap and suddenly the race was on, with the Olympic peloton stretched out in one long line. As the end of the first hour of racing nears, the peloton has covered 43km with Gallardo (Bolivia) and Almonacid (Chile) in the lead, 14 minutes ahead of the peloton. The pace returned to a slow tempo after a few kilometers as the riders chilled on the hot, humid day. After 70km, still on the road to Badaling and the Great Wall, the South American duo was still a quarter of an hour ahead, when a quartet of Kairelis (Ltu), Kuchynski (Bel), Grivko (Ukr) and Smukulis (Lat) attacked and were countered by Belohvosciks (Lat). This move caused a major surge of 26 riders to escape the peloton, who quickly gained a 30" gap on the passive peloton. Strangely, USA's McCartney and Zabriskie just sat on the front and watched as the group went up the road, making no move to cover the break.
The big group of 26 had top names like Sastre, Voigt and Grabsch, Van den Broek, Gerrans, Kirchen, Bruseghin Kreuziger and Clement as well as Belohvosciks and Canadian Hesjdal. The dangerous group provoked a chase behind as Russia, Denmark and USA had missed the move and were trying to keep the big break close. As the road began to climb and the two leaders started the finishing circuits, Chilean Almonacid dumped his break partner, while the 25 strong break continued to gain ground on the break and the peloton, with Tour De France winner Carlos Sastre working, while Team USA had missed the break and was forced to use up David Zabriskie in a hard chase. Gallardo fought his way back to Almonacid and as the front duo passed the finish line at the Great Wall in Badaling, they had a 10' lead on the break and 11'20" on the chasing peloton. Zabriskie had dropped off on the climb, perhaps trying to save his legs for Wednesday's TT.
After 89.8km Almonacid had dropped Gallardo for good, with the Bolivian 4' behind at the top of the Badaling climb, with the chase group powered by Sastre, Belohvosciks and Van den Broek at 7'10" and the peloton at 8'24" and there was over 140km to race so there was no hard chase behind. The next time up Badaling Mountain Road, the break caught Almonacid after 111km of liberty. With 126.4km to race
after 3h25" of racing, the 27 rider break had a lead of 5'10" over the peloton, where it was all J-Mac, all the time chasing on the front. The Russians sent Efimkin to help the chase and the next lap, after 137.4km of racing, the average speed was 36.2km/hr and the faster chase pace behind had dropped the gap to 3'45". The next lap after 4 hours of racing, the gap between the big break and the peloton had dropped to 3'15" and the average speed had increased to 37.1km/hr. Under team orders, Spain's Sastre and Italy's Bruseghin had stopped working and the gap continued to drop as the collaboration
On the next ascent of Badaling Mountain Road, Kuschynski (Belarus) and Pidgorny (Ukraine) attacked with 95km to go and got a gap as the chase behind didn't follow. Both riders live in Italy and ride on Italian teams The situation at the top of the Badaling Great Wall after 161km was Kuschynski (Belarus) and Pidgorny (Ukraine) at 1'14" ahead of a group of 22 riders, including Bruseghin (Italy), Sastre (Spain), Grabsch & Voigt (Germany), Pauriol (France), Smukulis (Latvia), Van den Broeck (Belgium), Hesjedal (Canada), Kreuziger & Bencik (Czech Republic), Kirchen (Luxembourg), Fischer (Brazil), Gerrans (Australia), Kvasina & Rogina (Croatia), Valach (Slovakia), Bozic & Valjavec (Slovenia), Mizourov (Kazakhstan), Clement (Netherlands) and Dainius Kairelis (Lithuania) and the peloton, led by Italian Vicenzo Nibali riding all out at 3'03".
Photo Rob Jones / Canadian Cyclist: The Great Wall Atop Juyong Pass
There were still three and a half laps to go and the heat and humidity and polluted air were taking a toll, especially in the peloton, where the chase pace was cranking ever higher. After another long headwind descent, the Olympic road race entered the crucial final phase with three laps and 71km to go. Kuschynski (Belarus) and Pidgorny (Ukraine) had ridden the fastest lap so far at a 40km/hr average. The overall average speed was now 37.6km/hr and the two break riders had 1'40" on the chasers and 2'50" on the Nibali led peloton. Up the climb to Juyong Pass, Nibali's intense pace finally brought back the remains of the break, which had been away for over 100km. After a few kilometers of the ascent, it was panic in casa Italia when Bettini had a rear wheel flat and got a quick wheel change and got back in the group.
Roche (Irl) attacked and was followed by Pellizotti, Gerrans, Rebellin and others but the chase closed down on the break, but the move took it's toll on riders like Kroon, Monfort, Schmacher and Friere were dropped, all victims of the heat and humidity and once Nibali dropped off, Bruss Bruseghin hit the front to bring back the two Eastern European riders. The two riders up front were 40" ahead when Pellizotti attacked again near the top and was quickly marked by Vande Velde, Contador, Wegman, Andy Schelck and this dangerous group grabbed a 10" lead but the French, who had missed the move were chasing hard and brought the attack back. A countermove by long, tall Belgian Vansummeren went with Lungquist (Swe) and Uran (Col) got a gap halfway down the descent with 56km to go as Italy put Bruseghin back in the front again to chase in the 60 strong group.
