Here on the South Atlantic coast in Brazil there was warm glow notwithstanding the Welsh weather after adding a second Olympic medal to the the Tour de France crown he won for a third time last month, and this in finishing more than a minute adrift of victor Fabian Cancellara.
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Tom Dumoulin took silver while Tour de France champion Chris Froome came through third for bronze – replicating the feat he achieved in London four years ago.
Froome could finish only 12th in the road race on Saturday but the 31-year-old said he cannot wait to get “stuck in” to a 59km time trial course that is ideally suited to his style.
Swiss cyclist Fabian Cancellara is riding off into a golden retirement – after scooping a second Olympic time-trial title.
“I wasn’t coming in thinking I was guaranteed a medal or anything”.
Dennis then had mechanical problems and had to change bikes dropping him behind Dumoulin and Froome at the 44.4km checkpoint.
Froome said he performed to his best on the course, located on Rio’s southern coast.
And after struggling early on he made up time towards the latter stages.
“That guy came by me pretty fast, ” American Taylor Phinney said of Cancellara. He also has a gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympic time trial, and a silver in the Beijing road race. It gives you a little bit more determination and makes you a bit more up for it.
“After the 2012 disappointment and many other ups and downs, now in my last season, my last chance, I knew it would be challenging with Froome and all others”. “I’m really happy with a medal again”.
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. And being able to train for this has really turned my head around and gotten me to a point where I understand what I’m doing here.
The three-time Tour de France title victor asked his 1.07 million fans what discipline they would choose if they were an Olympic athlete.
‘Fabian was the clear victor today, more than a minute ahead of me.
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The men’s and women’s time trials begin at 3.30pm (UAE), where athletes compete one at a time against the clock to see who can complete the course stretching for 30 kilometres (women) and 55km (men).
