Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's individual road race

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Men's cycling road race
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
2008 Olympic cycling road race men.JPG
The field shortly after the start.
Venue Urban Road Cycling Course
245.4 km (152.5 mi)
DateAugust 9
Competitors143 from 55 nations
Winning time6:23:49
38.36 km/h (23.84 mph)
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Samuel Sánchez
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
Silver medal icon.svg Fabian Cancellara
Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland
Bronze medal icon.svg Alexandr Kolobnev
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
←  2004
2012  →

The men's road race, a part of the cycling events at the 2008 Summer Olympics, took place on August 9 at the Urban Road Cycling Course in Beijing. It started at 11:00  China Standard Time (UTC+8), and was scheduled to last until 17:30 later that day. The 245.4-kilometre (152.5 mi) course ran north across the heart of the Beijing metropolitan area, passing such landmarks as the Temple of Heaven, the Great Hall of the People, Tiananmen Square and the Beijing National Stadium. After rolling over relatively flat terrain for 78.8 km (49.0 mi) north of the Beijing city center, the route entered a decisive circuit encompassing seven loops on a 23.8 km (14.8 mi) section up and down the Badaling Pass, including ramps as steep as a 10 percent gradient. [1]

The race was won by the Spanish rider Samuel Sánchez in 6 hours, 23 minutes, 49 seconds, after a six-man breakaway group contested a sprint finish. It was the first medal in the men's individual road race for Spain. Davide Rebellin of Italy and Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland, finishing second and third place with the same time as Sánchez, received silver and bronze medals respectively for the event. The hot and humid conditions were in sharp contrast to the heavy rain weathered in the women's road race the following day. [2]

The event was one of the earliest to be concluded at the 2008 Summer Olympics, taking place on the first day of competition. [3] Concerns were raised before the Olympics about the threat of pollution in endurance sports, but no major problems were apparent in the race. [4]

In April 2009, it was announced that Rebellin had tested positive for Continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA, a third-generation form of erythropoietin) during the Olympics. [5] After his B-sample subsequently confirmed initial results, he returned his medal and repaid the prize money he had won from the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) while still maintaining his innocence. [6] Cancellara and original fourth-place finisher Alexandr Kolobnev were later awarded new medals corresponding to their updated finishing positions. Kolobnev's bronze was Russia's first medal in the event.

Qualification

Qualification for the race was restricted to five athletes per National Olympic Committee (NOC), providing that these athletes qualified through the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) rankings, with the UCI ProTour considered to be superior to the UCI Continental Circuits. The number of qualification places allocated varied among the different UCI tours, which all maintain their own ranking system. Any NOC unable to fill its quota of athletes from the ProTour was permitted to enter athletes from one of the continental tours, and if that was not feasible, from the "B" World Championship. The number of places allocated to each tour were thus (in descending order): 70 riders from the ProTour, 38 from the Europe tour, 15 from the America tour, nine from the Asia tour, five from the Africa tour, and three from the Oceania tour. Five entrants qualified through the "B" World Championships. [7]

The final number of competitors was set to be 145, but only 143 athletes started the race. Four cyclists were scratched from the race shortly before it took place. Damiano Cunego of Italy had not yet recovered from the injuries he sustained in the 2008 Tour de France, so he was replaced by Vincenzo Nibali. Portugal's Sérgio Paulinho, the silver medalist at the 2004 event, was said to be in insufficient shape to race. After Russian Vladimir Gusev was fired by his professional team Astana for failing an internal doping check, he was replaced in this event by Denis Menchov, who later competed in the time trial. While training earlier in the week before the race, Switzerland's Michael Albasini crashed and broke his collarbone; there was not sufficient time to find a replacement for him. [8]

Preview

This was the 18th appearance of the event, previously held in 1896 and then at every Summer Olympics since 1936. It replaced the individual time trial event that had been held from 1912 to 1932; the time trial had been re-introduced in 1996 alongside the road race.

