Over the punishing 54km course in Rio, Froome was always facing an uphill battle when he reached the first time split 20 seconds behind the gold medal victor.
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Froome, for the second Games in a row, finished with third missing his shot at owning a gold and a Tour victory in the same year.
Cyclist Chris Froome has hailed his “amazing summer” as he clinched a bronze medal at the Olympics less than three weeks after winning the Tour de France.
Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara announced last winter that he will be retiring at the end of this cycling season.
No one could get near Cancellera, who won a second gold medal to go with the one he claimed in the same event in the 2008 Beijing games. Accentuating the positive, he added: “I can’t be disappointed, especially after the season I’ve had”.
“Fabian was definitely the strongest rider out on the road today”, Froome said. From there, his advantage only widened to the finish line.
“It’s been an wonderful summer”. The change was calm and quick, but the few seconds he lost likely cost him the bronze medal.
Froome, who is not one to hide behind excuses, insisted there was no illness.
“I have the motivation, I have the determination, ” he said. It was certainly disappointing for Thomas who had been riding particularly well up until that point.
“I’m happy with my performance”. “What do I want more than this?” To medal is something special.
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Froome was unable to keep pace with eventual victor Fabian Cancellara, who recorded a time of 1:12:15.42 to demolish the rest of the field and take gold.
“Women’s cycling is different to men’s cycling – 16 years is 16 years”.
He is now expecting to start the year’s third and final Grand Tour, the Vuelta a Espana, on August 20, after having it on his Team Sky schedule since the beginning of the year. But a minute clear of me, he was by far the best guy out there.
And the route may be a familiar one.
Though riders had to overcome rain and high winds, the time trial course did not include Vista Chinesa, the harrowing climb and descent that caused several riders to crash during the men’s road race on Saturday.
Geraint Thomas (Great Britain) posted a solid time to place ninth in the race, a considerable result given that he was only allocated a last-minute place in the race after the weekend, with no specific training.
Australian Richie Porte, a former team mate of Froome and Thomas, and Italian Vincenzo Nibali were two of the casualties who will miss the time trial on the hilly Grumari circuit alongside Rio’s coastline.
Cancellara said: “This was the last big time-trial of my life”.
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He said: “It’s a very emotional time for me”.
