Updated: August 23, 2008, 5:25 AM ET
France's Absalon wins 2nd straight mountain bike gold
BEIJING -- Julien Absalon of France has won his second straight Olympic gold medal in men's mountain biking, easily holding off countryman Jean-Christophe Peraud for the title.
A four-time world champion, Absalon completed eight laps around the course in 1 hour, 55 minutes, 59 seconds to become the first man with two Olympic mountain biking titles.
Peraud finished 1:07 back of Absalon. Switzerland's Nino Schurter was third, finishing 1:53 behind Absalon and beating fellow Swiss racer Christoph Sauser -- the 2000 Olympic bronze medalist -- to the finish line by two seconds.
Saturday's event was the final cycling competition of the Beijing Games.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
