Froome blew away the field in the time trial in this year’s Tour de France title on the way to securing his third tour title.
Advertisement
35-year-old Cancellara finshed over 47 seconds ahead of silver medallist Tom Dumoulin, who along with Froome had been widely fancied as the favourite heading into the time trial.
Australian rival Richie Porte broke his scapula in Saturday’s road race and will not start, and several contenders such as Nelson Oliveira of Portugal also crashed during the race.
Holland’s Anna van der Breggen, the road race gold medallist, can not be discounted, though.
Diving duo Jack Laugher and Chris Mears and kayaker Joe Clarke powered Team GB to their second and third gold medals of 2016 after a stunning day in Rio. The change was calm and quick, but the precious seconds that Dennis lost likely cost him a medal. Tour de France champion Christopher Froome of Britain had to settle for bronze, more than a minute behind Cancellara. Like the women before them, the men were able to stay upright on what was a relatively conventional time trial course. “It means so much to me”, said Cancellara. After missing out on gold in London and all the ups and downs I’ve had since then, this is just unbelievable to win the gold today.
“We’d put all that hard work in, the six hours before to be in the race and in the right position, and then to lose it on a tiny mistake at the end”.
“There are just no words to explain”.
There was no stopping Cancellara though, and with the Swiss retiring at the end of the season, it was the flawless swansong for him, with pictures capturing him as he leapt out of the leader’s throne to celebrate the victory with his team.
Cancellara said: “This was the last big time-trial of my life”.
There is a chance of rain, which could make things scary given the amount of steep descending and tight corners, which saw plenty of crashes during the road races.
“I was down before I knew it and it was all over”. We paced it perfectly.
“I wasn’t coming in thinking I was guaranteed a medal or anything”. So to not win it, of course, is a disappointment.
British Cycling’s president, Bob Howden, said: “What a fantastic achievement on top of Chris’ third incredible Tour de France win and testament to his absolute dedication to the sport”. “Everyone is telling me I should be very proud of myself, especially with the last couple of weeks, how it was after the injury”.
In the end Thomas just failed to add to the two Olympic golds he had won on the track as part of the team pursuit squad in Beijing and London, while Froome matched his performance at London 2012 when Sir Bradley Wiggins clinched gold.
Advertisement
“I didn’t feel good but I gave it everything but it wasn’t to be”. The Tour was the big target for me.
