Alexandr Vinokourov of Kazakhstan won gold in the Olympic men’s cycling road race, shocking fans, experts and every other rider in the race. The 38-year-old Team Astana rider has retired, returned, was suspended for a positive test in the 2007 Tour de France, and is widely expected to retire at the end of this season. No one expected even a significant finish from this veteran rider.
Vinokourov joined a chase group bridging across to the initial eleven-rider breakaway. The resulting group, 32 riders strong, kept a gap of almost a minute through the final 30 km.
Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara, Beijing silver medalist and four-time world time trial champion, led the race into the final ten kilometers. A great One-Day Classics rider, Cancellara was perfectly placed to launch a long attack to take the gold.
Instead, the Swiss rider overcooked it into a tight right-hand corner and crashed into the barrier, injuring his right hand and possibly the shoulder he broke earlier this season. It is not known if he will be ready for Wednesday’s time trial competition.
