Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's road time trial

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Men's cycling road time trial
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Cycling (road) pictogram.svg
Olympic Road cycling
Venue Urban Road Cycling Course
47.6 km (29.6 mi)
DateAugust 13
Competitors39 from 29 nations
Winning time1:02:11
46.05 km/h (28.61 mph)
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Fabian Cancellara Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland
Silver medal icon.svg Gustav Larsson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
Bronze medal icon.svg Levi Leipheimer Flag of the United States.svg  United States
  2004
2012  

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.

Pre-race favorites

Included among the favorites for victory were Cancellara, the reigning world time trial champion, [1] [2] and Germany's Stefan Schumacher, [3] who won both time trials in the 2008 Tour de France, defeating Cancellara in each. Other cyclists considered to be possible medalists included American Dave Zabriskie, and Australians Michael Rogers [1] and Cadel Evans. Evans had originally announced that he was withdrawing from the time trial with a knee injury, giving his place in the event to Rogers, [4] but he recovered faster than expected. The UCI thus gave him a wildcard entry to let him compete. [5] American Levi Leipheimer, Spaniard Alberto Contador, Italy's Marzio Bruseghin and Denis Menchov of Russia were also thought to be contenders for the podium. [6]

The event

The men's road time trial took place on a mountainous 47.6 km course consisting of two 23.8 km laps [7] each containing an approximately 305 m climb [8] followed by an equal descent. The 39 riders in the time trial were broken into three groups, who would race the clock one hour separate from one another. Most of the medal favorites were in the last group. Each rider started the course a minute and thirty seconds after the rider who went before them. [9]

The leader at the end of the first group of 13 was Svein Tuft (Canada), completing the course in 1h 04' 39". This was 23 seconds clear of the next closest competitor Robert Gesink (Netherlands). [10] They were still the top two riders after the second group, with American David Zabriskie and Russian Denis Menchov, thought to be podium contenders, both turning in disappointing rides.

The medalists all came in the third group. Gustav Larsson of Sweden, starting seventh from the end, beat Tuft by nearly two minutes. The man after Larsson, American Levi Leipheimer, was 36 seconds slower than Larsson, but held on to win bronze. The event's prohibitive favorite, world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara, started last, and though he was six seconds behind Larson's pace at the final time check, he wound up winning the gold medal by a margin of 33 seconds. The other major gold medal favorite, Stefan Schumacher of Germany, finished over three minutes behind Cancellara. [11]

Final classification

Gold medalist Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara - Tour Of California Prologue 2008 (1).jpg
Gold medalist Fabian Cancellara
RankRiderCountryTime
Gold medal icon.svg Fabian Cancellara Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1:02:11
Silver medal icon.svg Gustav Larsson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1:02:44
Bronze medal icon.svg Levi Leipheimer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:03:21
4 Alberto Contador Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1:03:29
5 Cadel Evans Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:03:34
6 Samuel Sánchez Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1:04:37
7 Svein Tuft Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:04:39
8 Michael Rogers Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:04:46
9 Stef Clement Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1:04:59
10 Robert Gesink Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1:05:02
11 Steve Cummings Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:05:07
12 David Zabriskie Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:05:17
DSQ Stefan Schumacher Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1:05:25
14 Bert Grabsch Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1:05:26
15 Vincenzo Nibali Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:05:36
16 Ryder Hesjedal Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:05:42
17 Rein Taaramäe Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 1:05:47
18 Vladimir Karpets Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 1:05:52
19 Chris Anker Sørensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 1:05:55
20 Denis Menchov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 1:06:10
21 Vasil Kiryienka Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus 1:06:12
22 Marzio Bruseghin Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:06:20
23 Kim Kirchen Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 1:06:29
24 Andrey Mizurov Flag of Kazakhstan (3-2).svg  Kazakhstan 1:06:32
25 Santiago Botero Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 1:06:35
26 Maxime Monfort Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:07:12
27 László Bodrogi Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:07:27
28 Simon Špilak Civil Ensign of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 1:07:34
29 Matej Jurčo Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia 1:07:52
30 Matías Médici Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 1:07:53
31 David George Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 1:07:55
32 Andriy Hryvko Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 1:08:01
33 Brian Bach Vandborg Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 1:08:10
34 Przemysław Niemiec Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 1:08:43
35 Hossein Askari Flag of Iran.svg  Iran 1:08:46
36 Raivis Belohvoščiks Flag of Latvia (3-2).svg  Latvia 1:08:54
37 Denys Kostyuk Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 1:09:04
38 Matija Kvasina Civil ensign of Croatia.svg  Croatia 1:09:06
39 Fumiyuki Beppu Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1:11:05

[11]

References

  1. 1 2
  2. "Beijing Olympic Games 2008 » Men's Individual Time Trial". 2008gamesbeijing.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  3. "Gold for Spain's Sanchez in men's road cycling - Universal Sports". Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  4. Bisbee, Gene (2008-07-31). "Cadel Evans withdraws from Olympic time trial; knee injury". Biking Bis. Archived from the original on 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  5. "Yahoo! Sports - Sports News, Scores, Rumors, Fantasy Games, and more". Archived from the original on 2011-08-05. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  6. "Road Cycling Day 3 Preview: Men's & Women's Individual Time Trial - the Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games". Archived from the original on 2008-08-15. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  7. "Cycling - Road - Background - The official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games". Archived from the original on 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  8. "VeloNews | Armstrong, Cancellara win time trial gold | the Journal of Competitive Cycling". Archived from the original on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
  9. "Cycling - Road Men's Individual Time Trial Start List - The official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games". Archived from the original on 2008-08-15. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  10. "Cycling - Road Men's Individual Time Trial Intermediate Results - The official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games". Archived from the original on 2008-08-16. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  11. 1 2 "Cycling - Road Men's Individual Time Trial Results - The official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games". Archived from the original on 2008-08-16. Retrieved 2016-07-16.