Dad sets greater goals for ‘Mighty Mouse’

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Sydney: Miguel Martinez is a world and Olympic champion in cross-country mountain bike racing, but his father, Mariano, sees greater goals for his son as a top road racer.

"He was much happier when I won a road race three weeks ago than when I won the world mountain bike title," said Miguel after his near 24 kph final lap in the cross country gave France a fifth Olympic cycling gold on Sunday.

"He sees me as a future road race champion," said the 164 cm high Martinez, known as Mighty Mouse, who finished a minute and three seconds clear of Belgian Filip Meirhaeghe in the 49.5 kms mountain bike race over hilly bushland, with Swiss Christophe Sauser taking the bronze.

His Spanish-born father had good reason for his ambitions. In 1978 Mariano Martinez won the polka-dot jersey of best climber in the Tour de France, in which he also had two stage victories.

Then 22 years before Miguel had his first world-class triumph, dad won the bronze medal in the world road race championship at Montreal, behind Belgian legend Eddy Merckx.

Dad was happy when his home-grown protege reeled off 200 road race victories, but then his pride and joy went off the road, literally. In the winter of 1996 Miguel, then 20, won the under-23 world cyclocross championship near Paris.

That summer he was third in the first Olympic mountain bike race in Atlanta, and a year later topped the World Cup standings before winning the world under-23 title in 1998. This summer Martinez became world champion.

"Everything my father taught me about road racing, and my early experiences helped me tactically in mountain bike races," said Miguel.Another cycling father will be commiserating with his son, Thomas Frischknecht. The Atlanta silver medallist was chosen by Switzerland to carry the flag at the opening ceremony.

On Sunday he attempted to carry the flag again, but after nearly five laps in the lead he cracked to finish sixth.

"I was going for the gold, but then I had cramp, and my mind started to fill with doubt," said the 1996 world champion whose dad Peter was a world silver medallist five times in cyclocross.



(c) Reuters Limited.