Pollution issues

Prior to the opening of the Games, the International Olympic Committee was keen to play down the risk that athletes faced from pollution; however, the organizing body considered rescheduling of endurance events (such as the cycling road race) if the pollution levels were too high. [9] Athletes partaking in these events can consume 20 times the amount of oxygen as a sedentary person. A higher level of pollution in the air could adversely affect performance, damage or irritate an athlete's lungs, or exacerbate respiratory conditions, such as asthma. [10]

Independent sources showed that pollution levels were above the limit deemed safe by the World Health Organization on August 9. [11] [12] [13] However, the cycling event went ahead as scheduled with no objections from the athletes. [14] Fifty-three of the 143 cyclists pulled out during the race; however, this is not unusual (over half withdrew mid-race at the 2004 Summer Olympics). [15] Post-race, a number of riders highlighted the punishing conditions, in particular the heat (26 °C or 79 °F) and humidity (90%), which were much higher than in Europe, where the majority of UCI ProTour races are held. Pollution, however, was not widely cited as a problem, [16] [17] though Stefan Schumacher of Germany, who had been considered an outside favorite for victory in the event, said the elements and the pollution played a role in his withdrawal. [18]

Pre-race favorites

Paolo Bettini (left) and Kim Kirchen (right), rivals and pre-race favorites Paolo Bettini Kim Kirchen LBL2008.jpg
Paolo Bettini (left) and Kim Kirchen (right), rivals and pre-race favorites

Among the pre-race favorites was the entire Spanish contingent of riders. [19] It included two winners of Grand Tours in Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre, along with highly regarded countrymen Alejandro Valverde, winner of the 2008 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and the reigning Spanish national road race champion, and Samuel Sánchez, who had won three stages in the 2007 Vuelta a España. They also had 2008 Tour de France points classification winner and three-time world champion Óscar Freire available to work on their behalf. Valverde was seen as the strongest threat among the Spaniards. [20] [21] [22] Other medal hopefuls included the defending Olympic champion Paolo Bettini of Italy, [21] [23] Germany's Stefan Schumacher, [24] and Australian Cadel Evans, twice a runner-up in the Tour de France (2007 and 2008). It was thought that members of the overall strong squads from Germany and Luxembourg could also contend for victory. [25] The German team contained Schumacher and many veterans of Grand Tours such as Jens Voigt to work in support, while Luxembourg had the Schleck brothers Andy and Fränk, along with Kim Kirchen, all of whom had worn leader's jerseys during the 2008 Tour de France. [26] [27]

Course

The Urban Road Cycling Course (one of Beijing's nine temporary venues) was 102.6 km (63.8 mi) in its entirety, and the men's race was a distance of 245.4 km (152.5 mi), the longest in Olympic history. [28] [29] The race's starting line was located at the Yongdingmen, a reconstructed gate of Beijing's old city wall, which is a part of the Dongcheng District south of Beijing city center. The course ended at the Juyong Pass in the Changping District.

The Yonghe Temple Pavillon des dix mille bonheurs.jpg
The Yonghe Temple

The route passed through a total of eight districts: Chongwen, Xuanwu, Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chaoyang, Haidian, Changping, and Yanqing. The course's scenery, described by The Guardian newspaper (UK) as "visually sumptuous", [30] included landmarks such as the Temple of Heaven, the Great Hall of the People, Tiananmen Square, the Yonghe Temple, and sections of the Great Wall of China, which were passed through as the course journeyed from urban Beijing into the countryside. [29] It also passed the architecture of the 2008 Olympics, including the Beijing National Stadium and Beijing National Aquatics Center (known colloquially as the "Bird's Nest" and "Water Cube"). [30]

