August 14, 2004 4:19 pm
Course, heat get best of American cyclists
ATHENS, Greece - It's difficult to win an Olympic gold medal with one leg, especially if you have to pedal a bike through already brutal conditions.
George Hincapie figured that out on a scorching summer Saturday afternoon at the Summer Olympics, where he finished 24th in the 139.4-mile road race through downtown Athens.
He started cramping with less than two laps remaining and crossed the line 12 seconds behind winner Paolo Bettini of Italy. Because of heat that hovered in the mid-90s, no breeze and an unforgiving course that produced several crashes, only 75 of the original 144 riders finished.
Bettini's winning time was 5 hours, 41 minutes and 44 seconds. Sergio Paulinho of Portugal finished second - by a second - after losing a desperate sprint to the line.
Hincapie was the second-best finisher of five Americans in the field, behind Tyler Hamilton, who was 18th. Bobby Julich was 28th, while Levi Leipheimer and Jason McCartney did not finish.
``I'm really disappointed that I wasn't able to ride better today,'' said Hincapie, who finished eighth in Sydney. ``I started feeling better with six laps to go and thought that I could go with some good moves. That last lap and half I was cramping very bad, and I ended up pedaling with just one leg.''
Julich said Hincapie was America's best hope for a medal, which hasn't happened in 20 years. The only American to medal in the event is Alexi Grewal at the boycotted 1984 games in Los Angeles.
``Unless one of us were on a super day, none of us were going to really make a difference on this course, except for maybe George, and we all had problems with a little bit of the heat, with some cramping and stuff. It was pretty much as I expected, honestly,'' Julich said.
Bettini and Paulinho pulled away from the pack in the penultimate lap. During the final lap - there were 17 of them around the Acropolis and many other ancient reminders in this historic city - the leaders led by anywhere from 25 to 49 seconds.
The gap was closed to 12 seconds in the final sprint to the finish.
``Once they went, they were too strong,'' Hincapie said. ``We thought that maybe somebody would be able to chase them down, but we didn't really have any gas left.
``I thought maybe if I had a super good day, I'd be able to get up there. ... It was a tough, tough course, a tough day.''
The bronze went to Belgium's Axel Merckx, the son of five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx. Defending Olympic champion Jan Ullrich of Germany finished 19th.
Hincapie said his body is beat after the Tour de France, where last month he helped longtime U.S. Postal Service teammate Lance Armstrong pick up his sixth straight victory. The race ended July 25- and Hincapie took one day off before jumping on his bike to prepare for Athens.
``If you take off any more time, your body begins to break down, then it becomes even harder to jump back on the bike,'' he said. ``That was the right thing to do.''
Officials pulled McCartney off the course after he dropped behind the pack. His day was done after 10 laps. The Coralville, Iowa, racer was 118th when he was pulled.
``This heat, it's really hot, it's definitely a factor,'' McCartney, 30, said.
He watched the final laps from inside the shade of a U.S. support tent, but said his first Olympic experience was positive.
``It's just a good experience, especially if next year I go to a European team. I've ridden with a handful of these guys when they come over to the U.S., but never the whole group, so it's definitely a good learning experience,'' McCartney said.
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