Jaroslav Kulhavy of the Czech Republic won the men’s Olympic mountain bike gold after an epic seven-lap race which left Swiss Nino Schurter in a close second place Sunday. Italian Marco Fontana finished third to take the bronze at 25 seconds behind Kulhavy’s winning time of 1hr 29min 07sec. Julien Absalon’s dream of winning a third consecutive gold was ended when the French defending champion punctured early on the seven-lap race. But even before that mishap, Schurter and Kulhavy were expected to be in the fight for the medals.
The pair were among a leading group of riders who, as early as the first lap, left many of their rivals trailing with a ferocious pace over the technical Hadleigh Farm site.
World champion Kulhavy, Schurter and Fontana turned the screw in the final few laps and after a brief attack by the Italian on the last lap, the Czech and the Swiss pulled away.
