Rio Olympics 2016: Chris Froome wins bronze in time trial as he loses out to Fabian Cancellara
Triple Tour de France winner has to settle for third on punishing day in the saddle
CHRIS FROOME was forced to settle for bronze in the Olympic time trial as veteran Fabian Cancellara smashed the field apart to take gold.
Three times Tour de France winner Froome had hoped to emulate Sir Bradley Wiggins by taking goal four years after he came third at London 2012.
But he was unable to match the surprising speed of popular legend 'Spartacus' Cancellara who secured his second title having won in Beijing in 2008 - and was riding in one of the last races of his career.
The British star lost crucial time on the opening circuit and despite digging in the speed and power was not in his legs after such a gruelling and impressive summer.
When he reached the 38km checkpoint, Froome was 32 seconds adrift of the lead as he struggled to pace endurance.
But crucially he was only seven seconds down on the bronze medal time at that timing stage, so there was still hope of making the podium.
Geraint Thomas was only a late addition to the entry list for the trial, fresh from his agony at falling with a medal within his reach in the road race at the weekend.
And the Welshman gave his usual gutsy performance, becoming the first rider to finish in under 1hr 15min to briefly take the lead.
But there were plenty of quicker riders still out on course and Thomas was soon overtaken as the more specialist riders came through the finish.
When Cancellara powered into the finishing area he looked a class apart from his rivals, taking more than a minute off the previous best time.
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It meant the 35-year-old had to wait as the final four riders came home before he could celebrate his second Olympic gold.
Three times world champion was blown away by the pace of the Swiss rider, ending up more than three minutes adrift.
And Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, who himself had hopes of winning, was unable to match the pace set by Cancellara as he sped home for silver, despite suffering a broken wrist a fortnight ago.
Froome was the last man left out on the course and he raced against the clock to just take third for his efforts.