The men's group road race at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held on August 9 along a temporary city circuit for a bike ride in Beijing . The start took place at 11:00 CST ( UTC + 8 ), the finish - around 17:30 the same day. The race was attended by 143 athletes from 55 countries. The distance was 245.4 kilometers, including a 78.8-km plain stretching across the central part of the city past sights such as the Temple of Heaven , the House of the People , Tiananmen Square and the National Stadium , as well as seven repeating mountain rings of 23.8 each km, with steep descents and ascents through the Badalin pass with a gradient of more than 10%.
| Men's Group Road Cycling Race at the XXIX Olympic Games | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Peloton at the start of the race | ||||||||||
| Location | City Bike Trail ( Beijing ), 245.4 km | |||||||||
| date of | August 9, 2008 | |||||||||
| Of the participants | 143 out of 55 countries | |||||||||
| Top places | ||||||||||
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The winner was the Spanish rider Samuel Sanchez , who won the finish sprint in the six-man separation group and showed the time 6 hours 23 minutes 49 seconds. Silver and bronze medals were received by the Italian Davide Rebellin and Swiss Fabian Cancellara , who took second and third places respectively. Subsequently, however, Rebellin was convicted of doping, and the result he showed was canceled. Kanchelara, therefore, shifted from the third place to the second in the official protocol and was awarded a silver medal, while the fourth-place Russian Alexander Kolobnev was in third place and was awarded a bronze award.
Qualification
| Cycling on 2008 Summer Olympics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Track racing | ||||
| Pursuit | men | women | ||
| Team Pursuit | men | |||
| Sprint | men | women | ||
| Team sprint | men | |||
| Points race | men | women | ||
| Cairin | men | |||
| Madison | men | |||
| Road racing | ||||
| Group race | men | women | ||
| Separate race | men | women | ||
| Mountain bike | ||||
| Cross country | men | women | ||
| Bmx | ||||
| Bmx | men | women | ||
No more than five riders from one National Olympic Committee (NOC) were allowed to participate - the selection was carried out in accordance with the ratings of the International Cycling Union (UCI), performances in ProTour and to a lesser extent in continental tours were taken into account. Each NOC in accordance with its national ratings had the opportunity to fill the quota with athletes from ProTour or one of the continental tours, while the number of Olympic licenses in each round was different: 70 riders were selected from ProTour (the first ten countries received five quotas, five more countries - four quotas each), 38 from the European tour (the first six countries - three quotas each, ten more - two each), 15 from the American tour (first three countries - three quotas each, three more - two each), nine from the Asian round (first country - t ri quotas, three more countries - two each), five from the African tour (the first country - three quotas, the second - two) and three from the Ocean tour (first country - three quotas).
Luxembourg, which was in the top ten of the ProTour and formally entitled to five quotas, actually received only three, since it had only three riders in the ratings of the ProTour. According to the regulations, five riders qualified through the World Championship “B” - as a result, seven participants got Olympic licenses here - two quotas taken from Luxembourg were added here. In addition, countries that claimed only one quota could receive this quota from individual UCI ratings: you could take any rider from the ProTour rating, any rider from the top five of the Asian and African rounds, or from the top twenty of the American round. Five countries took advantage of this right, China, Libya, Costa Rica, Cuba and South Korea - the quotas they received were taken from Sweden, Tunisia, Venezuela, Mexico and Hong Kong, respectively, from the last countries qualified according to national ratings. The total number of allowed riders, thus, was 145, although in the final analysis only 143 people went to the start - two quotas did not fill Portugal and Switzerland.
The four alleged participants dropped out shortly before the start of the competition. Italian Damiano Cunego did not have time to recover from injuries sustained at the Tour de France 2008 , and in the team he was replaced by Vincenzo Nibali [1] . Portuguese Sergio Paulinho , silver medalist of the previous Olympic group race , was in poor physical condition and therefore refused to participate in the race [2] . After the Russian Vladimir Gusev was fired from his professional team for a failed internal doping test, his place in the starting lineup was taken by Denis Menshov , who was originally supposed to participate only in the race with a separate start [3] . Swiss Michael Albazini as a result of a fall damaged his collarbone, but for the remaining time it was no longer possible to replace him with someone else [4] .
