THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
France's Absalon takes cross-country gold
It took longer than anyone associated with French cycling would have liked. But after being shut out of the bike-racing winner’s circle for the first 14 days of the 2004 Olympic Games, France finally scored the big one with Julien Absalon taking a convincing cross-country victory on Saturday.
The 24-year-old broke clear with a group of six early in the race, then slowly applied pressure until the lead was his alone. Behind Absalon, Dutchman Bart Brentjens and Spaniard Jose Antonio Hermida swapped the silver-medal position back and forth before Hermida finally shed the 1996 gold medalist on the last of seven laps around the 5.3km course. At the finish of the 43.3km race, Absalon crossed first, in 2:15:02, with Hermida next, at 1:00, and then Brentjens, at 2:03.
“It’s a dream that I had for a year,” said Absalon, who opted not to defend his 2003 World Cup title when he skipped the two rounds in Canada this summer, instead staying home to focus on Athens. “I prepared very hard, because this was my sole goal for the year.”
Behind Absalon it was a hard day for the field of 50. Medal hopeful Ryder Hesjedal didn’t even finish the first full lap, before a rear flat put him out of the race. The Canadian was one of a handful of riders caught up in the melee as the field tried to squeeze into the opening off-camber turn during the start loop.
“It wasn’t the ideal way to start the race, 50 guys fighting for one corner,” said the Subaru-Gary Fisher pro. “I got stuck behind a few people and was off the bike a few times before the first climb.”
Hesjedal wasn’t alone in getting gapped. Swiss riders Christoph Sauser and Thomas Frischknecht, and American Todd Wells also fell off the pace in the start-loop bottleneck. Wells (GT-Hyundai) and Frischknecht (Swisspower) chose to ride their own pace, while Hesjedal went full gas trying to make up ground.
“I had to switch to a more aggressive mode,” explained Hesjedal. “You’ve got to let it go and try to keep contact if you want a medal. But I hit a rock on the big downhill and got shot through the tape.”
The tumble left the 2003 world’s silver medalist with a rear flat, and after fixing it once, he rolled off the course in the main stadium.
“Once the tubeless [sealant] gets everywhere there’s not much you can do,” he said. “As soon as I put pressure on it, the tire just rolled off the rim.”
Sauser would also suffer an early exit. The current World Cup leader came out of the start loop in 20th and had clawed all the way back to seventh by the end of the second lap. But then his chain snapped, ending his day.
“I was gaining on the leaders,” the Siemens-Cannondale rider said. “Then it was over.”
Back at the front Absalon, Brentjens (T-Mobile) and Italy’s Marco Bui would cross the start/finish line together at the end of lap one. And it wasn’t long before Hermida (Merida-Multivan) and Frenchman Jean-Christophe Peraud had bridged across. Sauser, fellow Swiss Ralph Naef (Merida-Multivan), Belgian Roel Paulissen (Siemens-Cannondale) and defending Olympic champ Miguel Martinez (Commencal) were leading the main chase, 18 seconds back.
As for the North Americans, Canadian Seamus McGrath had the best opener, sitting 12th. American Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski was next in 20th, with Wells way back in 30th.
“I had a good start and was up there for a little while,” said Horgan-Kobelski (RLX Ralph Lauren), who was 13th coming out of the start loop. “But I paid for it. The middle laps, three and four, were the hardest. I couldn’t believe we still had an hour to go out there. The heat and speed were amazing.”
Horgan-Kobelski would settle into a more reasonable pace from there, coming home in 21st, at 10:26. Wells took the moderate approach the whole way, rising from 30th to 19th, at 9:35, between the first and final lap.
“On the first lap I saw the Chinese guy go flying by me and I was like ‘Shit, he was the last guy called up,’” Wells said. “But the race went so fast. I had to go a little easier.” Still it was a marked improvement for the Americans. The best U.S. men's finish in Sydney was Tinker Juarez's 30th place. Travis Brown 32nd.
“We’re definitely happy with that,” said USA Cycling mountain bike coach Matt Cramer. “It gives us something to build on for Beijing.”
McGrath would fare the best of the four North Americans, climbing to ninth, at 5:31. But that 2000-tying effort (In Sydney Geoff Kabush was a Canadian-best ninth as well) wasn’t something McGrath was all that impressed with.
“I guess it looks okay on paper,” said the Haro-adidas rider. “But I was definitely aiming higher. I thought I was capable of top five. It just wasn’t there.”
It certainly was there for Absalon. After seeing the lead group expand to six when Martinez made the cross right before the end of lap three, Absalon went to the front and started doling out pain.
Martinez would fight gamely to defend his title. He was the fastest rider on the second and third laps. But after launching an attack down the left side of the finish shoot while the others were taking drinks at the start of lap four, he cracked hard on lap five (His 21:01 lap time was 29th). On the next go round Little Mig had dropped to ninth, and after rolling slowly through the finish line at the end of lap five, he simply rode off the course and quit.
