Australian Grace Brown destroyed the field to claim her country's first gold medal of the Games in the women's individual time trial, her power and bike handling abilities being unmatched by her rivals on Saturday.

Several riders slid and fell on wet and cobbled corners on the 32.4-kilometre course, with defending champion Chloe Dygert ending up being the biggest casualty and having to settle for bronze.

Britain's Anna Henderson took third place, one minute 31.59 seconds behind Brown's winning time of 39 minutes 38.24.

Dygert hit the deck on a corner in the Bois de Vincennes, which effectively ended her chances of retaining her title and cost her second place as she ended 0.87 seconds behind Henderson.

And it was a good day for Belgium in the men's individual time trial as Remco Evenepoel won the gold medal.

Evenepoel added the Olympic gold to his world title on Saturday, defying rain and a strong field to win on the 32.4 kilometre course.

The 24-year-old was almost 15 seconds faster than Italian Filippo Ganna in second while Evenepoel's compatriot, Wout van Aert, took bronze. (Reuters)
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Last updated: 2024-07-28 HKT 01:01