The men's race layout, which differed most significantly from the women's in that it was over double its length, saw the riders make seven loops back-and-forth between the Badaling and Juyong Passes. [28] The early sections of the race took place within central Beijing; consequently, the gradient of this part of the race was relatively flat. At approximately the 78.8 km (49.0 mi) point in the race the riders reached the Badaling section of the Great Wall, and began their first of seven 23.8 km (14.8 mi) loops. The riders encountered an increase in the gradient at this point, with the Badaling Pass gaining 338.2 metres (1,110 ft) in elevation over a distance of 12.4 km (7.7 mi) from the start of the circuit to the highest point. From there the cyclists rode over a false flat before descending a highway towards the Juyong Pass. The final 350 m (1,150 ft) of the race gave the riders a moderately steep climb to contend with, which was designed to ensure an exciting finale should several riders have been grouped together at the end of the race, as there were. [1]

Due to security regulations put in place by the Olympic organizers, no spectators were permitted to stand roadside along the course. This decision proved to be controversial: several prominent figures in cycling, including UCI president Pat McQuaid and riders Stuart O'Grady and Cadel Evans (both Australia), spoke out against it. McQuaid and O'Grady both felt that the absence of people along the course deprived the race of the atmosphere present at other cycling events, and said that it failed to take supporters' wishes into consideration. [31] Cycling Australia's reaction to the cyclists' complaints was to request that security restrictions be eased for the time trial to follow, [32] [33] but they were not. [34]

Samuel Sanchez, gold medalist Samuel Sanchez1.jpg
Samuel Sánchez, gold medalist

Race

The men's road race began at 11:00 local time (UTC+8) and within 3 km (1.9 mi) of the start, Horacio Gallardo (Bolivia) and Patricio Almonacid (Chile) formed a two-man breakaway. They held a maximum advantage of 15 minutes, [35] but were never really seen as a threat, and in fact neither went on to finish the race. With no single team willing to force the pace, a 26-man breakaway formed at the 60 km (37 mi) mark, including Carlos Sastre (Spain), Kim Kirchen (Luxembourg), Jens Voigt (Germany), Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic) and Simon Gerrans (Australia). Shortly after the race reached the finish line to begin the first of seven 23.8 km (14.8 mi) loops, Gallardo was dropped by Almonacid. The lone Chilean leader was then caught by the now 24-man chase group at the summit on the second loop, after riding solo ahead of the pack for over an hour and a half.

Davide Rebellin, silver medalist, later disqualified Nissa (22).jpg
Davide Rebellin, silver medalist, later disqualified

Under the impetus of Sastre and Kreuziger in particular, the 24-strong breakaway group built their lead to over six minutes at the half-way point of the race, after four of the seven circuits. At that point, the Italian-paced main field increased its speed in order to bring them back. Aleksandr Kuschynski (Belarus) and Ruslan Pidgornyy (Ukraine) went clear of the leading group afterward and gained an advantage of a minute and 40 seconds over the Sastre group and 2 minutes, 45 seconds over the main field by the start of the fifth lap over the hilly circuit. The Sastre group was absorbed by the main field at the 60 km (37 mi) to go mark, leaving just Kuschynski and Pidgornyy out front. Not long after, shortly before the end of the fifth circuit, Marcus Ljungqvist (Sweden), Rigoberto Urán (Colombia) and Johan Van Summeren (Belgium) attacked from the peloton and reeled in Kuschynski and Pidgornyy. [35]

Fabian Cancellara, bronze medalist, later upgraded to silver Tour de France 2008, cancellara (22213961155).jpg
Fabian Cancellara, bronze medalist, later upgraded to silver

