EYEWITNESS: MEN'S ROAD RACE

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The men's road race was a destructive, oppressive event. The television cameras picked out the tactical battle on the climb from Juyongguan to Badaling, but they couldn't transmit the thickness of the air or its heavy warmth.

Even on a Tour de France mountain stage, riders don't look as tired as they did at the end. It wasn't the same hard heat as a blazing July day on the Tour de France, but an overpowering humidity - being there was like standing in an oven, rather than under a grill.

Of the 90 riders who finished, only winner Samuel Sanchez looked fresh - the adrenalin of victory gave him a second wind. Everybody else looked dazed, with sweat pouring off in rivers. And the spectators who'd made the journey cheered all of them. The crowd, to some extent, empathised with the effort the riders had made. From the car park, each spectator had to climb 192 steps, in the stifling humidity, up a Great Wall tower and along the Wall itself, to the stands.

If the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony reminded the world of China's cultural legacy, the road race was a whistle-stop tour through China's political history.

And by the final stages of the race, they cheered everything that moved. Normally, dropped riders can pull out of the race surreptitiously, but there were a few sheepish grins as riders many minutes behind tapped up the finishing straight to the soigneurs' area, to the roar of the crowd.

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OLYMPIC GAMES 2008: ROAD

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Edward Pickering is a writer and journalist, editor of Pro Cycling and previous deputy editor of Cycle Sport. As well as contributing to Cycling Weekly, he has also written for the likes of the New York Times. His book, The Race Against Time, saw him shortlisted for Best New Writer at the British Sports Book Awards. A self-confessed 'fair weather cyclist', Pickering also enjoys running.