Preview
Smog
Shortly before the opening of the Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) expressed concern that many high-risk athletes could be exposed to heavily polluted air . The organizers considered the possibility of transferring disciplines taking place in the open air (including road cycling) in case the level of pollution turns out to be too high [5] . Since competitors consume 20 times more oxygen than ordinary people, severe air pollution could have a dramatic negative effect on their performance, cause athletes to suffer lung damage or irritation, and provoke respiratory diseases such as bronchial asthma [6] .
Independent experts concluded that on August 9, air pollution did indeed exceed the limit set by the World Health Organization [7] [8] [9] . The race, however, was scheduled, and there were no protests from the athletes. 53 riders left the race without reaching the finish line, but this is normal practice for this type of race (for comparison, at the previous Games in Athens, more than half of the participants left the middle of the route). At the end of the competition, some riders complained of severe weather conditions, referring mainly to the intense heat (30 ° C in the plain, 26 ° C in the mountains) and humidity (up to 90%), atypical for Europe, where most ProTour races are held [10] [11] . At the same time, smog was hardly mentioned as a significant problem. As an exception, the German rider Stefan Schumacher , considered among the main contenders for the victory, said in an interview that air pollution was one of the reasons for his departure from the race [12] .
Favorites
Most experts preferred members of the Spanish national team [13] , which included two grand tour winners Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre , highly regarded Alejandro Valverde , winner of the “ Criterium Dofine 2008 ”, the current champion of Spain, and Samuel Sanchez , who won three stages of the last The Vuelts . In addition, among them was the winner of the Tour de France 2008 points classification, three-time world champion Oscar Freire , who could do a good job supporting partners. Valverde stood out among the five as a clear favorite [14] [15] . In addition, the current Olympic champion Paolo Bettini from Italy [14] [16] , the German Stefan Schumacher [17] , and the Australian Cadel Evans were considered candidates for medals. It was noted that close-knit teams from Germany and Luxembourg can show high results [18] . Germany had Schumacher and strong veterans of the grand tours, including experienced Jens Vogt as support, while Luxembourg had the Andy brothers and Frank Schleck along with Kim Kirchen - all three tried on the leader’s yellow jersey at the last “Tour de France” [19 ] [20] .
Route
The race passed along the route of the city route for a 102.6-km bike ride - one of nine temporary sports facilities built specifically for the Beijing Olympics. In total, the men's race was 245.4 km - this is the largest road race in the history of the Olympic Games [21] . The starting line was at the gates of Yongdingmen , the historic building of the old Chinese city wall, in the Chongwen area of northern Beijing. The finish line was located on the Juyunguan mountain pass in the Changping area.
The route ran through eight urban areas of Beijing: Chongwen, Xuanwu , Dongcheng , Xicheng , Chaoyang , Haidian , Changping and Yanqing . The surrounding landscape, described by the British newspaper The Guardian as “visually luxurious” [22] , included such attractions as the Temple of Heaven , the House of the People , Tiananmen Square , the Tibetan Buddhist Temple of Yongheong , parts of the Great Wall of China that appear in sight as you move from central urban Beijing to the outlying rural areas. The Olympic venues, the National Stadium and the Beijing National Swimming Complex (popularly known as the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube) were also visible [22] .
The main difference between the men's race and the women 's race was a double increase in the length of the path achieved by adding seven repeating rings from Mount Badaling , the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, to the Juyunguan Pass [21] . The initial sections of the route were located in central Beijing, so the terrain here was relatively flat. At approximately 78.8 km, upon reaching the Badalin section, riders drove into the first of seven rings with a length of 23.8 km. From this moment, the gradient of the route increased sharply, from the start of the first ring within 12.4 km the riders were supposed to climb 338.2 m. Further from the highest point of the route there was a small deceptive plain section and a descent to the freeway leading to the Juyunguan pass. The last 350 meters of the distance was an extremely difficult climb, laid down so that several riders gathered in the same group by the finish line, from which the final spurt would already have occurred [23] .
