Czech Jaroslav Kulhavy (picture) won the men’s Olympic mountain bike gold after an epic seven-lap race which left Swiss Nino Schurter in a close second place yesterday.

Italian Marco Fontana finished third to take the bronze at 25 seconds behind Kulhavy’s winning time of 1hr 29min 07sec.

Julien Absalon’s dream of winning a third consecutive gold was ended when the French defending champion punctured early on the seven-lap race.

But even before that mishap, Schurter and Kulhavy were expected to be in the fight for the medals. The pair were among a leading group of riders who, as early as the first lap, left many of their rivals trailing with a ferocious pace over the technical Hadleigh Farm site.

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