South Africa's Ernst Van Dyk claimed the Gold medal in today's road race at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. Van Dyk, looking for redemption after a disappointing time trial finish on Friday, attacked early on and was 10 seconds ahead of a chasing American duo that included Oz Sanchez and Alejandro Albor...Friday's Gold and Bronze medallists, respectively. It appeared as if the Americans were letting Van Dyk dangle out front for a thrilling sprint, but it was not to be as both U.S. riders had problems on the final turn, and Van Dyk was left to sprint on his own for the big win. You can listed to Van Dyk's own description via the podcast below.
Meanwhile, Swiss legend, Heinz Frei showed why he is truly the man. His strategy of entering the stadium first also paid off as he earned a 5 second gap on the final fast downhill and entered the stadium to the roar of the [mostly Chinese] crowd...he soloed in for the win, and the 2nd gold medal in as many races.
The two HCB Americans started well, but were victims of the tough course. "Nobody went up the hill that fast, but it was brutal, and once a small gap opened, it was over for us." said USA's Matt Updike. Updike ended-up 10th, with American David Lee finishing 14th after suffering shoulder pain midway through.
RESULTS:
HCC
1. Ernst Van Dyk, RSA 1:21:40 Average: 35.559k
2 Alejandro Albor, USA :01
3 Oz Sanchez, USA "
4 Vicente Arzo, ESP 4:31
5 Elmar Sternath, AUT 5:55
6 Norbert Mosandl, GER 7:51
7 Don Van Der Linden, NED 10:08
8 Franz Nietlispach, SUI 12:09
9 Peter Lorkowski, LUX 12:24
10 Norbert Koch, GER 21:06
11 Lassane Gasbeogo, BUR 22:29
HCB
1 Heinz Frei, SUI 1:28:25 Average: 32.844k
2 Max Weber, GER :01
3 Edward Malouf, LEB "
4 Manfred Putz, AUT :06
5 Vittorio Podesta, ITA :16
6 Tobias Knecht, GER 1:59
7 Lukas Weber, SUI "
8 Radovan Civis, CZE 3:31
9 Rico Morneau, CAN 3:44
10 Matt Updike, USA 3:52
11 Mark Beggs, CAN 4:12
12 Stefan Baumann, GER 8:11
13 Hang-Duk Cho, KOR 9:44
14 David Lee, USA "
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