Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's cross-country
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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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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.