With 2 laps and 47.6km to race in the 2008 Mens Olympic Road Race, the counterattack had caught the two front riders and Kuschynski (Belarus) and Pidgorny (Ukraine), Vansummeren (Bel) Lungquist (Swe) and Uran (Col) were all together. The 5th lap was the fastest yet at 41.9km / hr average and the overall average speed was 37.5km / hr. After 197.8km and 5'16" of racing, Team Spain hit the front and were only 35" behind the break and closing fast. Tour De France winner Carlos Sastre powered away and was followed by his entire team, with Contador, Sanchez and Valverde followed by Bettini and the Italians, with Gesink and Cancellara lurking just behind, while Freire had abandoned with stomach troubles. Sastre's pace was putting a world of hurt on the remaining riders in the Olympic peloton and pulled back the attackers after only 2km of the Badaling Mountain Road climb. Halfway up the climb, Contador dropped back and the Spanish riders started talking on the front. The pace slowed and Nikki Sorensen (Den) attacked solo and no one chased the Danish rider until Pellizotti, Sanchez, Rebellin and Pfannberger countered and chased him down near the top of Juyong Pass. Once this group pulled back Sorensen, they relaxed a moment so Pfannberger went on his own with 35km to go.
The Austrian started the climb by himself and got a lead of 30" on the descent and hit the finish line for the bell lap with 23.8km to go all alone. The penultimate lap was the fastest yet, at 41.9km/hr, with the overall average speed at 37.95km/hr after 5h50" of racing. Bettini then tested his legs behind but as always was marked by Valverde, then Menchov accelerated in the feedzone, but didn't go anywhere. As the race hit Badaling Mountain Road for the final time, Chris Anker Sorensen (Den) hit out and was followed by Kolobnev (Rus), Evans (Aus), Rebellin (Ita), Sanchez (Spa), Vande Velde and Leipheimer (USA), Botero (Col) and Andy Schelck (Lux). Eventually a series of brilliant attacks by Schelck blew the front of the race apart and over the top of the Juyong Pass, it was Schelck, Sanchez and Rebellin who had eked out a 15" lead over chasers Rogers and Kolobnev, with the rest of the chase group at 25", where Bettini had made an incredible effort to bridge across from the 3rd group, followed closely by Valverde.
With 8km to go, the front trio was working well together, the two chasers at 13" and Bettini' chase group at 35", but with 4km Rogers and Kolobnev had closed the gap down to 8", but with 2.5km Fabian Cancellara had exploded out of the case group and was closing down on the three front runners. Rogers and Kolobnev were hanging on for dear life to the Swiss rider and with 800m to go, there were six together for the sprint. Sanchez hit the front with 150m. to go and powered up the steep final wall. Rebellin tried to get past him, but the Spaniard was just too strong for the Italian. After a tough 6h23' of racing in 26 degrees celsius and 90 percent humidity, it was the Oympic gold medal for Samuel Sanchez. Botero (Colombia) took the sprint from the chase group for 8th at 12", followed by Canadian Mike Barry in 9th, the first North American rider.
2008 Mens Olympic Road Race Results
1. Samuel Sanchez (ESP) 245km / 6h23'49"
(Average speed 38.4 km/hr)
2. Davide Rebellin (ITA)
3. Fabian Cancellara (SUI)
4. Alexander Kolobnev (RUS)
5. Andy Schleck (LUX)
6. Michael Rogers (AUS) all same time
7. Santiago Botero (COL) @ 12”
8. Mario Aerts (BEL) @ same time
9. Michael Barry (CAN) @ 16”
10. Robert Gesink (NED) @ 18”
11. Levi Leipheimer (USA) @ 20”
12. Chris Anker Soerensen (DEN) @ 22”
13. Alejandro Valverde (ESP)
14. Jérôme Pineau (FRA)
15. Cadel Evans (AUS)
16. Przemyslaw Niemiec (POL) @ same time
17. Christian Vande Velde (USA) @ 30”
18. Paolo Bettini (ITA) @ 35”
19. Vladimir Karpets (RUS) @ 1’10”
20. Murilo Fischer (BRA) @ 2’28”
21. Fabian Wegmann (GER)
22. Erik Hoffmann (NAM)
23. Christian Pfannberger (AUT)
24. Gustav Larsson (SWE)
25. Nicki Sorensen (DEN)
26. Radoslav Rogina (CRO)
27. John Augustyn (RSA)
28. Nuno Ribeiro (POR)
29. Ignatas Konovalovas (LTU)
30. Jackson Jesus Rodriguez Ortiz (VEN)
31. Matt Lloyd (AUS)
32. Kurt Asle Arvesen (NOR)
33. Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR)
34. Remi Pauriol (FRA)
35. Tadej Valjavec (SLO)
36. Yaroslav Popovych (UKR)
37. Simon Gerrans (AUS) @ same time
38. Thomas Lofqvist (SWE) @ 2’36”
39. Thomas Rohregger (AUT)
40. George Hincapie (USA) @ same time
41. José Serpa (COL) @ 2’38”
42. Johan Vansummeren (BEL)
43. Frank Schleck (LUX)
44. Andrey Mizurov (KAZ) @ same time
45. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) @ 2’46”
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