For safety reasons, the organizers forbade spectators to stand along the road during the race. This decision has been mixed by the public: many important figures in the field of cycling, including UCI President Pat McQuide and Australian riders Stuart O'Grady and Cadel Evans , have been sharply criticized. According to McQuide and O'Grady, the lack of people on the sidelines deprives the race of the festive atmosphere inherent in most such events, in addition, the ban is unfair to fans [24] . The Australian Cycling Federation Cycling Australia expressed the hope that the organizers will listen to the public opinion and remove some restrictions on the race with a separate start [25] [26] , but in the end this did not happen [27] .
Race
The race began at 11:00 local time ( UTC + 8 ), and already at the third kilometer from the start, Horacio Gallardo (Bolivia) and Patricio Almonasid (Chile) formed a detachment group for a couple. They managed to come off for more than 15 minutes, but in reality no one saw them as a real threat, and as a result, neither one nor the other were able to get to the finish line. None of the teams tried to force things, at the initial stage the average speed remained very low (about 25 km / h), only at the 60th kilometer went ahead an international group of 26 people, which included favorites: Carlos Sastre (Spain), Kim Kirchen (Luxembourg), Jens Vogt (Germany), Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic), Simon Gerrans (Australia). At the beginning of the first 23.8-kilometer ring, Almonasid left Gallardo behind and for almost an hour and a half held the lead all alone - at the top of the second ring he was overtaken by a persecution group in which at that time there were 24 people left.
By the middle of the race, after four out of seven rings, the separation group brought the lead up to six minutes - largely thanks to the efforts of Sastre and Kreuziger. At this moment, the peloton , led mainly by Italians, markedly increased speed in order to catch up with the breakaways. Separation participants Alexander Kuchinsky (Belarus) and Ruslan Podgorny (Ukraine) accelerated sharply and by the beginning of the fifth ring, the two of them were able to get ahead of the Sastre group and the main group by 2 minutes 45 seconds. The Sastre group was absorbed by the main group 60 kilometers before the finish line, while only Kuchinsky and Podgorny remained ahead. By the end of the fifth ring, Marcus Jungqvist (Sweden), Rigoberto Uran (Colombia) and Johan van Summeren (Belgium) attacked from the peloton, overtaking the Belarusians and Ukrainians.
The next attack, later called by the journalists “impudent” [14] and “bold” [10] , occurred at the end of the sixth ring - a little-known racer Christian Pfannberger (Austria) stood out from the peloton and went ahead. His maximum lead did not exceed a minute, but he managed to maintain leadership for a long time, until the hollow of the last seventh ring 20 kilometers to the finish line. For five minutes, the attacks continued uninterruptedly, as a result of which about twenty riders separated into the leading group: Cadel Evans (Australia), Levi Lifefimer (USA), Santiago Botero (Colombia) and Jerome Pinault (France) were present here, while the main Candidates for the victory of Alejandro Valverde (Spain) and Paolo Bettini (Italy) remained in the main group so far [28] . Five riders - Samuel Sanchez (Spain), Michael Rogers (Australia), David Rebellin (Italy), Andi Schleck (Luxembourg) and Alexander Kolobnev (Russia) - separated from the leading group, rushing to the finish line, which was largely facilitated by Schleck's ongoing attacks. At the top of the Badalin mountain pass, 12.7 km to the finish line, Sanchez, Rebellin and Schleck had an advantage of 10 seconds over Kolobnev and Rogers and 26 seconds over the Evans group. Bettini with Valverde, taking Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) with them, attacked from the peloton and caught Evans group to the top of the climb [29] . Ten kilometers to the finish line, the top three broke away from the two pursuers for 15 seconds [14] .
