Geraint Thomas was the best-placed of the two British riders at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games time trial around the Fuji International Speedway, but it was only good enough for the 12th spot on the day.
The Welshman has had a tough last month of racing, crashing on stage three of the Tour de France, his main objective, before crashing again in the Olympic road race.
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Speaking after the time trial, Thomas said: "It was tough. I tried to start at a pace that we thought would be there or thereabouts for a medal. Then I heard I was 50 seconds down on [Primož] Roglič which wasn’t great for morale."
The British rider looked struggled to get close to the biggest names in time trialing, but he wasn't giving up.
"I had a bad patch on the climb of the second lap, I fell off the watts and lost momentum and concentration a bit. Rohan [Dennis] caught me and that wasn’t good for the head either.
"It did refocus me, gave me something to chase. That’s the difference between a pure time trialist and someone who can be decent but isn’t a pure specialist. You need someone to chase almost."
Thomas's career has been marred with crashes over the years, especially since winning the overall title at the Tour de France in 2018, with him crashing out of the Giro d'Italia in 2020, a race he was favourite to win.
"I’ve got to be content with [12th], it’s been a super hard five weeks and it just seems to be one thing after the next.
"I tried to stay positive and stay on it, tried to put the hat in the ring and not be scared of failing. It’s just been tough, especially mentally as well. Just need to stay positive and try to keep going."
Currently, Thomas is unofficially down to race the Bretagne Classic in Plouay at the end of August, but away from that, it is not known when he will next race.
The road cycling events in the Tokyo 2020 Games are now finished with the track events in the velodrome getting underway on Monday, August 2.
