Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's cross-country
The men's cross-country mountain biking at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place at the Laoshan Mountain Bike Course on August 23, 2008.
Men's cross-country at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | ||||||||||
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Venue | Laoshan Mountain Bike Course | |||||||||
Dates | August 23, 2008 | |||||||||
Competitors | 50 from 33 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 1:55:59 | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics | ||
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Road cycling | ||
Road race | men | women |
Time trial | men | women |
Track cycling | ||
Individual pursuit | men | women |
Team pursuit | men | |
Sprint | men | women |
Team sprint | men | |
Points race | men | women |
Keirin | men | |
Madison | men | |
Mountain biking | ||
Cross-country | men | women |
BMX | ||
BMX | men | women |
France's Julien Absalon pulled away from a pack of mountain bikers at the start to defend his Olympic title in the event with a gold-medal time in 1:55:59.[1][2] Absalon also enjoyed his teammate Jean-Christophe Péraud taking home the silver in 1:57:06, as the Frenchmen climbed on top of the podium with a spectacular 1–2 finish.[3] Meanwhile, Switzerland's Nino Schurter delivered an exciting sprint challenge for the bronze in 1:57:52, edging out his teammate, three-time Olympian and reigning world champion Christoph Sauser by two seconds.[4][5] Among the 50 mountain bikers who competed in the cross-country race, only twenty-eight of them managed to complete the full distance.
Competition format
The competition began at 15:00 with a mass-start in which riders are positioned according to their current world ranking so that the higher-ranked riders are near the front. The cross-country race also involved eight laps, with 172 m of elevation change for each, around the 4.45 km course at Laoshan Mountain Bike Course.[6] The overall distance of the race was 35.60 km.
Schedule
All times are China standard time (UTC+8)[7]
Date | Time | Round |
---|---|---|
Saturday, 23 August 2008 | 15:00 | Final |
Results
References
- "Absalon secures men's mountain bike gold". ABC News Australia. 23 August 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- "Americans lapped as France's Absalon defends gold". USA Today. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
- "French cyclists on top of the mountain". France 24. 24 August 2008. Archived from the original on 28 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
- "Fourth Olympic bronze for Switzerland". Swissinfo. 23 August 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- Jones, Rob (23 August 2008). "French dominate the rest of the World". Cyclingnews.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- "Mountain Biking Competition Format". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
- "Mountain Biking: Results and Schedules". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.