(31 July 1996; Day 12)
In a tactical race on a forgiving course, Pascal RICHARD of Switzerland won the gold medal in the men's cycling road race despite being chased by some of the biggest names in cycling.
Part of a three-man breakout, RICHARD, Rolf SORENSEN (DEN) and Maximilian SCIANDRI (GBR) pulled away from the pack in the 15th of 17 laps.
"I think it was an easy course. The race was hard. A lot of times the organizers try to make the course so hard it tears apart the riders. Instead, the riders in this race tore apart each other," said fourth-place finisher Frankie ANDREU of the United States.
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Robert Zmelik of the Czech Republic(C) sprints during heat 3 of the Olympic men's decathlon 100m, 31 July. Zmelik won the heat with a time of 10.83. (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY) AFP-IOPP/Eric FEFERBERG |
When the three broke away, a group that included racing's elite such as Lance ARMSTRONG (USA), Miguel INDURAIN (ESP) and Johann MUSEEUW (BEL) gave chase. However, only ANDREU had the legs to make a serious bid to close the gap. Ostensibly entered to help teammate and race favorite ARMSTRONG, ANDREU ended up leading the attack in trying to reach the leader group.
"When SORENSEN and SCIANDRI got away, I said to Lance, do you want to bridge? And he said, 'I'm kind of dead'. That is when I went." said ANDREU.
With his teammate's blessing, ANDREU tore out after the leader group, keeping them within a 20 second margin. Riding alone between the leader group and the tiring chase group, ANDREU had no one to draft behind.
"I was dying. It is hard by yourself. Those last 2 kilometers were forever. I wasn't pedaling the bike, I was more like pumping the bike to get that hill. My heart rate was pegged. I was hitting 184 on that hill in the back," said ANDREU.
With little threat from behind, each of the three members of the breakaway group attempted his own tactical move to take advantage of the rapidly tiring threesome.
SCIANDRI attacked with 700 or 800 meters to go but was unable to outleg SORENSEN, who was edged by the smallest of margins by RICHARD. The 32-year-old Swiss rider has 60 victories in his pro career. He was fifth in the world championship in 1995 held in Colombia.
"We didn't start a war against each other until the last 2 kilometers," said SORENSEN.
This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Nancy Smith.
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