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By Julien Pretot
HADLEIGH, England Aug 12 (Reuters) – Czech Jaroslav Kulhavy
made a decisive move in the closing stages to claim the Olympic
men’s mountain bike title on Sunday after defending champion
Julien Absalon of France suffered a game-changing early
puncture.
World champion Kulhavy produced an impressive ride on the
seven 4.7-kilometre laps on a course overlooking the Thames
estuary in Hadleigh Farm, east of London.
Kulhavy overtook Swiss world number one Nino Schurter, who
took silver one second behind, at the top of the final uphill
drag and kept his advantage in the descent before sprinting to
the line.
Italian Marco Aurelio Fontana took bronze, 25 seconds off
the pace.
“It was really hard. We went full gas all day,” Kulhavy told
the BBC.
“I gave everything, all my energy. This was so important for
me this year. I’ve now won everything, the World Cup, the world
championship and now the Olympic title.
“This is the most special day in the sport for me. It was
easy for the first half of the race but the finish was pretty
hard and Nino was very strong so it was a big fight,” Kulhavy
then told reporters.
Continued…
