BEIJING (AP) -Julien Absalon of France won his second straight Olympic gold medal in men's mountain biking Saturday, 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 behind 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.

The event was the final cycling competition of the Beijing Games.