Cancellara charges to second time trial gold

Cancellara, nicknamed Spartacus, set the tone for a strong ride by setting the quickest time through the opening 10 kilometre split of the 54.6km route.

The four-time world champion added to his Beijing 2008 title in fine fashion.

With retirement set for the end of the year, Fabian Cancellara signed off his Olympic career with a second individual time trial gold at Rio 2016. The four-time world champion added to his Beijing 2008 title in fine fashion, finishing 47 seconds ahead of silver medallist Tom Dumoulin.

After a difficult start, Tour de France champion Chris Froome forced himself into third to take bronze, with Jonathan Castroviejo and Rohan Dennis painfully missing out.

Cancellara, nicknamed Spartacus, set the tone for a strong ride by setting the quickest time through the opening 10 kilometre split of the 54.6km route, with Dennis a close second while Dumoulin and Froome were initially far off the pace.

The Swiss found himself 20 seconds adrift of Dennis after the second split, but the Australian was forced into a bike change and lost valuable time.

That opened the door for Dumoulin and Froome to move into the top three, but Cancellara re-established his lead with a powerful third sector.

Dumoulin closed in but 35-year-old Cancellara's time of one hour 12 minutes and 15.42 seconds was too good for the Dutchman to catch.

Castroviejo found himself four seconds shy of the bronze-medal position, with Dennis a further four back and reigning world champion Vasil Kiryienka back in 17th position.