The next attack, one that would later be described as "audacious" [21] and "brave", [17] came from Christian Pfannberger (Austria), who went free of the main field toward the end of the sixth lap. His maximum advantage never grew to more than a minute, but he did stay away until well into the seventh and final lap, being caught with 20 km (12 mi) to go. [36] Within five minutes of fierce attacks, fewer than 20 riders were left in the front group, [37] a group that included Cadel Evans (Australia), Levi Leipheimer (United States), Santiago Botero (Colombia), and Jérôme Pineau (France), with Valverde and Bettini left behind them. Five riders, Samuel Sánchez (Spain), Michael Rogers (Australia), Davide Rebellin (Italy), Andy Schleck (Luxembourg), and Alexandr Kolobnev (Russia), came further clear from the group of now 13 due to repeated attacks from Schleck. Sánchez, Rebellin, and Schleck reached the summit of the Badaling climb, with 12.7 km (7.9 mi) to race, 10 seconds ahead of Rogers and Kolobnev, and 26 seconds ahead of the Evans group. [37] Bettini, Valverde and Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) attacked from the main peloton and joined the Evans group at the top of the climb. [38] The leading group's advantage over the two-man chase was 15 seconds with 10 km (6.2 mi) to go. [21]

With 5 km (3.1 mi) left, Cancellara attacked from the Evans group and caught up with the chasers that the group of three had left behind, Kolobnev and Rogers. The three of them successfully bridged the gap to the leaders with about 1 km (0.62 mi) to go, and there were six riders contesting the final sprint. Sánchez won the gold medal, Rebellin the silver, and Cancellara the bronze. [28]

Doping incident

In April 2009, the IOC announced that six athletes had tested positive during the 2008 Summer Olympics, without mentioning names or sports. Later, rumours emerged that the athletes included two cyclists, one of them a medal winner. [39] The Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) then confirmed that a male Italian cyclist had tested positive for Continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA) during the men's road race, without identifying him. The next day, on 29 April 2009, the Committee confirmed that Davide Rebellin was an involved athlete. Rebellin's agent sent a request for the analysis of the B sample. [5] On 8 July 2009, Rebellin, along with Stefan Schumacher, were confirmed as having tested positive. Schumacher was already serving a ban after testing positive in the 2008 Tour de France, but faced further punishment, and Rebellin subsequently had his medal removed by the UCI and the IOC. [40] [41] On 27 November, Rebellin returned his silver medal to CONI, per their and the UCI's request. [6] Per UCI regulations, Cancellara and Kolobnev were moved up to second and third in the official results, [42] but did not initially receive new medals. On December 18, 2010, Cancellara received the same physical medal initially given to Rebellin, in a ceremony held in his hometown of Ittigen, Switzerland. The medal originally given to Cancellara will in turn be given to Kolobnev. [43]

Rebellin had appealed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decision to remove his silver medal, but in July 2010, this was rejected. [44]

There had been controversy in the months before the men's road race when, in the aftermath of doping revelations at the Tour de France, International Olympic Committee vice-president Thomas Bach had suggested that the men's road race's place in the Olympics should be reconsidered, and said that the credibility of the sport had been damaged; although he clarified that there was no immediate threat. Pat McQuaid had reacted angrily to these comments, saying, "Why should they [the majority of cyclists] be threatened because of a few bad apples?" [45]

Final classification

A total of 142 riders have been qualified in the event at these Games. Most of them are not expected to finish one-day races, having worked in support for their teams (in this case, nations) [46] to place their riders with better climbing skills in good positions once the mountainous part of a course begins. [47] Many of these riders also sought to conserve themselves for the time trial that was to come. Additionally, if a rider was lapped by the race leader on the Badaling circuit, he would be forced to stop. [48]

The notation "s.t." indicates that the rider crossed the finish line in the same group as the one receiving the time above him, and was therefore credited with the same finishing time.
Source: Official results [49]

