Beijing Olympics - Cycling Event Race Reports
Beijing, August 2008
Reports: Eddie Allen, Phil Ingham & Larry Hickmott
Photography: Phil O'Connor
| BMX Reports |
Men's & Women's BMX
Finals: Contrasting fortunes for the two world champions: whilst Maris Strombergs of Latvia cruised through the day unbeaten to win the first ever Men's Olympic BMX title, GB's Shanaze Reade had to endure crashes and the agony of being denied a medal following a final corner clash with eventual winner Anne-Caroline Chausson of France Report & Images
Qualification: Day 1 of the BMX competition Report & Images - Training Day Images
Track Racing Reports
Event Reports
Men's Team Sprint: The Great Britain Cycling Team sprint trio of Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Jamie Staff handed out a half-second defeat to World Champions France to strike Olympic gold at the Laoshan Velodrome tonight (Friday). Report & Images
Men's Individual Pursuit: Gold and Bronze! The Gold going to Wiggins was expected after the challenge from those who showed there hand at the Track Worlds failed to deliver but a bronze from Steven Burke was a surprise. He didn't after all have any time to prepare and maybe that worked for him as he went out and went faster with every round. Well done Brad and Steven! Report and images now available
Men's Keirin: Gold and Silver! What ever the endurance boys can do, the sprinters have to go one up! Chris Hoy (Gold) was simply a legend in the race as he went on to win his second Gold medal. He was unbeatable and has become the most fantastic sprinter, one of the all time greats for sure. Ross Edgar meanwhile was his crafty self as he took his chances when they came and unleashed that great sprint of his to win Silver. Report and pictures
Men's Points Race: Bronze. Chris Newton underlined just what a great Points race rider he is. Winner of the UCI World Track Cup for this event, Newton knows this event like the back of his hand and when he had to, he showed he has the speed and endurance to race with the very best. Report and photos
Women's Individual Pursuit: This was the big one for Great Britain. It has been eight years since Yvonne McGregor won a bronze in Sydney for this event and here we had two British riders in the final for Gold -- it doesn’t get any better than this. In the early rounds, there was little between the two Brits so who would win the Gold! Report and Photographs
Women's Points Race: This is a race where Rebecca Romero, Gold medallist in the Women’s Pursuit, will try and win a bunch race medal. She has very little experience in bunch race riding but has ridden World Cup events before, one, and also bunch races on the road such as circuit races. She certainly gave it a good shake and we have a full report and photos. Report and Pictures
Men's Team Pursuit: The big day for Team GB! They went in as World Record Holders and World Champions, they came out as Olympic Champions who had bettered the World and Olympic Record with a stunning time of 3.53. It was a masterful performance from a team who have been aiming at winning Gold since Sydney 2000 when they won bronze and then Silver in AThens 2004. Well done all of you -- it was a beautiful moment! report and Pictures
Women's Sprint: Gold! In the first two days, the World Champion Victoria Pendleton broke the Olympic record, gone fastest in qualifying and went through the whole competition unbeaten. Quite simply, no-one had the speed to match her Report, Photos and results
Men's Sprint: Gold & Silver! GB have two wonder athletes in this event, Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny. In the end, they beat everyone and faced each other in the final for Gold. One who has been around for a decade and is showing the world what the meaning of being superman is and the other is a young champion who is surprising many with his great talent in the world of sprinting. Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny and it was Hoy who won his third Gold medal. Report and photos
Men's Madison: Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins went in this event and although there were flurrishes of brilliance from them, they were marked out of the race and were unable to repeat the success for Manchester 2008. Report and photos now available
| Road Racing & Time Trial Reports |
Men's Road Race - An utterly thrilling and intriguing Olympic Road Race was won by Samuel Sanchez of Spain, with veteran David Rebellin taking Silver ahead of Swiss time trial specialist Fabien Cancellara Report
Women's Road Race - Nicole Cooke, Olympic Champion! She stayed out of trouble for the first part of the race, she read every move intelligently, she got into the decisive final break and clinched gold in a thrilling sprint at Badaling Report
Women's Time Trial - There was a silver medal for GB's Emma Pooley in the Olympic Women's Time Trial, behind Kristin Armstrong of the USA. Riding with real purpose over the hilly 23.5km course, Pooley used her climbing talents to the maximum Report
Men's Time Trial - An intriguing Time Trial saw the Grand Tour specialists go head-to-head with the Time Trial gods in a epic battle. In the end Fabien Cancellara underlined his status as the world's best time trial rider with a great win Report
| Mountain Bike Reports |
Men's Cross-Country - such a frustrating race for Liam Killeen, who battled back to 7th after a nightmare start. Oli Beckingsale rode bravely for a fine 12th place Report
Women's Cross-Country - Sabine Spitz claims gold for Germany Report
| THE GB TEAM'S OLYMPIC MEDALS |
Gold
Women's Road Race - Nicole Cooke
Team Sprint - Jamie Staff, Jason Kenny & Chris Hoy
Men's Individual Pursuit - Bradley Wiggins
Women's Individual Pursuit - Rebecca Romero
Team Pursuit - Bradley Wiggins, Paul Manning, Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas
Men's Sprint - Chris Hoy
Men's Keirin - Chris Hoy
Women's Sprint - Victoria Pendleton
Silver
Women's Time Trial - Emma Pooley
Women's Individual Pursuit - Wendy Houvenaghel
Men's Keirin - Ross Edgar
Men's Sprint - Jason Kenny
Bronze
Men's Individual Pursuit - Steven Burke
Men's Points Race - Chris Newton
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OLYMPIC GAMES FEATURES, NEWS & INTERVIEWS
Features & News
Team GB Cyclists For Beijing Olympics
Beijing Olympics Cycling Schedule
Inside Team GB Cycling Team – Part 1
Inside Team GB Cycling Team – Part 2
British Cyclists Settle into Beijing
GB's Cyclists Feeling no Pressure for Medals
Team GB Ready For Olympic ChallengeSelection Criteria for Team Great Britain for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
2008 Track Training -- A Photo report
2008 Olympics Start in Newport (Wales)
Phillips Completes GB Team (BMX) for Beijing
British Olympic & Paralympic Teams Kitted Out for Success in Beijing
Beijing Olympics 2008 Isle of Man Stamps
ARCHIVE: Athens 2004 Olympic Games
Guardian NewsPaper: Cycling chief King offers to help other British sports: Read it here
Male Rider Interviews
Mark Cavendish: Cycling’s World Sprint Start
Can Wiggins Achieve the Triple Crown?
Bring on the British Batman in Beijing -- Jamie Staff!
Jason Kenny in a Hurry for Olympic Glory
Ben Swift's Olympic Road Race Experience
Geraint Thomas: IP or Not to IP
Chris Hoy Ready to Defend Olympic Dream
Stephen Cummings Fighting for Place in Beijing
Steve Cummings On Track for Road Race
Ben Swift & Jonny BellisOli Beckingsale & Liam Killeen Interview
Steven Burke makes his Olympic Debut
Female Rider Interviews
Wendy Houvenaghel: Nothing to FearNicole's On The Road To Beijing With A New Boardman Bike
Shanaze Reade Racing for Gold in Beijing
Paralympic News
Rik Waddon Paralympic Diary (July 2008)
GB Paralympic Cycling Team Named For Beijing
Event Reports
