No Lance, no chance for USA
ATHENS — The two leaders of the men’s cycling road race glanced back, and all they could see was a guy whose father was nicknamed “The Cannibal,” because of how he use to figuratively eat riders alive on the switchbacks of the Alpe D’Huez.
Paolo Bettini, the Italian favorite, and Sergio Paulinho, a 24-year-old upstart from Portugal, figured they had better put some distance between themselves and Axel Merckx, son of Eddy, who won the Tour de France five times and imparted to Lance Armstrong some of the knowledge he needed to win six.
With Armstrong safely home in Austin, Texas, Bettini and Paulinho looked back once more. After 17 laps, up cobblestone hills toward the Parthenon and bustling cafes around hairpin asphalt corners, they played cat-and-mouse to the finish of the men’s road race.
Paulinho sprinted first, with maybe a quarter mile left, and Bettini quickly counterattacked, churning harder, faster — until his young pursuer was forced to find solace in silver.
Beneath the splendor of the Acropolis, in the middle of Athens, in the middle of an unrelenting 95-degree day, the slight Italian outdueled a field of 144 racers Saturday over 139.4 miles. Only 75 finished in this sauna of a competition as Bettini seized the first cycling Olympic gold medal of the Games in 5 hours, 41 minutes, 44 seconds.
Merckx took the bronze. George Hincapie, the last of the Americans with medal hopes, gassed out with about 19 miles left. He attacked and was quickly caught, and his failure to contend with the leaders underscored a dismal day for the U.S. team, which thought it had four riders capable of medaling. Hincapie, riding in his fourth Olympics and still without a medal, cramped up on the last two laps, finishing 24th. Tyler Hamilton finished 18th in a pack roughly 10 seconds behind the leaders.
“I’m still affected by riding three weeks at the front of the Tour de France,” said Hincapie, who often plays rabbit for Armstrong on the U.S. Postal Team.
Bettini was asked if he regretted Armstrong’s absence.
“We’ve known for a long time he wasn’t going to be here. I mean, Lance is just happy winning the Tour de France. Of course, it means one less rival,” the gold medallist said through an interpreter, before adding, “But there were some good cyclists here.”