“My legs were just not good,” he said. “When I was one minute down that was okay, but when it got to two minutes that was it.”
Martinez would spend the remainder of his day at the base of Mount Parnitha, rooting for Absalon. He certainly wasn’t alone there. Sixty-nine members of the Bianchi-Agos rider’s fan club had made the trip to Athens, and had begun massing around the medal podium by the end of lap five. It seemed they knew that was going to be the place to be at the race’s finish.
With the race an hour and a half old, Absalon made his race-winning attack on the fifth lap’s first climb. None of the gravelly course’s ascents were particularly long, but with two hike-a-bikes plus two other sharp grinders, it was by no means an easy day.
In a blink the Frenchman had put 15 seconds into Hermida and Brentjens, by then the only two riders who had managed to keep Absalon in sight. The margin would grow steadily from there. It was 0:31 over Brentjens with two laps to go, while Hermida had lost a minute after crashing during lap five.
It was a harrowing moment for the Spaniard, who crashed hard in Sydney and finished fourth.
“It happened in 2000 and I lose a lot of positions,” said Hermida, his voice crackling and tears welling up in his eyes. “Today I think I cannot let that happen again. I’m not waiting for Beijing.”
The motivational memory worked wonders for Hermida, and he was back with Brentjens when the last-lap bell was rung. With adrenaline pumping, the Spaniard would drop Brentjens, posting the fastest final lap to take silver.
“In the beginning I could follow and make my own race,” said the 35-year-old Brentjens, adding that he’ll keep riding at least two more years. “But I was not strong enough to follow these guys in the climbs at the end. The best man won the race today, that is for sure.”
Indeed, there was nothing fluky about Absalon’s triumph. Since scoring back-to-back world U23 cross-country championships in 2001 and 2002, the quiet kid from northeast France has been tabbed for greatness. On Saturday he delivered on the promise, giving all of France something to be proud of.
At the finish, Absalon grabbed a French flag from the crowd, then pointed skyward as he crossed the line. He was pointing to his father, who passed away three years ago.
“He was my biggest fan,” the gold-medal winner said. “And he is where I got all my strength from.”
Dad must have been pretty fast, too.Olympic men's cross-country race - Saturday, August 28, 2004
1. Julien Absalon (F), 2:15:02
2. Jose Antonio Hermida (Sp), at 01:00
3. Bart Brentjens (Ned), at 02:03
4. Roel Paulissen (B), at 03:08
5. Liam Killeen (GB), at 03:30
6. Ralph Naef (Swi), at 04:13
7. Thomas Frischknecht (Swi), at 04:37
8. Manuel Fumic (G), at 05:27
9. Seamus McGrath (Can), at 05:31
10. Marco Bui (I), at 05:43
11. Jean Christophe Peraud (F), at 05:57
12. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe), at 06:21
13. Bas Peters (Ned), at 06:42
14. Marek Galinski (Pol), at 07:12
15. Christoph Soukup (Aut), at 07:48
16. Ivan Alvarez (Sp), at 08:06
17. Oli Beckingsale (GB), at 08:13
18. Peter Riis Andersen (Den), at 09:01
19. Todd Wells (USA), at 09:35
20. Carsten Bresser (G), at 10:07
21. Jeremy Horgan Kobelski (USA), at 10:26
22. Radim Korinek (Cze), at 10:26
23. Sidney Taberlay (Aus), at 11:14
24. Marcin Karczynski (Pol), at 11:39
25. Thijs Al (Ned), at 12:11
26. Jose Adrian Bonilla Bonilla (CRC), at 12:11
27. Yury Trofimov (Rus), at 12:44
28. Kashi Leuchs (NZ), at 13:18
29. Mannie Heymans (Nam), at 13:26
30. Robin Seymour (Irl), at 13:30
31. Joshua Fleming (Aus), at 14:52
32. Michael Weiss (A), at 15:12
33. Edvandro Souza Cruz (Bra), at 15:33
34. Lubos Kondis (Slo), at 16:13
35. Yader Zoli (I), at 16:37
36. Sergii Rysenko (Ukr), at 18:08
37. Christian Poulsen (Den), at 1
38. Cristobal Silva (Chi), at 1
39. Sigvard Kukk (Est), at 2
40. Zsolt Vinczeffy (Hun), at 2
41. Yongbiao Zhu (Chn), at 2
42. Emmanouil Kotoulas (Gre), at 3
43. Carlos Franco Gennero (Arg), at 3
Abandoned
Miguel Martinez (F)
Ovidiu Tudor Oprea (Rom)
Kenji Takeya (Jps)
Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze)
Lado Fumic (G)
Christoph Sauser (Swi)
Ryder Hesjedal (Can)
