Spain's Sanchez wins road cycling gold

Spaniard Samuel Sanchez sprinted clear of the charging pack of riders in the final moments of the men's 245-km road race to win the gold medal on the first day of the Beijing Olympics yesterday.

The 30-year-old cyclist clocked six hours 23 minutes and 49 seconds, just ahead of Italy's Davide Rebellin. Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara took third in the sprint to the Great Wall finish line.

Sanchez and Rebellin led the final stretch of the race with Cancellara escaping the peloton for a last minute charge on the lead.

The gold is Sanchez's 17th UCI career win and Spain's first ever medal in the men's Olympic road race.

Sanchez said his country was enjoying a "golden era of sport" and he hoped his victory would be just the beginning of Spain's Olympic success.

Spain won Euro 2008 and French Open and Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal is at the top of his tennis game. Spanish cyclists have won the past three Tour de France races as well as the Giro d'Italia in June.

"I think it would be fair to say Spain is really going through something of a 'golden era' of sport," Sanchez, 30, told reporters after the race. "I think sport in Spain is very much up there at the top."

Sanchez praised his team-mates for working well together to ensure a good start to Spain's medal hopes.

"I think we worked perfectly. We knew how to stay together as a group," said Sanchez, who said that although he was not the favourite for the race, like his compatriot Alejandro Valverde, he knew he was in very good shape coming into the competition.

"My biggest fear was how we would manage to control the race as a team," he said. "I was worried also about the weather: the humidity, the heat and possible dehydration."

Sanchez hardly appeared worried at all after the six and a half hour race. He came into the news conference in a playful mood. After seeing all the reporters gathered in the room he stood on the dais, turned around and held his hand out to take a picture of himself, giving a thumbs-up and wearing the gold medal.

Second-placed Rebellin celebrated his 37th birthday yesterday with a silver medal. His win brought Italy its eighth medal in the event, the most for any national team.

"Today is my birthday, so it's a special moment for me. It's great to be on the Olympic podium. I would have liked to have won, of course. Samuel Sanchez was the strongest today," said Rebellin.