Fabian Cancellara came into this race with a bronze from the road race but this was the medal that the double Time Trial World Champion came for. His season had not been that spectacular, he lost out on stage wins in the time trials of the Tour de France but in press conferences he claimed he treated them like training rides. His kick in the road race was amazing to shoot from the main peloton past the 2nd chase group and up to the lead three before the sprint which saw him claim bronze.

The timetrial was fought over two laps of the Great Wall circuit. The early pace was set by a Canadian, Svein Tuft who topped the leader board for a long time before finishing 7th overall. Larsson from Sweeden then surprised the field with a strong ride which saw him take the Silver. All the main players struggled with Contador actually up on the first half of the circuit before dropping off the pace set by Cancellara who blitzed the field poering around the course with speeds which reached 80km/hr on the flat. Leipheimer managed to surpass his team mate, Contador, to claim the bronze but the day belonged to Cancellara’s.

“It was a perfect day. Everything came together for me. I’ve been preparing for this as well as I possibly could and I’ve sacrificed a lot to get here, so I didn’t have any excuses in case it didn’t work out today,” Cancellara claimed on his teams website, www.teamcsc-saxobank.com. “Now I’ll finally be able to return home with both a gold and a bronze Medal.”

Evans finished fifth and it has since emerged that the remainder of his season is now in doubt. ‘That’ injury from the celebration party following the Tour de France was indeed serious as Evans actually ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). He spent three days on cruches but should not need surgery as cycling does not put side loads on the knee unlike other sports such as football. “To be here and vying for the medals is not a bad effort,” Evans told Fox Sports. “With everything that’s gone on in the last three months with the tendonitis, the huge crash in the Tour (de France), defending the yellow with only one leg. Then breaking my anterior cruciate ligament, I was on crutches for three or four days after the Tour and not riding.” Questions remain over whether he will race the Vuelta this year.

Olympic Men’s Time Trial result.

1 Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) 1.02.11.43 (45.350 km/h)
2 Gustav Erik Larsson (Sweden) 0.33.36
3 Levi Leipheimer (United States) 1.09.68
4 Alberto Contador (Spain) 1.18.08
5 Cadel Evans (Australia) 1.23.54
6 Samuel Sánchez (Spain) 2.25.81
7 Svein Tuft (Canada) 2.28.01
8 Michael Rogers (Australia) 2.35.42
9 Stef Clement (Netherlands) 2.47.99
10 Robert Gesink (Netherlands) 2.51.45

In the women’s race, Kristin Armstrong blasted the field apart with a fabulous time which put her in Gold by 24 seconds from nearest rival Emma Pooley from the Uk who had a great ride to Silver. Karin Thurig from Switzerland rounded out the podium almost a minute behind the winner. Many favourites were unable to keep pace and ended up considerably down. The women rode one lap of the Great Wall circuit.

Olympic Women’s Time Trial result.

1 Kristin Armstrong (United States) 34.51.72 (40.459 km/h)
2 Emma Pooley (Great Britain) 0.24.29
3 Karin Thurig (Switzerland) 0.59.27
4 Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (France) 1.00.90
5 Christine Thorburn (United States) 1.02.44
6 Judith Arndt (Germany) 1.08.05
7 Christiane Soeder (Austria) 1.29.03
8 Priska Doppmann (Switzerland) 1.36.07
9 Zulfiya Zabirova (Kazakhstan) 1.37.75
10 Susanne Ljungskog (Sweden) 1.41.78