It was a difficult day for the American duo of Brandon McNulty and Magnus Sheffield in the men's time trial at the Paris Olympics.

National champion McNulty could not hide his disappointment after finishing fifth, 1:04 behind winner Remco Evenpoel (Belgium). at the first time check, McNulty was 17 seconds behind winner Evenpoel, but at the second time check He lost even more time. He finished 39 seconds ahead of bronze medalist Wout Van Aert (Belgium).

The Olympics were McNulty's biggest goal of the season after winning the UAE Tour and the time trial at the Tour de Romandie earlier this year, in addition to finishing fourth at the 2023 World Championships.

“Up until about the beginning of the year, I think I would have been overjoyed with fifth place, but I had a good run last year with a top-four World Championships and a few wins this year, so I focused on this goal. I did my best, but in my heart I wanted a medal, and I would have been happy with a top-five finish, but I was aiming for more,” McNulty told Cycling News.

McNulty left the start gate with only two riders remaining and, like the rest of the field, had to face wet and slippery surfaces on the technical 32.4 km course, but he did not blame the weather.

“We deal with rain all year round. The conditions are the same for everyone. Luckily, the favourites were all within five minutes of each other, so it didn't make much difference. It was a fair day."

McNulty will now concentrate on next Saturday's men's road race and the Vuelta a España with UAE Team Emirates.

“This wasn't the only one left. We have the Vuelta and other races, and it's just the beginning of the second half of the year,” he explained.

Fellow American Magnus Sheffield got a fast start on his ride, but disaster struck when he crashed on a slick corner.

“I'm not going to hide, I'm disappointed,” he said.

“It was really slick there, I felt the rear wheel start to move at that roundabout and I knew I had to be more careful on the wet track.”

“Once it started going around me, the car fisted and it was like being on ice. After that, I tried to be very careful in the corners. It's the Olympics, though, so you always have to keep your head up.”

Sheffield regrouped and eventually finished 16th, 1:53 behind Evenpoel's winning time.

McNulty and Sheffield will now concentrate on men's road racing, joining Matteo Jorgenson to form the American road racing trio.

“Matteo has been great all season and so has Brandon. I've had my ups and downs, but it's been great,” Sheffield said.

“Road racing is a lottery. In the Olympics, the field is smaller, so I think I'll have a good race.”