Welp, turns out the pre-race Olympics cycling buzz about Spain was spot-on, ‘cept for the predicted winner.

The Spanish team boasted favourite Alejandro Valverde, the past two Tour de France winners in Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre and recent TdF green jersey winner Oscar Freire, but the most unheralded rider on the five-man team, Samuel Sanchez, emerged as the strong man of the day, winning the gold medal in the 245 kilometer race of attrition in Beijing.

Sanchez’s winning time was 6 hours, 23 minutes, 49 seconds for an average speed of 38.362 kilometers per hour. A total of 53 riders dropped out because of the brutal conditions — heat, humidity and pollution — among them Contador, Freire, Germany’s Stefan Schumacher and Big Jens Voight, Australia’s Stuart O’Grady and Americans David Zabriskie and Jason McCartney.

Zabriskie and McCartney burned themselves out pulling the peloton back to the 25-man split that had gotten away en route to the beastly finishing circuit with its 6-mile-plus climb that repeated seven times. Sastre was in that 25-man group pursuing two early breakaway riders, so Spain didn’t have to do any of the work at the front of the peloton pulling back the group. The U.S. did because it missed the break completely.

The field eventually regrouped on the circuits, with a series of attacks failing before the Spanish team took control on the second last circuit to whittle down the field. On the final climb, the crowd was reduced to the select favourites, including Valverde, Aussie Cadel Evans and Americans Levi Leipheimer and Christian Vande Velde. Leipheimer was on Evans’ wheel when young Luxembourger Andy Schleck broke free, pulling Sanchez, Italian Davide Rebellin, Aussie Michael Rogers and Russian Alexandr Kolobnev along with him.
Schleck, Sanchez and Rebellin pulled away from Rogers and Kolobnev, who continued to chase unti, remarkably, world time trial champ Fabian Cancellara joined them, having bridged the gap alone from the chase group of favourites. With Cancellara pulling the train, Rogers and Kolobnev caught Schleck, Sanchez and Rebellin with a kilometer to go for a six-man race to the finishing line.

Kolobnev went first in the finishing sprint, but Sanchez, Rebellin and Cancellara powered passed en route to the gold, silver and bronze, in that order. Kolobnev ended up fourth, with Schleck fifth and Rogers sixth.

Colombian Santiago Botero and Belgian Mario Aerts led in the next group, followed by Canadian Michael Berry, Robert Gesink of the Netherlands to round out the top 10. Levi Leipheimer was the top U.S. finishers in 11th.

Other notables in the top 20: Valverde, 13th; Evans, 15th; American Christian Vande Velde, 17th; Italian Paolo Bettini, 18th.

Defending Tour of Missouri winner Big George Hincapie ended up 40th in his fifth, and final, Olympics. My pick to win, Kim Kirchen of Luxembour, placed 46th, 2:51 behind the winner.

The last finisher was Tour of Mo. stage winner Luciano Pagliarini, the Brazilian sprinter who toughed it out and finished 44:38 behind Sanchez.

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