RankCyclistNationTime
Gold medal icon.svg Samuel Sánchez Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 6:23:49
Silver medal icon.svg Fabian Cancellara Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland s.t.
Bronze medal icon.svg Alexandr Kolobnev Flag of Russia.svg  Russia s.t.
4 Andy Schleck Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg s.t.
5 Michael Rogers Flag of Australia.svg  Australia s.t.
6 Santiago Botero Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 6:24:01
7 Mario Aerts Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium s.t.
8 Michael Barry Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 6:24:05
9 Robert Gesink Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 6:24:07
10 Levi Leipheimer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 6:24:09
11 Chris Anker Sørensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 6:24:11
12 Alejandro Valverde Flag of Spain.svg  Spain s.t.
13 Jérôme Pineau Flag of France.svg  France s.t.
14 Cadel Evans Flag of Australia.svg  Australia s.t.
15 Przemysław Niemiec Flag of Poland.svg  Poland s.t.
16 Christian Vande Velde Flag of the United States.svg  United States 6:24:19
17 Paolo Bettini Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 6:24:24
18 Vladimir Karpets Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 6:24:59
19 Murilo Fischer Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 6:26:17
20 Fabian Wegmann Flag of Germany.svg  Germany s.t.
21 Erik Hoffmann Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia s.t.
22 Christian Pfannberger Flag of Austria.svg  Austria s.t.
23 Gustav Larsson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden s.t.
24 Nicki Sørensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark s.t.
25 Radoslav Rogina Civil ensign of Croatia.svg  Croatia s.t.
26 John-Lee Augustyn Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa s.t.
27 Nuno Ribeiro Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal s.t.
28 Ignatas Konovalovas Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania s.t.
29 Jackson Rodríguez Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela s.t.
30 Matthew Lloyd Flag of Australia.svg  Australia s.t.
31 Kurt Asle Arvesen Flag of Norway.svg  Norway s.t.
32 Kanstantsin Sivtsov Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus s.t.
33 Rémi Pauriol Flag of France.svg  France s.t.
34 Tadej Valjavec Civil Ensign of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia s.t.
35 Yaroslav Popovych Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine s.t.
36 Simon Gerrans Flag of Australia.svg  Australia s.t.
37 Thomas Lövkvist Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 6:26:25
38 Thomas Rohregger Flag of Austria.svg  Austria s.t.
39 George Hincapie Flag of the United States.svg  United States s.t.
40 José Serpa Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 6:26:27
41 Johan Vansummeren Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium s.t.
42 Fränk Schleck Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg s.t.
43 Andrey Mizurov Flag of Kazakhstan (3-2).svg  Kazakhstan s.t.
44 Roman Kreuziger Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 6:26:35
45 Kim Kirchen Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 6:26:40
46 Moisés Aldape Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 6:28:08
47 Rein Taaramäe Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 6:30:49
48 Carlos Sastre Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 6:31:06
49 Franco Pellizotti Flag of Italy.svg  Italy s.t.
50 Sergey Lagutin Flag of Uzbekistan (3-2).svg  Uzbekistan s.t.
51 Hossein Askari Flag of Iran.svg  Iran 6:34:22
52 Ruslan Pidgornyy Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine s.t.
53 Julian Dean Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 6:34:26
54 Jacek Tadeusz Morajko Flag of Poland.svg  Poland s.t.
55 Ryder Hesjedal Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada s.t.
56 Matija Kvasina Civil ensign of Croatia.svg  Croatia s.t.
57 Marcus Ljungqvist Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden s.t.
58 Svein Tuft Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada s.t.
59 Denis Menchov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia s.t.
60 Jure Golčer Civil Ensign of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia s.t.
61 Ján Valach Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia s.t.
62 Marzio Bruseghin Flag of Italy.svg  Italy s.t.
63 Nicolas Roche Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland s.t.
64 Laurens ten Dam Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands s.t.
65 Péter Kusztor Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 6:35:44
66 Ivan Stević Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg  Serbia s.t.
67 Gatis Smukulis Flag of Latvia (3-2).svg  Latvia 6:36:48
68 Tanel Kangert Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia s.t.
69 Gonzalo Garrido Flag of Chile.svg  Chile s.t.
70 Edvald Boasson Hagen Flag of Norway.svg  Norway s.t.
71 André Cardoso Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 6:39:42
72 Aleksandr Kuschynski Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus s.t.
73 Dainius Kairelis Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania s.t.
74 Petr Benčík Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic s.t.
75 Alexandre Pliuschin Flag of Moldova (3-2).svg  Moldova s.t.
76 Denys Kostyuk Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine s.t.
