While Samuel Sanchez (left) revels in the gold medal of the Olympics road cycling race Saturday, the face of bronze medalist Fabian Cancellara (right) shows the aftermath of his stunning 5 kilometer full-gas rush to the finish.

(Photo Reuters)

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I didn’t fully appreciate Fabian Cancellara’s bronze medal in the Olympics men’s road race on Saturday until I watched the video of his stunning ride in the final 5 kilometers of the 245 kilometer race.

Twas remarkable to watch, with the world time trial champ reeling in two small groups of breakaway riders and taking back about 21 seconds of time deficit in less than 3 1/2 minutes over 4 kilometers to set up the final six-man sprint to the finish in the final kilometer.

Folks, Cancellara’s averaged almost 70 kilometers per hour, or in U.S. lingo, about 44 miles per hour, en route to the final kilometer. Yes, it was downhill until the last kilometer, but not an extreme downhill.

The figures are legit, because I gave the race video from nbcolympics.com the Zapruder Film Treatment. Seriously. I’ve watched it dozens of times. I know. I’m sick. But it’s one of the most extraordinary individual efforts I’ve seen in more than 30 years covering sports.

Cancellara’s mad charge to bronze breaks down like this …

– At the 6:23:09 mark of NBC’s full-race video, the leading group of three riders - Spain’s Samuel Sanchez, Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck and Italian Davide Rebellin - cross the second of two stripes across the road, just before the 5km to go sign.

– At 6:23:20, the video switches to the two chasers - Aussie Michael Rogers and Russian Alexandr Kolobnev - just past that point.

– At 6:23:30, Cancellara takes off and crosses that second line described above, while Levi Leipheimer of the U.S. waves at others in their group in an apparent attempt to get them to chase.

– For the next 2 minutes, the race coverage alternates between images of the first two groups, with the gap between them down to 8 seconds but with no sign of Cancellara until …

– 6:25.26, when the camera swings abruptly off the two riders and back down the road, finally showing Cancellara at full gas. (Cyclingnews.com described him as firing “out of nowhere” in its live play-by-play.)

– At 6:25.31, the camera swings back to Rogers and Kolobnev as the moto driver accelerates so the cameraman can shoot video of the catch.

– 6:25:33-35, Kolobnev passes Rogers to take a pull..

– At 6:25:37, Cancellara, still at full gas, comes into the picture.

– At 6:25:53, Cancellara catches two chasers, stops pedaling and coasts behind Rogers. He has bridged a gap of about 10 seconds in a little less than 3 kilometers and in 2 minutes 23 seconds.

– At 6:26.00, after a rest break of 7 seconds, Cancellara hammers to the front in pursuit of the three leading riders, who are within sight, just up the road. The video shows 2 kilometers to go as they pass the 2 K to go sign on the right side of the road.

– At 6:26:33, Cancellara pulls aside and allows Kolobnev through to take a pull.

– At 6:26:43, Cancellara grabs his water bottle for a squirt on his head and a sip before tossing it aside.

– At 6:26:46, Kolobnev pulls to the side and Cancellara again takes the lead.

– At 6:26:49, the three leaders go under the 1 kilometer to go banner.

– At 6:26.52, Cancellara leads Kolobnev and Rogers under the 1K to go banner. Cancellara has covered about 4 K in around about 3 minutes 22 seconds, 71.3 kilometers per hour.

– At 6:26:58, Cancellara has had enough of the wheel suckers, peels off and motions Kolobnev and Rogers through.

– At 6:27:10, the chase group makes contact with the three leaders in the toll booth leading to the finishing line. Cancellara is riding sixth wheel and taking a much needed breather until the final surge to the line.

When Kolobnev turns on the gas with 300 meters to go, Cancellara tucks in behind the wheel of Sanchez. As Sanchez cuts to the right around Kolobnev, Cancellara sprints to the left, passing Schleck and then Kolobnev to finish third, behind Sanchez and Rebellin.

Twas a stunning performance, considering where Cancellara was with 5 kilometers to go, the power he displayed in catching the leaders, and the smarts he showed in conserving for the final surge as well as following the right wheel — Sanchez’s — en route to the finishing line.

You can check it out yourself on the full-race video at nbcolympics.com. Slide the scroll button to the 6:23:00 mark (just above the space between the words “Enhanced Player”) to start the footage of what I’ve described.

And if you want to start watching at the final climb, it starts at around about 5:58:00.

Oh, and one more thing … Cancellara was the only cyclist from Switzerland in the race, which means he had no support riders, no one to keep him out of the wind, and no one to fetch water bottles and snacks from the team car. Dude did this all on his own!

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