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Fabian Cancellara wins Gold in the Olympic Men’s Time Trial

Swiss rider nicknamed “Spartacus” won his second Olympic time trial gold medal, putting the final icing on the cake at the end of a brilliant cycling career

The 35-year-old Swiss, who won the last of his four world titles in 2010, completed the 54.5-kilometres course in one hour 12 minutes 15 seconds. He outclassed everyone with particular note, his descending skills, the technical and wet conditions working in his favor. He was noticeably quicker on the descents and paced himself perfectly, not going too fast on the first few laps.

Chris Froome of Great Britain finished in 1hr 13mins 17 secs to place third, behind Tom Dumoulin of Holland, who took silver in 1:13:02. Jonathan Castroviejo of Spain was fourth and Rohan Dennis of Australia was fifth, left to rue the bike change that he needed, one of hiss TT bars snapped off. The change was calm and quick, but the few seconds he lost likely cost him the bronze medal.

Dennis was just 23 seconds behind Dumoulin and nine seconds behind Froome.

Cancellara began weeping the moment Froome, the last rider of the day, crossed the finish line. He announced more than a year ago that this would be his final season as a cyclist.

Froome was arguably the favorite to win entering the event. He finished second and first on the Tour de France’s two individual time trials, before winning the yellow jersey. There was some question about his form, however, with the Olympics occurring so close to the end of Tour. Froome finished a disappointing 12th in the road race.

Dumoulin was the other obvious favorite, after he finished first and second in the Tour’s time trials, mirroring Froome’s results. Dumoulin, who won two stages of the Tour, but also suffered a fractured wrist, quit the road race almost as soon as it had started to save himself for the time-trial.

Though riders had to overcome rain and high winds, the time trial course did not include Vista Chinesa, the harrowing climb and descent that caused several riders to crash during the men’s road race on Saturday. Like the women before them, the men were able to stay upright on what was a relatively conventional time trial course. The men rode two loops of the Grumari circuit, climbing for 6.8 kilometers along the 54.5-kilometer route.

Cancellara, nicknamed “Spartacus,” was caught on camera saying he had just finished his “last one.” At 35 years old, Cancellara is one of the elder statesmen of the sport, and one of the most renowned stage and time trial racers in cycling history. In July, he rode his final Tour de France, which went through Switzerland in seeming tribute. He also has a gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympic time trial, and a silver in the Beijing road race.

Taylor Phinney the American favorite, finished 22nd with a time of 1:17:25.

Brent Bookwalter finished 23rd. He slid off on the first bend in the wet weather, said afterwards "personal battle out there today after hitting the deck. Huge range of emotion. Rode true to the person I am and the people who brought me here."

2016 Olympic Men's Time Trial, Top 20

1 Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) 1:12:15
2 Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands) 0:00:47
3 Christopher Froome (Great Britain) 0:01:02
4 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spain) 0:01:06
5 Rohan Dennis (Australia) 0:01:10
6 Maciej Bodnar (Poland) 0:01:50
7 Nelson Oliveira (Portugal) 0:02:00
8 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spain) 0:02:06
9 Geraint Thomas (Great Britain) 0:02:37
10 Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) 0:02:40
11 Leopold Konig (Czech Republic) 0:03:08
12 Tony Martin (Germany) 0:03:18
13 Simon Geschke (Germany) 0:03:34
14 Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) 0:03:40
15 Jan Barta (Czech Republic) 0:03:41
16 Georg Preidler (Austria) 0:03:47
17 Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus) 0:03:50
18 Andriy Grivko (Ukraine) 0:04:18
19 Christopher Juul Jensen (Denmark) 0:04:34
20 Tim Wellens (Belgium) 0:04:34