They say in cycling that “every second counts” and in the Olympic Time Trial, it certainly proved to be the case. The rain-soaked course made the race treacherous as riders battled to keep upright whilst pushing themselves to their limits to secure a medal, where Belgian Remco Evenepoel and Australian Grace Brown proved successful in taking the gold medals, and silver and bronze were decided by mere seconds.
Men’s Race
The men’s race was a close affair, Belgian and current World Time Trial Champion, Remco Evenepoel took the gold medal in a time of 36:12.16. Filippo Ganna took silver for Italy, 15 seconds behind Evenepoel, in 36:27.08. Belgian Wout van Aert finished third, securing the bronze medal with a time of 36:37.79. He opted to race with a front disc wheel which helped him take the position ahead of Britain Josh Tarling. Tarling was 2 seconds behind, but it is estimated that he lost 15 seconds as a consequence a bike change due to a puncture. Had this not happened, he would have been competing with his INEOS Grenadiers teammate for the silver medal but in this race, the margins were fine. At only 20 years old, Tarling will have future opportunities to secure an Olympic medal.
Other notable riders, such as Magnus Sheffield finished down the field as a result of a crash as a consequence of the slippery conditions.
Men’s Top 10 results
| Position | Rider | Country | Time |
| 1 | Remco Evenepoel | Belgium | 36:12.2 |
| 2 | Filippo Ganna | Italy | 36:27.1 |
| 3 | Wout van Aert | Belgium | 36:37.8 |
| 4 | Josh Tarling | Great Britain | 36:39.9 |
| 5 | Brandon McNulty | United States | 37:16.6 |
| 6 | Stefan Bissegger | Switzerland | 37:38.6 |
| 7 | Nelson Oliveira | Portugal | 37:43.1 |
| 8 | Stefan Kueng | Switzerland | 37:47.7 |
| 9 | Maximilian Schachmann | Germany | 37:50.7 |
| 10 | Mikkel Norsgaard Bjerg | Denmark | 37:55.3 |
Women’s Race
Australian Grace Brown was dominant. She was the only woman to complete the 32.4km course in under 40 minutes, with a time of 39:38.24, taking the gold an erasing the heartache of missing a medal at the previous Olympic Games. In second place was Britain Anna Henderson, in a time of 41:09.83. She finished 1 second ahead of American Chloé Dygert, who took the bronze medal. Dygert suffered a crash in the wet conditions which cost her at least 15 seconds, enabling Henderson to secure the silver medal for Britain. For a period of time, it was looking like Belgian Lotte Kopecky would be in with a chance of a medal before seeing her chances slip away. Sadly for the the hosts France, Juliette Labous was unable to secure a medal in her home Games.
Women’s Top 10 results
| Position | Rider | Country | Time |
| 1 | Grace Brown | Australia | 39:38.2 |
| 2 | Anna Henderson | Great Britain | 41:09.8 |
| 3 | Chloe Dygert | United States | 41:10.7 |
| 4 | Juliette Labous | France | 41:19.9 |
| 5 | Demi Vollering | Netherlands | 41:29.8 |
| 6 | Lotte Kopecky | Belgium | 41:34.8 |
| 7 | Kim Cadzow | New Zealand | 41:46.0 |
| 8 | Elisa Longo Borghini | Italy | 41:49.3 |
| 9 | Audrey Cordon Ragot | France | 41:51.7 |
| 10 | Christina Schweinberger | Austria | 41:52.0 |
Summing up
Both races were fascinating to watch with the pre-race favourites taking the gold medals, Britain suffered both delight and heartbreak, delight at Anna Henderson picking up a silver medal by the finest of margins, but heartbreak seeing Josh Tarling miss out on the medals as a result of a puncture and in the men’s race, was the only rider to suffer such misfortune that without doubt cost him a medal. The difficult conditions meant that the medals were not decided until each rider passed the finish, making this an entertain and nail-biting affair right to the last second.
racing any less exciting, after all, there is something extra special about the Olympics. Given the quality of the field and the nature of the course, everyone must be dreaming of a medal and writing their name in the history books and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
