Samuel Sanchez clinched a dramatic sprint finish to claim Spain’s first cycling road race Olympic gold medal.
Sanchez finished the 245km race in a time of six hours, 23 minutes and 49 seconds. Italy’s Davide Rebellin celebrated his 37th birthday by winning silver with reigning world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara claimed bronze. The pre-race favourite and 2004 Olympic champion Paolo Bettini finished 35 seconds behind the leaders.
Sanchez, aged 30 years, finished seventh in this year’s Tour de France and was the least fancied member of a Spanish team which included two Tour de France winners and a triple world champion.