Seymour finishes 30th in Mountain Biking

Eleven-time national champion Robin Seymour placed 30th of 43 finishers in this morning's 26.9-mile Mountain Biking Cross Country Olympic race at Metochi's Parnitha complex.

The 33-year-old came home two places behind his Sydney 2000 finish, and 13 minutes 30 seconds behind French race winner Julien Absalon.

Seymour was initially held up by a crash involving reigning Olympic champion Miguel Martinez but with a race-plan dictated by the 28-degree temperatures, the Wicklow man managed to steadily rise from 40th after the first lap to 29th with just over one lap remaining.

Spaniard Jose Antonio Hermida and Absalon raced for gold at the head of the field, with the 24-year-old World Cup champion prevailing in a time of two hours, 15 minutes and two seconds.

1996 champion Bart Brentjens of Holland, who was booted out of the 1997 FBD Milk Ras for using the tour as a training race, rode to bronze, two minutes behind Absalon.

Result:

Olympic Men’s Cross Country Mountain Biking, Parnitha National Park, Metochi, Athens – 43.3km / 26.9 miles:

(1) Julien Absalon (Fra) 2:15.02, (2) Jose Antonio Hermida (Esp) +1.00, (3) Bart Brentjens (Ned) +2.03, (4) Roel Paulissen (Bel) +3.08, (5) Liam Killeen (Gbr) +3.30,

(6) Ralph Naef (Sui) +4.13, (7) Thomas Frischknecht (Sui) +4.37, (8) Manuel Fumic (Ger) +5.27, (9) Seamus McGrath (Can) +5.31, (10) Marco Bui (Ita) +5.33

Irish: (30) Robin Seymour (Irl) +13.30