Great Britain’s Chris Froome was looking to follow up his Tour de France win with a gold, but had to settle for the bronze.
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Holland’s Tom Dumoulin, who broke his wrist on Le Tour last month, won silver.
Veteran Swiss rider Fabian Cancellera proved his pedigree once more by powering to victory in the Rio 2016 men’s time trial on 10 August. Riding a hard course in windy, drizzly conditions, the man known as Spartacus won with a time of 1 hour, 12.15 seconds that was 15 seconds faster than silver medalist Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands.
Thomas, who had finished 11th in the road race after crashing near the finish, said: “I got stuck in but it wasn’t my day”.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Chris Froome was the young British upstart at the London Olympics four years ago when compatriot Bradley Wiggins was fresh off his Tour de France triumph and targeting time trial gold.
But Cancellara, in his final season and victor of Olympic gold in Beijing eight years ago, had other ideas.
“Fabian was the clear victor today”.
Dennis then had mechanical problems and had to change bikes dropping him behind Dumoulin and Froome at the 44.4km checkpoint.
Castroviejo’s mark of 1.13.21 earned him a long stint in the hot seat but all eyes were on the road, on Cancellara, Dennis, Froome and Dumoulin.
Other threats include Froome’s trade teammate Vasil Kiryienka, the reigning world champion, and Taylor Phinney, the American rider who has spent the past six weeks preparing for the time trial. “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”, he said.
“But I want more than this (from life)”.
The 30-year-old briefly led the trial having started ahead of numerous race’s favourites, riding with typical heart and determination to finish with a time of 1:14:52, good enough for a top 10 finish.
He painfully tried to defend his time trial gold days later but finished seventh.
Dumoulin and Froome were considered the favorites heading into the race, and the Dutchman didn’t look bothered by his ailing hand. “To come here and to try to back it up and to come away with a medal is really special”.
“Thomas was thrown in at the last minute, and he can be proud of his performance”.
“This is the first medal for Britain’s cyclists and I am sure this result will spur the whole team on ahead of the track programme starting tomorrow”.
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“I wasn’t going to be making up a minute on Fabian”, Froome said.