When there were five kilometers to the end, Kanchelara attacked from the Evans group and caught up with Kolobnev and Rogers - the three of them managed to catch up with the top three, this happened about a kilometer before the finish. Thus, six racers took part in the final sprint. The first finish line crossed Sanchez, ahead of the nearest pursuer by almost the length of the bike. The second was Rebellin, the third with a clearance of two wheels finished Cancellara, the fourth - Kolobnev, the fifth - Schleck, the sixth - Rogers. Racers covered the distance in 6 hours 23 minutes 49 seconds, showing an average speed of 38.36 km / h [21] .
Doping Scandal
According to an IOC report released in April 2009, the doping tests of six athletes at the Beijing Olympic Games were positive, but the names of violators and sports disciplines have not yet been named. Later reports appeared that two cyclists were suspected of using prohibited substances, including one medalist [30] . The Italian Olympic Committee , without giving a name, confirmed the presence of one of the cyclists, participants in the men's group race, a continuous activator of erythropoietin receptors (CERA, a type of third-generation erythropoietin ) in the sample. The next day, April 29, the committee announced that this rider was David Rebellin. Agent Rebellina made a request to open an additional sample “B” [31] . On July 9, information about positive doping tests was officially confirmed, Rebellin and German racer Stefan Schumacher were found guilty of using illegal substances. Schumacher at that time was already serving a sentence for a failed dope test at the Tour de France 2008 , therefore, due to a new violation, the period of his disqualification was extended, while Rebellina's decision by the IOC and UCI ordered the silver medal to be returned [32] [33] .
On November 27, at the request of the Italian Olympic Committee, Rebellin returned the medal [34] . According to UCI regulations, Kanchelara and Kolobnev, who took third and fourth places, moved to the second and third positions in the official protocol, respectively, although they did not immediately receive the relying medals [35] . On December 18, 2010, Cancellara received a silver medal taken from Rebellin at a ceremony in his hometown of Ittigen in Switzerland. Later, Cancellara’s bronze medal was handed over to Kolobnev [36] [37] .
Rebellin through the Court of Arbitration for Sport tried to appeal the decision to exclude him from the list of winners, but in July 2010 the protest was rejected [38] .
Cases of doping by cyclists at the Beijing Olympics, coupled with similar doping scandals at the Tour de France a few months earlier, led to a sharp deterioration in the reputation of cycling in the International Olympic Committee. IOC Vice President Thomas Bach said that the presence of men's road cycling in the program of the Olympic Games should be reviewed and that confidence in the whole sport is undermined. At the same time, he clarified that no specific repressive measures regarding cycling have yet been envisaged. UCI President Pat McQuide reacted sharply to this statement: “Why should all cyclists suffer from a pair of black sheep?” [39] .
Final Results
143 racers went to the start, but not all of them were specialists in one-day races and were determined to get to the finish line - many worked primarily to support the leaders of their national teams, who had the best climbing qualities, sought to bring them to the most advantageous in the lowland sections position [40] . Some participants cherished themselves before the upcoming race with a separate start . In addition, there was a rule in the final rings - if a leader overtakes a rider in a circle, the latter is immediately removed from the race [41] .
|
|
- Explanation of reasons for retirement
- ↑ Fatigue. [42]
- ↑ Stomach problems. [43]
- ↑ Headache. [25]
- ↑ Worked for the team. [44]
- ↑ Fatigue is hot. [45]
- ↑ Preparing for cutting. [46]
- ↑ Problems with breathing. [47]
- ↑ Fatigue and preparation for cutting. [48]
- ↑ Fatigue is hot. [48]
- ↑ Faced with Mikholevich. [49]
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Left behind in a circle. [41]
- ↑ Problems with breathing. [fifty]
- ↑ Faced Spilak. [49]
- ↑ Preparing for cutting. [49]
- ↑ Fatigue. [51]
Notes
- ↑ Cunego forfait pour Pékin (Fr.) (link unavailable) . Sport.fr (2 août 2008). Date of treatment June 25, 2015. Archived June 26, 2015.
