CYCLING: They were dazed, weary, all beat up and clearly in need of a drink. The result of almost six hours' cycling around the hot, dusty streets of Athens. Yet among them were a few smiling faces, including the man in the green jersey of Ireland.
When finishing 13th in the Olympic road race you can afford a smile no matter how exhausted.
It's 6.15 on Saturday evening and Ciarán Power is clearly drained.
You feel slightly guilty asking a man how he feels immediately after he's cycled 224 kilometres spread over 17 laps of the city. But you figure Power, as the best Irish finisher in the history of Olympic cycling, won't mind answering.
"That was definitely as good as I'd hoped," he says, still catching his breath between sentences.
"My best race ever. I wanted to get into the top 30, but in the back of my mind thought top 20. So yeah, I'm delighted."
Power rode not only his best race, probably his most perfect.
With four of the 17 laps remaining he was leading a six-man breakaway, which at that point had a 38-second advantage over the chasing bunch. He was riding so fresh and so confidently that anything looked possible.
Inside the next lap the gap was closed, but Power remained to the fore. Halfway around again and his team-mate Mark Scanlon finally succumbed to exhaustion, a blinding headache and the recent exertions of his Tour de France on his list of reasons for not finishing.
Of the 153 cyclists that went to the start line only 75 managed to make it home.
For Power the failed breakaway didn't seem as heartbreaking as it was for those Irish watching at the finish: "Well no, because I knew the rest would start racing harder toward the end. And it wasn't really planned. It was Robbie McEwen (the Australian) that went, and I just followed him, and rolled around for a couple of laps. That meant I avoided the big surges on the front when we got to the hill.
"Coming over the top it was hard, but it did save my legs a bit. And sure you want people at home to see you as well."
Late in the penultimate lap a decisive breakaway was formed, the Italian Paolo Bettini escaping with the young Portuguese Sergio Paulinho. That made for a nail-biting climax, but the more experienced Italian, ninth four years ago in Sydney, surged in front in the final 100 metres - Bettini's time five hours, 41 minutes, 44 seconds.
Axel Mercxx, son of the great Belgian Eddie, tore clear from the peloton to take the bronze medal, eight seconds back.
Within four seconds came the main bunch, Power still cruising to the fore and a raised fist the first visible sign of his satisfaction. The previous best Olympic finish by an Irishman was Martin Earley's 17th place in Los Angeles in 1984.
This event was very spectator friendly. Those afforded the luxury of staying in a city-centre hotel could crawl out of bed to watch the start. In between brunch, some shopping, a nap and a coffee the laps slowly drifted by. By the end of a lazy afternoon Power's achievement seemed all the more remarkable.
"I'd a sneaking suspicion Ciarán would do that," said Irish manager Martin O'Loughlin. "Down in Cyprus he was training behind me on a motorbike, and he was just getter faster and faster. His speed was going up every day. And in the sprints I'd be doing 46 or 47 miles an hour and he'd still beat me."
Power felt the weeks of training in Cyprus had set him up perfectly for the race. His professional team, the American-based Navigators Insurance, had given him a month off and the Olympic preparations were meticulous.
The best ever. By 7 p.m. yesterday morning Power was on a plane back to his American base in New Jersey. The 28-year-old from Waterford will ride the American criterium championships next weekend, and then race the Tour of Britain from September 1st.
Right now his confidence and value on the international circuit are riding high. With names like the American Tyler Hamilton (18th) the German Jan Ullrich (19th), the Frenchman Thomas Voeckler (20th) and Australian Stuart O'Grady (33rd) his performance won't go unnoticed. As if 13th in the Olympics didn't say it all.