77 Sergey Ivanov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia s.t.
78 Ghader Mizbani Flag of Iran.svg  Iran s.t.
79 David George Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa s.t.
80 Philip Deignan Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland s.t.
81 Glen Chadwick Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand s.t.
82 Aliaksandr Usau Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus 6:49:59
83 Tomasz Marczyński Flag of Poland.svg  Poland s.t.
84 Nebojša Jovanović Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg  Serbia s.t.
85 Takashi Miyazawa Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 6:55:24
86 Rafâa Chtioui Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 7:03:04
87 Park Sung-Baek Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea s.t.
88 Wu Kin San Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 7:05:57
89 Luciano Pagliarini Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 7:08:27
− Alberto Contador Flag of Spain.svg  Spain [n 1] DNF
Simon Špilak Civil Ensign of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia [n 2] DNF
Jens Voigt Flag of Germany.svg  Germany [n 3] DNF
Pierrick Fédrigo Flag of France.svg  France DNF
Cyril Dessel Flag of France.svg  France DNF
Pierre Rolland Flag of France.svg  France DNF
Rigoberto Urán Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia DNF
Ben Swift Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain [n 4] DNF
Stef Clement Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands DNF
Bert Grabsch Flag of Germany.svg  Germany DNF
Vincenzo Nibali Flag of Italy.svg  Italy DNF
Lars Petter Nordhaug Flag of Norway.svg  Norway DNF
Vladimir Miholjević Civil ensign of Croatia.svg  Croatia [n 5] DNF
Christophe Brandt Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium DNF
Stefan Schumacher Flag of Germany.svg  Germany DNF
Brian Vandborg Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark DNF
Jurgen van den Broeck Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium DNF
Timothy Gudsell Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand [n 6] DNF
Patricio Almonacid Flag of Chile.svg  Chile DNF
Evgeniy Gerganov Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria DNF
Borut Božič Civil Ensign of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia DNF
Stuart O'Grady Flag of Australia.svg  Australia [n 7] DNF
Maxim Iglinsky Flag of Kazakhstan (3-2).svg  Kazakhstan DNF
Gabriel Rasch Flag of Norway.svg  Norway DNF
Fumiyuki Beppu Flag of Japan.svg  Japan DNF
Henry Raabe Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica [n 8] DNF
Mehdi Sohrabi Flag of Iran.svg  Iran [n 9] DNF
Mario Contreras Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador DNF
Andriy Hryvko Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine [n 10] DNF
Vladimir Efimkin Flag of Russia.svg  Russia DNF
Jason McCartney Flag of the United States.svg  United States DNF
Roger Hammond Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain DNF
Karsten Kroon Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands [n 11] DNF
Óscar Freire Flag of Spain.svg  Spain [n 12] DNF
Steve Cummings Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain [n 13] DNF
Maxime Monfort Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium DNF
Matej Jurčo Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia [n 14] DNF
Roman Broniš Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia DNF
Hichem Chabane Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria [n 15] DNF
Juan José Haedo Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina [n 16] DNF
Zhang Liang Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China [n 17] DNF
Ahmed Belgasem Flag of Libya (1977-2011).svg  Libya DNF
Gerald Ciolek Flag of Germany.svg  Germany [n 18] DNF
Raivis Belohvoščiks Flag of Latvia (3-2).svg  Latvia DNF
Jonathan Bellis Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain [n 19] DNF
Horacio Gallardo Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia DNF
László Bodrogi Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary [n 20] DNF
Daniel Petrov Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria [n 21] DNF
Matías Médici Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina DNF
Niki Terpstra Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands [n 22] DNF
Alejandro Borrajo Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina [n 23] DNF
Robert Hunter Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa [n 24] DNF
David Zabriskie Flag of the United States.svg  United States [n 25] DNF
− Davide Rebellin Flag of Italy.svg  Italy DSQ
Notes
  1. ↑ Fatigue. [50]
  2. ↑ Crash with Miholjević. [51]
  3. ↑ Heat/pollution-related fatigue. [52]
  4. ↑ Heat-related fatigue. [53]
  5. ↑ Crash with Špilak. [51]
  6. ↑ Fatigue. [54]
  7. ↑ Headache. [32]
  8. ↑ Lapped and disqualified. [49]
  9. ↑ Lapped and disqualified. [49]
  10. ↑ Heat-related fatigue. [55]
  11. ↑ Heat-related fatigue. [56]
  12. ↑ Stomach disease. [57]
  13. ↑ Fatigue and time trial preparation. [53]
  14. ↑ Heat-related fatigue. [55]
  15. ↑ Lapped and disqualified. [49]
  16. ↑ Breathing problems. [58]
  17. ↑ Lapped and disqualified. [49]
  18. ↑ Heat-related fatigue. [35]
  19. ↑ Breathing problems. [4]
  20. ↑ Time trial preparation. [51]
  21. ↑ Lapped and disqualified. [49]
  22. ↑ Mechanical problems and fatigue. [55]
  23. ↑ Lapped and disqualified. [49]
  24. ↑ Lapped and disqualified. [49]
  25. ↑ Time trial preparation. [59]