- ↑ Paulinho forfait (Fr.) . Eurosport (4 août 2008). Date of treatment June 25, 2015.
- ↑ Sergey Butov. In the Olympic cutting Gusev will replace Menshov . Sport Express (August 6, 2008). Date of treatment June 25, 2015.
- ↑ Albasini forfait (Fr.) . Eurosport (5 août 2008). Date of treatment June 25, 2015.
- ↑ Bellis prepares for Beijing start . BBC News (August 6, 2008). Date of treatment June 17, 2015.
- ↑ Beijing pollution: Facts and figures . BBC News (August 8, 2008). Date of treatment August 9, 2008.
- ↑ Air quality guidelines - global update 2005 (pg. 12) (English) (PDF). World Health Organization (WHO). Date of treatment June 17, 2015.
- ↑ In pictures: Beijing pollution-watch (English) , BBC News (August 6, 2008). Date of treatment June 17, 2015.
- ↑ Air Pollution in Beijing . The Wall Street Journal . Date of treatment June 17, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 Sanchez clinches road race gold . BBC Sport (August 9, 2008). Date of treatment June 17, 2015.
- ↑ Cooke grabs first GB gold medal . BBC Sport (10 August 2008). - "(...) with heavy rain making the road treacherous in places.". Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
- ↑ Deborah Charles. Spain's Sanchez wins men's road race . Reuters (August 9, 2008). Date of treatment June 17, 2015.
- ↑ JO: l'armada cycliste espagnole est sûre de sa force (Fr.) (link unavailable) . Le Point.fr (5 août 2008). Date of treatment June 27, 2015. Archived June 30, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Sanchez of Spain wins Olympic road gold . Agence France-Presse (August 9, 2008). Date of treatment June 17, 2015.
- ↑ Simon Brotherton. Why 250km cycle route will favor Valverde . BBC Sport (August 8, 2008). - "Alejandro Valverde is the name that keeps cropping up in previews ahead of the men's Olympic Road Race." Date of treatment June 17, 2015.
- ↑ Olympic road race preview . USA Cycling (August 8, 2008). Date of treatment June 17, 2015.
- ↑ Francois Thomazeau. Olympics - Cyclists wilt as Beijing competitors feel the heat . Reuters (August 9, 2008). Date of treatment June 17, 2015.
- ↑ Fred Dreier. The 2008 Olympics - The Battle of Beijing . VeloNews (August 7, 2008). Date of treatment June 17, 2015. Archived on August 12, 2008.
- ↑ Tour de France Roll of Honor Result after Stage 9 (inaccessible link) . Tour de France (13 July 2008). Date of treatment June 17, 2015. Archived July 11, 2008.
- ↑ Tour de France Roll of Honor Result after Stage 15 (inaccessible link) . Tour de France (July 20, 2008). Date of treatment June 19, 2015. Archived July 11, 2008.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Sanchez outsprints Rebellin for gold . Netvangelism Ministry Production (12 August 2008). Date of treatment June 27, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 William Fotherington. Olympics: Sanchez clinches road race gold for Spain . The Guardian (August 9, 2008). Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
- ↑ Samuel Sanchez gagne l'épreuve sur route aux Jeux Olympiques à Pékin (French) . velowire.com. Date of treatment June 27, 2015.
- ↑ UCI head regrets lack of spectators at road race (inaccessible link) . AOL (13 August 2008). Date of treatment June 19, 2015. Archived December 22, 2008.
- ↑ 1 2 Mat Mackay. Cycling race 'was silent murder' (English) . Associated Press (10 August 2008). Date of treatment June 20, 2015. Archived July 11, 2012.
