Henderson wins time trial silver but Tarling hopes are punctured

Great Britain’s Anna Henderson won a cycling time trial silver medal in a brilliant Olympic debut on the rain-soaked streets of Paris.

The 25-year-old, who has twice broken her collarbone this season, stopped the clock on Pont Alexandre III in 41 minutes 9.83 seconds.

But there was to be no second medal for GB on the road, an early puncture costing Josh Tarling dearly as the men’s pre-race favourite was forced to settle for fourth.

Belgium’s world champion Remco Evenepoel added the Olympic title to his already sparkling array of honours, with Italy’s Filippo Ganna and Evenepoel’s compatriot Wout van Aert completing the podium.

In the women’s race, gold went to Australia’s Grace Brown who, in a remarkable performance, finished more than a minute and a half quicker than Henderson, with the United States’ world champion Chloe Dygert taking bronze.

“I had a small feeling that maybe I could push for the podium,” Henderson told BBC Sport.

“To be second behind somebody like Grace Brown, I can’t believe it! I burst into tears when I found out!

“All the effort this year has been worth it. It has been a really rough year, so to achieve a goal like this is unbelievable.”

Dygert was one of several riders who came off their bikes on the slippery roads. The main consequence of her fall was that she lost the near 15-second advantage she held over Henderson at the first time checkpoint.

The American’s finishing time was less than a second slower than that of Henderson, who became Team GB’s second medallist of Paris 2024 after the earlier synchronised diving bronze for Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen.

Dygert’s compatriot Taylor Knibb had multiple falls, her mechanic also hitting the deck as he ran on to the course with a replacement bike.

Speaking about her own battle to stay in the saddle, Henderson said: “[They were] really horrible conditions out there today so I was really thankful that I could just stay upright on my bike.

“I was a bit of a grandma on the corners, but that paid off and I used my power on the straights.”

Henderson, who away from the Olympics rides for Visma–Lease a Bike, only started cycling nine years ago having initially dreamed of going to the Winter Games.

A former alpine skiing national junior champion, suffering a broken leg at the age of 15 resulted in her taking to two wheels as part of her rehab, and it would change her sporting path.

Now a double national time trial champion, she won European silver last year after a fourth-place finish at the World Championships.

For the first time in Olympic history, the men and women raced the same course over the same distance.

Starting on the Esplanade des Invalides, the 32.4km route headed east out of the city through Bois de Vincennes before looping back via the Bastille and finishing on the celebrated bridge of Pont Alexandre III.

After Henderson’s medal, all eyes were on 20-year-old Tarling to see if he could continue to turn heads on his Olympic debut.

Having won World Championship bronze behind Evenepoel and Ganna last year and sealed European gold, there was only one outcome on the Welshman’s mind.

But as the rain continued to drive, a front-wheel puncture put paid to that as the Ineos Grenadier was forced to change his bike, ultimately finishing 2.16 seconds shy of the podium.

“The stars were miles apart today,” Tarling told BBC Sport.

“I had no choice really but to make the change before that corner and then try my best.

“There’s not a lot I can do really, a bit of bad luck. We move on to the road race.”

The route’s surface through the streets of Paris had been criticised by multiple riders in the lead-up to Saturday’s races, with Dutch rider Ellen van Dijk, who finished 11th in the women’s race, saying there were “a lot of bumps and holes”.

Evenepoel, who finished third at the Tour de France earlier in July, had previously said it was “pretty bad”, but despite the 24 hours of constant rain in the French capital, it did little to dampen his display as he finished almost 15 seconds quicker than two-time world champion Ganna.