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Fabian Cancellara, nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam Lidl–Trek. He is known for being a quality time trialist, a one-day classics specialist, and a workhorse for his teammates who have general classification aspirations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicole Cooke</span> Welsh cyclist

Nicole Denise Cooke, MBE is a Welsh former professional road bicycle racer and Commonwealth, Olympic and World road race champion. At Beijing in 2008 she became the first British woman to win a Gold Olympic medal in any cycling discipline. Cooke announced her retirement from the sport on 14 January 2013 at the age of 29.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Sánchez</span> Spanish road racing cyclist

Samuel "Samu" Sánchez González is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally in the sport between 2000 and 2017 for the Euskaltel–Euskadi and BMC Racing Team squads. He was the gold medal winner in the road race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the following years Sánchez proved himself in hilly classics and stage races as one of the most important riders in the peloton. He was also known as one of the best descenders in the peloton. He finished in the top 6 of the Tour de France three times and in the top 10 of the Vuelta a España 6 times. Other notable achievements include winning the Vuelta a Burgos in 2010, the 2012 Tour of the Basque Country and five stages of the Vuelta a España.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandr Kolobnev</span> Russian road bicycle racer

Alexandr Vasilievich Kolobnev is a Russian former professional road bicycle racer. His major victories include winning the 2007 Monte Paschi Eroica, a stage of the 2007 Paris–Nice and he is a two-time winner of the Russian National Road Race Championships. In 2011, he was provisionally suspended after testing positive for a potential drug masking agent. He was cleared of intentional doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in February 2012, and returned to Team Katusha in March 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UCI Road World Championships – Men's time trial</span> World championship individual time trial race

The men's individual time trial event at the UCI Road World Championships is the men's world championship for the road bicycle racing discipline of time trial. Introduced in 1994 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world's governing body of cycling, the event consists of a time trial covering a distance of approximately 45 kilometres (28 mi) over flat or rolling terrain. Riders start separated by two-minute intervals; the one that completes the course in the shortest time is the winner, and is entitled to wear the rainbow jersey in time trial events for the forthcoming season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strade Bianche</span> Italian one-day road cycling race