- ↑ Ben English. 'Ghost course' haunts cyclists Stuart O'Grady and Cadel Evans (inaccessible link) . The Australian (August 10, 2008). Date of treatment June 19, 2015. Archived May 27, 2012.
- ↑ Leo Schlink. China ignores pleas for better access to the cycling route . FOX Sports (August 13, 2008). Date of treatment June 19, 2015.
- ↑ Inside Cycling, with John Wilcockson - The pros finally embrace Olympic cycling . VeloNews.com. Date of treatment June 19, 2015.
- ↑ Team Canada's Michael Barry reports on his Olympic road race. (eng.) . VeloNews.com. Date of treatment June 17, 2015. Archived on August 18, 2008.
- ↑ Simon Hart. Six Beijing athletes test positive for CERA . The Daily Telegraph (April 28, 2009). Date of treatment June 27, 2015.
- ↑ Meadows, Mark . Doping-Silver medallist Rebellin failed Beijing test (English) (April 29, 2009). Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
- ↑ International Olympic Committee. IOC Executive Board decision regarding Davide Rebellin (English) (PDF). www.olympic.org (November 2009). Date of treatment June 19, 2015.
- ↑ Rebellin stripped of Olympic silver after EPO positive . Cycling Weekly (November 17, 2009). Date of treatment June 19, 2015.
- ↑ Gregor Brown. Rebellin returns Olympic silver medal, repays winnings . Cycling News (November 27, 2009). Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
- ↑ Cyclingnews.com. Kolobnev still waiting for Olympic bronze . Cyclingnews (January 21, 2010). Date of treatment June 19, 2015.
- ↑ Cycling News. Cancellara receives silver medal from Beijing Olympic road race . Cyclingnews (December 18, 2010). Date of treatment June 19, 2015.
- ↑ David Rebellin was left without silver in Beijing, Kolobnev received bronze . Sport Express (November 17, 2009). Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
- ↑ CAS rejects Davide Rebellin's appeal on doping positive in Beijing . VeloNation Press (July 30, 2010). Date of treatment June 19, 2015.
- ↑ Associated Press. Doping scandals cloud cycling's future in Olympics . ESPN (October 25, 2008). Date of treatment June 19, 2015.
- ↑ Brice Jones. Ups and downs . Cycling News. Date of treatment June 19, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 Cycling - Men's Road Race Final Results . Cycling News (August 9, 2008). Date of treatment June 19, 2015.
- ↑ Cathy Mehl . contador helps win gold for spain ( Astana ) , Astana Cycling Team (August 9, 2008). Archived on August 22, 2008. Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
- ↑ Juegos Olímpicos de Pekín 2008 en MARCA.com . MARCA.COM (August 8, 2008). Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
- ↑ Vladimir Efimkin: “I worked for the team,” sports.ru (August 9, 2008). Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
- ↑ Michael C. Lewis. Former Rowland Hall student finishes 11th in Olympic race . The Salt Lake Tribune (August 9, 2008). Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
- ↑ Slipstream Sports admin (anon). Olympic road race: Vande Velde 17th . Slipstream Sports (August 9, 2008). Date of treatment June 20, 2015. Archived on April 8, 2016.
- ↑ Greg Bishop. Humidity Is the Problem in a Race of Attrition . New York Times (August 9, 2008). - "(...) the racers found the real nightmare not in the pollution, but in the humidity and heat.". Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 Jeremy Whittle. Spanish rider claims men's road race . London: The Times (August 9, 2008). Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Gregor Brown & Greg Johnson. August 9: Men's Road Race, Complete live report . Cycling News (August 9, 2008). Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
- ↑ Erik Matuszewski. China Wins Two Gold Medals to Open Olympics; US Fencers Sweep Bloomberg.com (August 10, 2008). Date of treatment June 20, 2015. Archived on May 25, 2010.
- ↑ Jane Marshall. Road race a hill too far for Dean . Fairfax Media (10 August 2008). Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
Links
- Results on the official website of the Games (English) (Chinese) (French)