Date | 9 August 2008 — 11:00 | |
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Status | Olympic | |
Location | Gonglu Zixingche Saichang, Juyongguan | |
Participants | 143 from 55 countries | |
Format | 245 km. mass start race. |
The road race was conducted over a 245.4 km. course, the longest in Olympic history, with seven laps back-and-forth between the Juyong and Badaling Passes, finishing on the Badaling Pass climb of 700 metres at 6% grade. The race was held in hot and humid conditions. Prior to the Beijing Olympics, many endurance athletes had complained about the air pollution in Beijing but, on the day of the road race, it was relatively clear for the Chinese capital city. The first major break occurred at 60 km., with 26 riders going away. They were in front for almost 125 km. The peleton caught them with 60 km. remaining in the race, but by then two riders, Aleksandr Kuchinsky (BLR) and Ruslan Pidhorniy (UKR), had broken away. They were reeled in after only a few kilometers in the lead.
On the last lap, repeated attacks left only 20 riders in the front group. From this group six riders got into a breakaway – Samuel Sánchez (ESP), Davide Rebellin (ITA), Fabian Cancellara (SUI), Aleksandr Kolobnev (RUS), Andy Schleck (LUX), and Michael Rogers (AUS). Sánchez and Rebellin were the most aggressive riders in the break, until Cancellara tried to go off the front, but he was quickly pulled back. Cancellara was not known as a sprinter, but was a great time trialist, and he often used this strength to get away before the sprint. The final sprint was close with all six finishing within a bike length, but Sánchez was the fastest off the top of the Badaling climb, and edged our Rebellin for the gold medal, with Cancellara taking bronze, or so it seemed.
In November 2009, however, Davide Rebellin, the original silver medalist, was disqualified when his sample from Beijing tested positive for CERA (continuous erythropoietin receptor activator), which stimulates erythropoietin (EPO) production and increases hemoglobin levels for better oxygen usage. Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara, who won the individual time trial gold medal in Beijing, was moved up to the silver medal position and Russian Aleksandr Kolobnev was awarded the bronze medal.