| Event: | Men's cross-country |
| Games: | 2008 Summer |
| Venue: | Laoshan Mountain Bike Course |
| Dates: | August 23, 2008 |
| Competitors: | 50 |
| Nations: | 33 |
| Longnames: | yes |
| Win Value: | 1:55:59 |
| Gold: | Julien Absalon |
| Goldnoc: | FRA |
| Silver: | Jean-Christophe Péraud |
| Silvernoc: | FRA |
| Bronze: | Nino Schurter |
| Bronzenoc: | SUI |
| Prev: | 2004 |
| Next: | 2012 |
The men's cross-country mountain biking at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place at the Laoshan Mountain Bike Course on August 23, 2008.
France's Julien Absalon pulled away from a pack of mountain bikers at the start to defend his Olympic title in the event with a gold-medal time in 1:55:59.[1] [2] Absalon also enjoyed his teammate Jean-Christophe Péraud taking home the silver in 1:57:06, as the Frenchmen climbed on top of the podium with a spectacular 1–2 finish.[3] Meanwhile, Switzerland's Nino Schurter delivered an exciting sprint challenge for the bronze in 1:57:52, edging out his teammate, three-time Olympian and reigning world champion Christoph Sauser by two seconds.[4] [5] Among the 50 mountain bikers who competed in the cross-country race, only twenty-eight of them managed to complete the full distance.
The competition began at 15:00 with a mass-start in which riders are positioned according to their current world ranking so that the higher-ranked riders are near the front. The cross-country race also involved eight laps, with 172 m of elevation change for each, around the 4.45 km course at Laoshan Mountain Bike Course.[6] The overall distance of the race was 35.60 km.
All times are China standard time (UTC+8)[7]
| Rank | Rider | Country | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1:55:59 | ||||
| 1:57:06 | ||||
| 1:57:52 | ||||
| 4 | 1:57:54 | |||
| 5 | 1:59:59 | |||
| 6 | 2:00:11 | |||
| 7 | 2:00:14 | |||
| 8 | 2:00:21 | |||
| 9 | 2:01:00 | |||
| 10 | 2:01:01 | |||
| 11 | 2:01:16 | |||
| 12 | 2:01:25 | |||
| 13 | 2:01:29 | |||
| 14 | 2:01:38 | |||
| 15 | 2:01:58 | |||
| 16 | 2:02:59 | |||
| 17 | 2:03:09 | |||
| 18 | 2:03:20 | |||
| 19 | 2:03:30 | |||
| 20 | 2:03:55 | |||
| 21 | 2:05:19 | |||
| 22 | 2:05:29 | |||
| 23 | 2:06:00 | |||
| 24 | 2:06:30 | |||
| 25 | 2:06:41 | |||
| 26 | 2:06:46 | |||
| 27 | 2:07:04 | |||
| 28 | 2:09:05 | |||
| 29 | (1 lap) | |||
| 30 | (1 lap) | |||
| 31 | (1 lap) | |||
| 32 | (2 laps) | |||
| 33 | (2 laps) | |||
| 34 | (2 laps) | |||
| 35 | (2 laps) | |||
| 36 | (2 laps) | |||
| 37 | (2 laps) | |||
| 38 | (2 laps) | |||
| 39 | (2 laps) | |||
| 40 | (2 laps) | |||
| 41 | (2 laps) | |||
| 42 | (3 laps) | |||
| 43 | (3 laps) | |||
| 44 | (3 laps) | |||
| 45 | (3 laps) | |||
| 46 | (3 laps) | |||
| 47 | (5 laps) | |||
| 48 | (6 laps) | |||