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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
VenueUrban 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
1st place, gold medalist(s) Fabian Cancellara  Switzerland
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Gustav Larsson  Sweden
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Levi Leipheimer  United States
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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

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Cycling at the
2008 Summer Olympics
Road cycling
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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

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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

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

[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b [1]
  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. ^ a b "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.
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