Interesting perspective from
<http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2004/olympics04/?id=results/mtb_men>:
"I was chasing all the way up the (first) climb, and I came over the
top in fifth. But the race was up ahead, going away, so I had to let it
go on the downhill, I had to make contact if I was going to be in the
race. In one of the chicanes I felt it hit a rock, and it bucked me
right out of the groove, and I blasted through the tape. My (rear) tire
blew so hard from the rock, it blew the tire bead off the rim (Hesjedal
was riding tubeless). So I was dead last, and it took at least 3-4
minutes to put it on, but the first time I put pressure on it again it
blew off the rim."
Wonder how he would have been had he been riding a YesTubes tire...
The men's race was pretty damn exciting. But, man! Under 20kph average
for pros. Talk about a brutal slog of a course. CBC covered the race in
its entirety, too. NBC sucks.
CC