Beijing 2008 - Cancellara powers to gold

Eurosport - Wed, 13 Aug 17:01:00 2008

Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara powered his way to his second Olympic medal in four days, beating Sweden's Gustav Larsson to take the gold in the men's time trial.

CYCLING 2008 Beijing Olympics Fabian Cancellara - 0

American Levi Leipheimer finished more than a minute behind Cancellara for the bronze in the 47.3 km race against the clock.

Cancellara, who surprised himself with the bronze in the men's road race under sweltering conditions on Saturday, pumped his arm as he crossed the finish line. He then staggered off his bicycle and collapsed along some barriers while trainers poured water over him.

"One hour and two minutes is a really, really tough race," 27-year-old Cancellara, a two-time world champion in individual time trial, said.

"Now is the moment to enjoy and to be happy and proud that I won."

In the first half of the race, the powerful Swiss time trial specialist kept switching leads with Spain's Alberto Contador. But Contador dropped off in the final lap and finished fourth.

Cancellara said he reached speeds up to about 50 mph on the downhill sections, but it was the long, tough uphill that taxed most of the riders.

Leipheimer, whose Astana team was barred from the Tour de France because of doping scandals that took place before he joined the team, said it was his life-long dream to win an Olympic medal.

"In the situation I was in, not being able to do the Tour de France, I was really motivated," he said.

"I worked very hard for this and it paid off. I pictured myself on the top step - but this is brilliant."

In the time trial the men completed two laps of a hilly circuit between two sections of the Great Wall of China.

Factbox: Fabian Cancellara

Age: 27 (date of birth: Mar 18, 1981)

Place of birth: Wohlen, Switzerland

Career achievements:

Gold medallist, 2007 World Championships, individual time trial

Gold medallist, 2006 World Championships, individual time trial

Bronze medallist, 2005 World Championships, individual time trial

Winner, Milano - San Remo 2008, road race

Winner, Tirreno - Adriatico 2008, road race

Winner, Paris - Roubaix 2006, road race

Stage winner, Tour de France 2007, prologue and stage three

Stage winner, Tour de France 2004, prologue

Previous Olympic result:

Tenth place, Olympic Games 2004, individual time trial

Reuters

Comment 1 - 10 of 10

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  1. well done,superman,there are many sexy nude babes on (N­ A T U R I S T M E E T*com )are your fans, I admire you.

    From single, on Fri 15 Aug 4:43PM
  2. Cancellara is surely one of the most exciting riders of­ recent times. He's so full of surprises you wonder­ what his next trick will be. After all his sacrifices­ for the winning team and individual in the TdF,(as well­ as providing us fans with some fabulous memories),it­ was great to see this confident but modest man in such­ dominating form. He is a credit to his country ,to our­ sport and an inspiration to the next generation of­ riders. And he's talking about doing the pursuit!­ Watch out Bradley he's behind you! John­ Fisher,London

    From johnfisher497, on Fri 15 Aug 7:26AM
  3. martynikin you are a chump. FC bridged a massive gap in­ the road race on his standard bike to get himslf into­ bronze position. He did that because he is the­ strongest rider in the peloton. He has just won this­ Gold because he is the strongest rider in Beijing.­ Everyone of the TT rider has aero assistanve from­ helmets, wheels, and frames so it is a level playing­ field. Let me guess, you still ride a steel mercian and­ a brooks saddle because it's "real".­ Either that or you don't ride. Chump.

    From chris.prior2, on Thu 14 Aug 12:35PM
  4. Well deserved victory. Notjust for the time taken back­ in the last 6K but for missing out on the 2 TTs in the­ tour because of work done for others

    From Alan G, on Thu 14 Aug 10:35AM
  5. Happy with this one perhaps in london you will get to­ carry the flag as rog will have chucked it

    From iancampbell11, on Wed 13 Aug 11:28PM
  6. congratulations cancellara. such a deserving rider­ after his performances in the tour this year (making­ mincemeat of the Massif Central for example) and a just­ reward for another season of aggresive riding. Now­ lets see Cavendish reproduce his Tour form on the track

    From Nick C, on Wed 13 Aug 9:45PM
  7. Its tthe same for all of them. What difference does it­ make if the bikes have disc wheels are super light­ weight have TT bars on them. Its still a bike that­ needs someone to pedal it. You might as well say F1­ cars should look like Ford Mondeos or make Moto GP­ bikes have no fairings and such.

    From wayne, on Wed 13 Aug 8:44PM
  8. can i say well done---im afraid not. obviously a great­ rider but modern racing --especially time trialling is­ not fair to all riders. in a time trial its man and­ bike against clock---get rid of radio connections and­ modern aero bikes and silly hatsetc.
    a standard road­ bike built with carbon is ok ,subject to weight­ limits,---first good riders out have a disadvantage­ .

    look at at boardman v merck in the one hour when ­ a standard bike was used boardman could only just beat­ merckx but even that was unfair because or boardmans­ hat PLUS HIS WIFE ON THE SIDELINES.etc

    i repeat make­ cycling pure like it should be and dont soften it to­ the level of all other sports--except pure physical­ sports with NO AIDS.
    there is nothing wrong with round­ or thereabouts, tubes , no discs etc --if all are using­ them where is the advantage? they look a mess.
    lets­ get back to real cycling made pure, modern equipment is­ great , wheels have come forward along with brakes­ pedals without those ghastly clips, and gear changers­ in with brake levers---ALL GREAT.
    so the message is get­ rid of someone in yer ear saying yer great rival is 6­ seconds in front of yer and make cycling pure and the­ hardest sport of all by far unlike the pansies in some­ other sports claiming to be great.

    From xyz, on Wed 13 Aug 7:37PM
  9. Cancellara is a class act. A team player, a worker, a­ nice guy and a Champion.

    From Tim, on Wed 13 Aug 3:23PM
  10. well done ,superman ,you deserve the­ gold...congratulations

    From littlegirlsport, on Wed 13 Aug 12:18PM
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