The Strade Bianche is a road bicycle race in Tuscany, Central Italy, starting and finishing in Siena. First held in 2007, it is raced annually on the first or second Saturday of March. The name stems from the historic white gravel roads in the Crete Senesi, which are a defining feature of the race. One-third of the total race distance is raced on dirt roads, covering 63 km (39 mi) of strade bianche, spread over 11 sectors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Martin (cyclist)</span> German professional road bicycle racer

Tony Hans-Joachim Martin is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Martin was known as a time trial specialist, and is a four-time world champion in the discipline – having won the title in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016 – which is joint-most with Fabian Cancellara. He also won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, finishing runner-up to Bradley Wiggins in the event. Martin was also part of four world championship-winning team time trial squads, with Omega Pharma–Quick-Step/Etixx–Quick-Step, in 2012, 2013 and 2016, and with Germany in the mixed relay time-trial in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayden Roulston</span> New Zealand cyclist

Hayden Roulston is a former New Zealand professional racing cyclist. He won the silver medal in the men's 4000 m individual pursuit and a bronze medal in the men's 4000 m team pursuit at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He won the New Zealand road cycling championships on four occasions, the Tour of Southland on three occasions and came tenth in the 2010 edition of Paris - Roubaix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Switzerland at the 2008 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Switzerland competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. This is a list of all of the Swiss athletes who have qualified for the Olympics and have been nominated by Swiss Olympic Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's individual road race</span> Cycle race at the Beijing Olympics

The women's road race was one of the cycling events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. It took place on 10 August 2008, featuring 66 women from 33 countries. It was the seventh appearance of an Olympic women's road race event and featured a longer course than any of the previous six races. The race was run on the Urban Road Cycling Course, which is 102.6 kilometres (63.8 mi) total. Including a second lap around the 23.8 km (14.8 mi) final circuit, the total distance of the women's race was 126.4 km (78.5 mi), less than half the length of the men's race.

The Men's road time trial at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 13 August at the Urban Road Cycling Course. It was won by Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 UCI Road World Championships</span> Cycling championship held in Geelong and Melbourne, Australia

The 2010 UCI Road World Championships took place in Geelong and Melbourne, Australia, over 5 days from 29 September to 3 October 2010. It was the 83rd UCI Road World Championships and the first time that Australia had held the event. Coincidentally, the title's defender at the road race was an Australian, Cadel Evans, who has a home in Barwon Heads, only 20 km from Geelong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's individual road race</span>

The men's road race, one of the cycling events at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, took place on 28 July at 10 a.m. in central and southwest London and north Surrey, starting and finishing on The Mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's road time trial</span>

The men's road time trial, one of the cycling events at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, took place on 1 August over a 44 km (27.3 mi) course in southwest London and Surrey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's individual road race</span>

The men's road race was one of 18 cycling events of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The race started and finished on 6 August at Fort Copacabana and was won by Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium. It was Belgium's first victory in the men's individual road race since 1952 and second overall, tying France and the Soviet Union for second-most behind Italy (five). Belgium matched Italy for most total medals, at seven. Jakob Fuglsang won Denmark's fourth silver medal in the event; the nation had yet to win gold. Rafał Majka's bronze was Poland's first medal in the event since 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ján Valach</span> Slovak cyclist

Ján Valach is a Slovak retired professional road cyclist. He represented his nation Slovakia in two editions of the Olympic Games, and later competed as a member of Dukla Trenčín–Merida professional cycling team before his official retirement in 2010. He now works as a directeur sportif for UCI WorldTeam Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe.

References

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  2. ↑ "Cooke grabs first GB gold medal". BBC Sport . August 10, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2008. (...) with heavy rain making the road treacherous in places.
  3. ↑ "Olympic Games Competition Schedule". Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG). Archived from the original on June 18, 2007. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
  4. 1 2 Greg Bishop (August 9, 2008). "Humidity Is the Problem in a Race of Attrition". The New York Times . Retrieved August 12, 2008. (...) the racers found the real nightmare not in the pollution, but in the humidity and heat.
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